Carpentry is a skill that is generally perceived as a ‘man’s thing’ due to the hard labour required, but don’t tell that to Gisèle Uhorakeye Cyuzuzo.

 The 29-year-old is what you’d call the ‘what a man can do, a woman can do too’ poster child. In a society where girls and women are underestimated, often under-represented in many fields, Uhorakeye is out to prove that the female of our species can do anything they put their mind to. 

The last of eight children, Uhorakeye made the difficult decision to discontinue the business administration course she was pursuing to study carpentry, in a bid to continue with her father’s legacy in the field.

If you have been to Gacinjiro in Gisozi, you have probably spotted her as the area is dominated by men. The proprietor of ‘Igiti Interiors’ does not hesitate to get into the hard labour to ensure that her customers are satisfied, and is one of the very few women in this industry.

With her dad ageing and a family legacy at stake, Uhorakeye made up her mind to continue from where her retiring father had stopped, driven by the love for carpentry, a trade which her family has come to be known for.

Some Uhorakeye’s work at her home in Gisozi.  Photos/Olivier Mugwiza

The name Alphonse Munyantwari echoes across Nyanza District and Southern Province, where he hails from, thanks to decades of quality woodwork.

Encouraged by her father, Uhorakeye set out to learn carpentry and the business aspect of it in 2016, upon realising that her father was getting old. Today she is among the successful players in the wood business in the ever-busy Gacinjiro area.

"My dad is a carpenter and that’s why I chose a career in carpentry, and I love it,” says Uhorakeye, who realised that her father, now 79, was ageing and someone needed to carry on the work he had been doing since he was 19.

Though many parents will not allow their children to drop out of school to pursue something, Uhorakeye and her dad reached an agreement that she would drop out of school and shift focus to carpentry.

She convinced him that she would study while working at the same time, to relieve him of the burden of paying school fees. He agreed and supported her because, after all, learning on the job and gaining business experience is highly valuable. 

"I told him that for the degree, I can get it anytime, I can do a course online or something, but for now what I need is the experience,” she recalls.

In 2017, she started off in the family business as an administrator but it was boring, so she started going to the workshop to see how stuff is made or fabricated, learning to operate different machines and how certain things are done, which is how she fell in love with carpentry.

"He used to tell me that you can do it if you really want to. Just put your hands on it, you can do it like I did. You don’t have to be an administrator. It is not that necessary,” she says, adding that her vision was to do it as a business.

Inspired by ‘Ikivi’, a song by the legendary Cyprien Rugamba, Uhorakeye had a mission to never let her father’s legacy die, however, in Rwandan tradition, carrying forward a parent’s legacy was a preserve for boys.

She thought to herself, "what if I just try to take over from my dad? That would be a great idea. It would be a good thing and a good gift to him before he dies.”

She set out to find a school to learn carpentry as a skill. Finding a school, however, was an uphill task as there are no specific schools that teach it.

She would either have to do it elsewhere, which would be costly and also mean that she would have to leave behind her ageing parents, or enrol in the Integrated Polytechnic Regional Colleges (IPRC) or in TVET, which would also require her to go back to O’ level.

Uhorakeye approached the vice principal of IPRC Kigali but she was told that the course was not being offered, and they couldn’t open it for one person. At least 30 students are required at any given time.

With no alternative, she begged for an opportunity for internship at the IPRC workshop to see how things are done and luckily, she was given an internship for three months.

Enter basketball

When she finished interning at IPRC Kigali, her friend in IPRC South informed her that her college was offering scholarships for basketball players, which was an opportunity for her.

"I had not played basketball in like two years, but I said I would give it a shot. The coach told me to play and if I wanted to study, they would get me a scholarship if I was a good player,” she recalls.

Having played basketball before, she hit the court and practiced but it was not easy as she had to commute between Nyanza where she lived and her new college in Huye District.

The late nights, hard practice and long journeys did not dampen her determination. At the end of 2018, she completed her course and went back to work in the family workshop.

Having done an internship at Manumetal, a local wood and metal industry, Uhorakeye caught the attention of the CEO of the company, who was amazed by how well she practiced carpentry and offered to find her a job.

Six months later, in 2019, she was offered a job by the Private Sector Federation (PSF), under the Rwanda Wood Value Chain Association, an umbrella body of wood-related businesses, as a consultant assistant.

The gig, however, was for five months and when they were done, she was back to the drawing board. Her dream was to work for others for two years and set up her own business. 

With no job opening, she got an opportunity to work with Rwanda Association of Manufacturers as a volunteer. Three months into it, the Covid-19 pandemic hit and the opportunity closed too.

For the whole of 2020, she had no job and her resolve to be self-employed grew even more. At the start of this year, with some savings from her previous gig, she established her own company, ‘Igiti Interiors’, which identified clients who needed furniture and supplied to them. 

Uhorakeye says she was frustrated by many things, including people who discouraged her saying ‘do you really want to do that? Do you think you can do it? Do you know what you are getting into?’ All that did not stop her. Her energy and determination played a huge role. 

"That has really been my biggest challenge, people’s intimidation. You feel like you can’t do it. You can actually start doubting yourself when that happens, even if you know you can do it,” she says.

Deep down she knew she had the strength to challenge society stereotypes and carry on with her dream, something she says all girls need in order to go after their dreams. The support from her father equally played a role.

Today in Gacinjiro, she is a go-to-person when it comes to interior design and her unique products and creativity make her standout.

She is also trying to make a difference in her industry by changing the perception that ‘carpenters are liars’ by being honest in her delivery and true to her work.

Uhorakeye says the wood industry is lucrative and will always be profitable because wood products will always be on demand. It is your creativity and craft that makes you stand out.

Uhorakeye encourages girls to become fearless and join the industry because girls too can practice carpentry and earn from it, reminding them that they are limitless in terms of what they can do.

lmbabazi@newtimesrwanda.com 

You can reach Gisèle Uhorakeye Cyuzuzo for more information on 0783701775.