Breaking the Barriers: Shashe’s Story of Skill, Courage and Change
When Shashe Gemedo first told her friends that she wanted to work with hardware and network systems, many of them laughed. In her community, technical work, anything involving machines, cables or engineering, was often viewed as a man’s world. But Shashe saw it differently.
She had just graduated from Akaki Polytechnic College in Hardware and Network Service (Level 4), and for her, the excitement of fixing and rebuilding things was more than a career choice – it is her passion.
“I know my capability,” she says. “It’s my interest. I can do this work, and I believe perceptions about what women can or cannot do have to change.”
For a long time, those perceptions were her biggest obstacle. The stigma against women in technical fields wasn’t written anywhere, but it was felt everywhere - in expectations, in silence, in doubt. Still, Shashe believed that the best way to challenge bias was to excel in what she loved.
That opportunity came through a joint initiative of the Ethio-German Sustainable Training and Education Programme (STEP IV) and MoTI Engineering. Together, they launched a training on ATM Maintenance, tailored to equip TVT graduates with hands-on skills and life development tools.
“The TVT curriculum gives graduates a foundation,” explains Robel Taye, Technical Skill Capacity Building Section Manager at MoTI Engineering. “But they often need specific, market-oriented training - like ATM maintenance. That’s why we partnered with GIZ through STEP IV to prepare young people for direct employment in our company.”
The program blended technical precision with business awareness, combining workshops, field practices and self-development modules. For Shashe, it opened a new world - one where learning was practical, gender wasn’t a barrier and confidence came from competence.
Another participant, Binyam Ashebir, a graduate of Misrak Polytechnic College, had similar reflections. “Our college training was general,” he says. “But this program took us deeper - into real-world applications. We learned not only how to maintain the machines but also how to think about the business and career side of it.”
He now dreams of becoming the maintenance head at MoTI Engineering within five years. “I’ve found my direction,” he adds, “and I know how to grow in it.”
For Shashe, the transformation was even more personal. Every bolt tightened, every circuit tested, was another reminder that her dream had weight - and that it was valid.
“There is no role that belongs to men or women alone,” she insists. “What matters is whether I’m interested and capable. I’ve answered both for myself.”
The training did more than build technical capacity; it reshaped confidence. Graduates worked side by side with MoTI’s senior technicians in the field, learning how to troubleshoot ATMs and keep banking services running smoothly. By the time they completed the program, they have joined MoTI’s ATM maintenance team.
Robel describes the impact with pride: “This kind of collaboration changes the whole picture. It bridges what’s taught in TVT with what’s needed in the field. These young people are now part of Ethiopia’s growing financial technology sector - maintaining the systems that connect people to their money, their business and their daily lives.”
For Shashe, the journey doesn’t end here. She dreams of starting her own hardware and network services firm in the future.
“I’ve learned that challenges are just lessons waiting to happen,” she says. “Five years from now, I see myself leading, either within MoTI Engineering or in my own company.”
She also hopes her story will change how people see Technical and Vocational Training in Ethiopia.
“TVT isn’t a last resort,” she says. “It’s the first option for those who want to solve real problems.”
In her calm conviction lies a quiet revolution. With skill in her hands and confidence in her voice, Shashe is doing more than fixing machines - she’s rebuilding perceptions, one circuit at a time.
GIZ implements the Ethio-German Sustainable Training and Education Programme (STEP IV) on behalf of the German Government. The programme is co-financed by the European Union.
Author: Daniel Zemichal
Photos: ©GIZ/Daniel Zemichal
