Ayen Dhieu, a 20-year-old woman and the second eldest of six siblings, was born in South Sudan but had to flee with her family to Kakuma Refugee Camp in northwestern Kenya, one of the biggest refugee camps in Africa.
Established in 1992, Kakuma was initially set up to host unaccompanied minors fleeing the war in Sudan and has since become home to over 200,000 refugees from various neighboring countries, including South Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Somalia.
Ayen’s family fled South Sudan due to conflict and instability, making return impossible. For Ayen’s family and other refugees, life in Kakuma presents numerous challenges, including limited access to formal education and employment opportunities.
Despite these hardships, digital skills and e-commerce training programme expose young refugees, especially women, to skills in digital literacy, transcription, content creation, blogging, virtual assistant role and online freelancing, thereby expanding their opportunities to generate more income.
Since completing her secondary school education in 2023, Ayen’s family couldn’t afford further studies for her. Without further education, her future looked bleak and she worried about being a burden to her already financially overwhelmed family.
However, in October 2024, Ayen’s life took a positive turn when she joined the first cohort of the Digital Marketing and E-Commerce training programme delivered by the Solidarity Initiative for Refugees (SIR), International Trade Centre (ITC), and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
By March 2025, she had completed her course where she was exposed to detailed modules ranging from digital literacy and collaboration tools to artificial intelligence, mastering e-commerce, and graphic design for freelancers.
The training has helped Ayen and 26 other young women in Kakuma to learn digital skills, expand their career opportunities, laying the groundwork for sustainable income in the future.
Being in a male-dominated community where traditions limit girls’ opportunities, this programme was a dream come true for me.
Ayen Dhieu
Participant in the Digital Marketing and E-Commerce training programme
Confidence to dream bigger
For Ayen, the programme gave her the confidence to dream bigger. She found her passion in blogging and content creation, skills that have the potential to offer her financial independence and the ability to support her family in the future.
‘The biggest achievement for me was learning digital marketing, LinkedIn, and blogging. These skills are life-changing,’ says Ayen.
This digital marketing and e-commerce training is implemented by ITC to equip refugees with digital skills training program, marking a major step toward financial independence and self-reliance.