Yayacarpenter
Chez asap.work depuis
March 2024
Between resilience and a passion for wood, Yaya crossed borders to build her life and career as a carpenter.
The hardest thing about my job? It's when I'm not working.
Between a forced departure from Côte d'Ivoire, years of work in Mali and a crossing of the desert to Algeria, Yaya tells how woodworking became his universal language and his driving force for progress.
Born in Dabou in Côte d'Ivoire, Yaya left his country at 17 to escape conflicts. Already passionate about wood, he trained in carpentry and then carpentry in Mali, where he participated in prestigious projects such as the renovation of the former presidential residence. Refusing to engage in illicit activities or trafficking, he chose the road of exile, crossing the desert to Algeria, before arriving in France at the end of 2016. Initially a carpenter, he finally returned to his first passion: carpentry. Now a member of the asap.work family since March 2024, he takes a rare humble look at his job, recalling that for him, the only real suffering is inactivity.
I liked to saw wood by hand, to plane by hand, to sand by hand... that's how I learned the trade.
His look at theFuture of the profession and the place of young people in the sector
Sa pride to work on projects that shape the daily lives of Ile-de-France residents
Les technical challenges which he was confronted with.
In this interview, Yaya talks about:
- His early apprenticeship in Dabou, where he discovered a passion for wood by watching a neighborhood carpenter, learning to saw and plane by hand since childhood.
- His courageous exile from Ivory Coast, a career marked by the desire to remain true to its principles and to choose work over conflict.
- Her renovation experiences in Mali, especially on historic sites, which consolidated its know-how before arriving in France in 2016.
- Her transition to carpentry, a profession chosen out of desire and observation, proving that the construction site is a place of constant evolution.
Beyond her career, Yaya delivers a testimony of profound humility about dignity through work and resilience in the face of adversity.
Steve: Hello Yaya.
Yaya: Good morning
Steve: Thank you for taking the time today to tell your story, your journey. What we are going to do first is start with childhood. Where do you come from?
Yaya: I am from Ivory Coast. Well, from the capital, but I was born in Dabou, 49 kilometers from the capital, and then I grew up in the capital.
Steve: What was your background when you were young, did you study?
Yaya: Not too much... When I opened my eyes, I was with my grandmother and my grandfather. I didn't know my mom or dad. I had to stop school at Fourth Grade because my grandmother was tired. Right next to our house, there was a carpenter. Every time I left school, I went there to learn. I liked to saw wood because I liked to play sports. He understood that I was interested, so he taught me how to saw by hand, plane by hand, sand by hand.
Steve: And after?
Yaya: My grandparents are dead. I went to my uncle's house in Jacqueville. I worked with a carpenter-carpenter who made ceilings. At 17, I joined my maternal grandfather in the east of the country to grow cocoa and coffee. Then, there was the call for the army, I signed up. But with the coup, the country was divided in two. I didn't want to get involved in these fights. It was at that moment that I decided to leave Côte d'Ivoire.
Steve: How did that happen?
Yaya: I went on a motorbike to the border of Mali. I declared myself a political refugee. I stayed in Mali for 3 months, I met French people who were renovating tourist sites in the North, in particular the former residence of Moussa Traoré. I worked with them for a year. I wanted to go to France, but it was complicated. Finally, I hit the road for Algeria with a friend. We crossed the desert, we were ripped off by smugglers who abandoned us in the middle of the desert at the Algerian border. We had to figure it out. It was a small Tuareg village, with arms and cigarette trafficking, I did not want that. I helped my girlfriend continue to Algiers, and I arrived in France at the end of 2016.
Steve: And carpenter?
Yaya: I was a basic carpenter, then a building formworker in France. But the carpenter profession came out of envy, seeing people working.
Steve: What is the most difficult thing about your job?
Yaya: The hardest thing... is when you're not working.
Steve: That is a good answer. What we can wish you is a lot of missions, a lot of work. And how long have you been with Asap
Yaya: Since March 2024.
Steve: Thank you so much Yaya for this moment.
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