Rozeta Achan: Empowering Women in Kakuma Refugee Camp

25-year-old Rozeta Achan dialled in from Kakuma Refugee Camp to talk to unconnected.org.

Lots of noise could be heard in the background as Rozeta was amongst other young women in the middle of a session focused on sexual reproductive health rights.

She kindly took a break from her class which has enabled her to be a SHRT facilitator for a year and a half, using her knowledge from her Tuesday-Friday training sessions to go into the primary school in Kakuma to teach.

Arriving as a teenager in 2017, Rozeta is all too aware of the challenges that women and girls face in the camp and as such has chosen to empower young minds with the knowledge and tools to make informed decisions about their well-being.

“I chose that I needed to transform my community,” Rozeta affirms. “I need the youngsters to have the knowledge of their health and how to take care of themselves.”

Hailing from South Sudan's Western Bahr el Ghazal state, Rozeta's journey to Kakuma was driven by conflict that engulfed her homeland.

The echoes of war reverberated through her memories as she recounts.

“The main reason why I left South Sudan was because of war, there was a war that broke out in August 2016, an inter-tribe conflict that happened, so I decided to come to Kakuma.

“The situation was very terrible, you would see dead bodies around and you would hear all night people dying, and also there is not any chance of studying, even when you go to school you see people with guns around, so it makes people fear and just stay indoors.

“There was no opportunity of learning and our lives were in danger.”

Together with her mother, her twin brother and younger brother and sister Rozeta came through Uganda into Nairobi and before arriving at Kakuma. An uncle who was in Uganda recommended Kakuma as the “safest place” to go.

Unbeknownst to what they would find at the refugee camp, opportunities were disappointingly scarce for Rozeta when she arrived.

“When I came here in 201,  this place was like the bush, there was nothing, there were no schools yet, we had to stay at home all day,” she recalls.

“Then I think by that time they constructed a primary school, but by that time I was in high school, so I had to stay in the house for two years.”

Education has, however, since served as a lifeline for Rozeta, who has been dedicated to her studies enabling her not only to complete high school but also begin her bachelors’ degree in Business administration earlier this year. Undeterred by the lack of traditional educational infrastructure, Rozeta embraced the opportunities afforded by online learning, thanks to the implementation of WiFi from unconnected.org, as she gets to grips with the fundamentals of business.

Explaining her decision to study business she elaborated on her dream job.

“I would like to run a big supermarket,” she told us, “I love being in supermarkets, whenever I go there, I do admire how things are arranged, being a supermarket it is a big business that enables you to get a lot of benefits.”

Her educational pursuits received a transformative boost with the intervention of organisations like KALOBEYEI INITIATIVE 4 BETTER LIFE, a community organisation committed to bridging the digital divide in refugee communities. With the installation of WiFi infrastructure in Kalobeyei, a relatively new refugee settlement, located just outside of Kakuma Refugee Camp, the horizons of learning expanded, offering Rozeta and her peers access to a world of knowledge previously beyond reach.

Having seen an advert for computer classes, Rozeta signed up without hesitation, having spent years on the camp without access to a computer learning facility.

“At first, it was a bit challenging to me,” she admits. “But after six months now I can operate a computer excellently.”

Rozeta noted that in her class in the afternoon shift available at Kalobeyei, she is one of very few girls, but has had plenty of female influences driving her forward both in real life and in fiction. The 25-year old has many passions ranging from football to reading books.

Rozeta cited one of the novels she loves called Blossoms of the Savanna which features two female characters called Taiyo and Resian.

“These two ladies are warriors, they are strong, they are optimistic and they are loyal.”

Within her own family there is also a close bond between Rozeta and her 62-year-old mother.

Acknowledging the challenges she faces as a young woman to access learning opportunities, Rozeta is motivated to overcome these to be a positive influence on her younger sister.

“She sees me as a role model, in a way that I am so committed with my studies and I am somebody who is loyal.”

“My advice for young girls coming here is that they should take Kakuma as home and grab the opportunities they can get here," she reflects.

“Wherever you go where you can get peace, it can feel like home and things will change.”

Rozeta remains undeterred in her pursuit of a brighter future in a place where she can “live freely without any harm”, and thanks to the meaningful digital connection she has, she is one step closer to fulfilling her dreams, running a supermarket, and perhaps one day going to Old Trafford to watch her beloved Manchester United in the flesh.