Justina Ashiyana

Having risen from humble beginnings in a small town in the north of Namibia, Justina Ashiyana’s skills journey propelled her to become a role model for African youth. Inspired by her father, who worked in construction, Justina always dreamt of becoming a tradesperson and working with her hands.

As soon as she finished grade 12 in 2012, she enrolled in vocational training. She says that her skill – Joinery – is a combination of logic, imagination, and intuition, that allows her to be “creative and innovative, solution-focused and action-oriented.”

Justina’s determination and passion for her skill helped advance her career, overcoming discrimination and criticism from within her society. Her WorldSkills journey started during her third year of vocational training, when she competed at the national level and was selected to represent her country at WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017.

Since then, Justina has advocated for equal access to skills development opportunities, becoming an ambassador for skills and representing Namibia on various regional and international platforms. In 2019, she took part in the Pan African Youth Forum in Addis Ababa and was later employed as a temporary assistant joinery trainer at Valombola Vocational Training Centre. This led her to becoming a WorldSkills Namibia Expert in Joinery, and a Team Leader at the WorldSkills Africa Swakopmund Competition 2022. She was also selected to be part of BeChangeMaker Africa 2022 with the project ‘Yours is Mine’, promoting sustainable sanitary pads for marginalized schoolgirls. Currently, Justina is enrolled in a national diploma instructor course in VET at the Namibia University of Science and Technology.