2015-06-25Staff Report 2 Windhoek A young female auto mechanic Josephine Iipinge, who graduated from the Windhoek Vocational Training Centre (WVTC), has penetrated the men’s industry and has dared other women to show men that women are also able to do what is perceived to be work for men. Iipinge, who is in her late 20s, graduated from WVTC in 2008 and ventured into the male-dominated sector, which she feels like any other jobs should not be reserved only for men but also for women. In an interview at her workshop, Vehicle Solution situated at Prosperita yesterday, Iipinge said she is unmoved by the fact that auto mechanics is traditionally known as a preserve for men. She said she is the only woman at the workshop staffed by over five men. “I am in this industry with men and I am challenging them. I want to show them what women are also capable of doing. If men can do it, why cannot women do it as well? If we are all humans we all have the same abilities,” boasted Iipinge. “Therefore, women should not be afraid to try their physical abilities not all of us are gifted and I am urging all women that somehow have a passion for hand work to try their abilities,” she said. “I grew up in a family made up of mechanics, as both my brothers are mechanics, that’s how I was convinced to be one because it was nothing new to me. That is why when I went to vocational training, I studied auto mechanics because I felt it is my passion, and here I am now,” she said. Iipinge adores her work and she hopes to one day open her own workshop. She reiterated after her graduation, she worked at several workshops and garages where she gained enough experience until now and she is currently the workshop supervisor and trains students from National Institute of Management Technology (NIMT) when they are sent for attachment. When asked what challenges she is facing, she responded: “I don’t have any difficulties. I have mastered these things and I now know how to handle the students that come so that they can understand, as I was also once a technical student. 2015-06-25Staff Report 2
