Every morning, Mercy Mwanza walks into a workspace where the air is thick with the smell of heated metal and the steady sound of hammers striking aluminium. It is a place many people would never expect to find a young woman. But for Mercy, it is where she feels most at home.
At just 27 years old, Mercy has built a reputation for herself in a trade that remains largely dominated by men. As the only female member of Baela Youth Cooperative, a youth-led blacksmithing enterprise in Lusaka, she has spent years proving that talent, determination and hard work matter far more than gender.
Her journey has not always been easy. Along the way, she has faced financial challenges, societal expectations and questions about why she chose a path that many consider unusual for a woman. But through persistence and a willingness to learn, Mercy has transformed those challenges into opportunities.
Today, she is not only a skilled blacksmith and the secretary of Baela Youth Cooperative, but also a role model for young women who dare to dream beyond traditional boundaries.
A childhood shaped by hard work
Mercy is the firstborn in a family of seven children, with four brothers and two sisters. She grew up in a household where hard work was not merely encouraged; it was a way of life. Her father is a blacksmith, and for as long as she can remember, her parents worked tirelessly to provide for their family. When the family moved to Lusaka in 2009, they carried with them the skills and determination that had sustained them over the years.
Growing up, Mercy witnessed firsthand the sacrifices her parents made to ensure their children had opportunities for a better future. "My parents have always worked hard," she says. "Watching them taught me that if you want something in life, you have to be willing to work for it."
Like many young people, Mercy had dreams of pursuing a professional career. She was fascinated by storytelling and communication and hoped to become a journalist. "I really wanted to be a journalist," she recalls. "I loved the idea of informing people and sharing stories."
However, financial constraints made it impossible for her to pursue that dream immediately after school. "It was painful because it was something I really wanted to do, but there was no money for me to study journalism."
For many young people, such a setback can feel like the end of a dream. For Mercy, it became the beginning of a different journey. Instead of giving up, she enrolled at Fairview College to study Hospitality, determined to continue building her future through whatever opportunities were available to her.
Turning waste into opportunity
While Mercy was pursuing her studies, another opportunity was quietly emerging much closer to home. Blacksmithing and metalwork had always been part of her family's life. She had watched her father work for years and was familiar with the trade from an early age. What she did not realise then was that those childhood experiences would eventually inspire her own entrepreneurial journey. "What inspired me to do this work is because it is what my parents have been doing for a long time," she explains.
In 2013, she began taking a more active interest in metalwork. As she learned the craft, she started to see its potential beyond simply producing items for sale. "I started viewing it as a business and a way of creating opportunities for myself and others."
Through Baela Youth Cooperative, Mercy and her fellow members collect aluminium waste and transform it into useful household products such as cooking pots, pans and other items used by families in their everyday lives. What many people see as waste, the cooperative sees as opportunity.
The process not only generates income for young people but also contributes to a cleaner environment by giving discarded aluminium a second life. Through innovation and hard work, the group is helping demonstrate how entrepreneurship can address both economic and environmental challenges.
For Mercy, there is a deep sense of pride in seeing a pile of discarded metal transformed into something valuable. "When you see waste become a product that people can use in their homes, it feels rewarding. It shows that something which looked useless can become useful again."
It is this ability to create value from what others throw away that continues to motivate her and strengthen her belief in entrepreneurship.
Learning beyond the workshop
As Baela Youth Cooperative continued to grow, Mercy recognised that technical skills alone would not be enough to sustain a successful enterprise. Running a business requires planning, record keeping, networking, communication and financial management.
Through support from the Zambian Governance Foundation (ZGF), Mercy gained access to opportunities that helped strengthen these critical skills. She participated in training programmes that exposed her to areas such as record keeping, networking and entrepreneurship. "Through the support from ZGF, I learnt a lot of things, especially record keeping and networking. These are skills that are helping me both personally and in the cooperative."
The training helped her appreciate that successful entrepreneurship requires more than producing quality products. It requires understanding how to build relationships, manage resources and identify new opportunities. These lessons have given her greater confidence in her ability to contribute to the growth of the cooperative and pursue her own aspirations.
A journey that expanded her horizons
One of the most transformative experiences in Mercy's entrepreneurial journey was participating in the Zambia Entrepreneurship Train, an innovative initiative that brought together young entrepreneurs for a unique learning experience. For Mercy, the journey represented much more than travel. It was an opportunity to learn, connect and dream bigger. "I never had this privilege before," she says. "The Entrepreneurship Train opened my eyes to many possibilities."
Through interactions with fellow entrepreneurs, mentors and business leaders, she gained valuable insights into what it takes to grow an enterprise and create lasting impact. The experience reinforced her belief that entrepreneurship is a powerful tool for transforming lives and communities. More importantly, it helped her realise that her ambitions do not have to be confined to what she already knows. "It made me believe that there is so much more that I can achieve."
Looking ahead
Although blacksmithing remains an important part of her life, Mercy's ambitions continue to evolve.
One of her aspirations is to venture into events management, a field that combines organisation, creativity and entrepreneurship. She hopes to one day build a successful business in the sector while continuing to apply the lessons she has learned throughout her journey.
For Mercy, success is not simply about personal achievement. It is about creating opportunities, inspiring others and demonstrating that young women can pursue careers and businesses of their choosing.
Her story serves as a powerful reminder that dreams do not always unfold exactly as planned. Sometimes the path we imagine for ourselves changes. Sometimes opportunities emerge from places we never expected. Mercy's dream of becoming a journalist may not have materialised, but her story is still one worth telling. It is the story of a young woman who turned a family trade into an opportunity. A woman who stepped confidently into a male-dominated space and refused to be discouraged by stereotypes. A woman who continues to learn, grow and envision a future larger than her circumstances.
Every day, as the sound of hammers rings through the workshop, Mercy Mwanza continues to shape more than metal.
If you would like to contribute to this discussion, please do so via info@zgf.org.zm
