Life does not always allow people to choose where they begin, but it often gives them a chance to choose where they are going.

There is a saying that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. For Thokozani Banda, a youth from Mtandire in Lilongwe, that step began in 2025 when he enrolled in Carpentry and Joinery at Tingathe Vocational Training Program.

At the time, life was difficult for Thokozani. He survived through small piecework within his community, but the money he earned was often not enough even for basic needs like food.

For a young person, such a life can slowly steal hope. It becomes painful to watch others move forward while your future remains uncertain. The pressure of poverty, lack of skills, unemployment and lack of opportunities affected Thokozani deeply. Yet, even in the middle of those struggles, he carried a strong desire to change his life.

He knew that if his future was going to become different, he needed skills that could help him stand on his own feet, find decent work, or even start something for himself.

It was during this difficult period that he learned about the Tingathe Vocational Training Program. In 2025, he enrolled in the Carpentry and Joinery course with one goal in mind, to build a better future for himself.

For many vulnerable youth, vocational skills are a source of dignity, confidence and survival. They allow them to discover that their hands can create something valuable and that their lives can still have meaning despite difficult backgrounds.

When Thokozani joined Tingathe, he started slowly. Learning was not always easy, but step by step, he became more confident and inspired. As time went on, he realized that he was learning how to make furniture, rebuilding his life and restoring his hope for the future.

In May 2025, he completed his training. But after graduating, Thokozani did not sit at home waiting for opportunities. Instead, he decided to keep his skills alive. With determination, he gathered small funds which he used to buy carpentry equipment. He later relocated to Chitedze Trading Centre in Lilongwe, where he opened his own workshop.

Today, Thokozani makes beds, chairs, stools, tables, TV stands and many other types of furniture for customers within the community. Thokozani shared how much life has changed compared to before.

“Things have changed,” he said. “I can now provide for myself and also support some of my relatives.”

His words carried the voice of someone who has experienced real transformation. If you met Thokozani a year ago and meet him today, you would easily notice the difference. There is confidence in the way he speaks, purpose in the way he works and hope in the way he looks at the future.

The impact of his journey has not ended with him alone. Through the skills he gained, Thokozani has already helped train two young people who are now able to do some work and earn a living for themselves.

This is the true beauty of vocational education. It changes lives beyond the classroom. It restores dignity to young people who may never have had the opportunity to attend university or secure formal employment. It reminds them that their talents, hands and determination still matter.

Vocational education gives value to young people who were once considered less privileged simply because they did not go to university.

With pride, Thokozani explained that his work now attracts customers from different backgrounds, including university graduates.

Success does not only come from offices, degrees, or formal titles. Sometimes success is found in workshops, in dusty trading centres, in determined hands and in young people who refuse to give up on life.

“The secret,” Thokozani says, “is understanding where you are and making a decision to move from there and create change.”

Over the years, Tingathe has continued to become a source of transformation for many peri-urban youth in Lilongwe through vocational skills training in Carpentry and Joinery, Tailoring and Fashion Design, Peri-Urban Horticulture, Bricklaying, Arts and Crafts and many other programs.

And for Thokozani Banda, everything began with one decision, the decision to believe that his life could become something greater than his circumstances. Today, every chair he makes, every table he builds and every bed he sells carries a story of a young man who refused to let poverty write the final chapter of his life.