Next steps for a better future of young people
The tall, calm Dedi Isaac (27) organizes involvement and participation of young people in one of the refugee camps on the border with South Sudan, a two-day drive from the capital Kampala. He himself comes from South Sudan, born as the eldest son of a family with many children in the small village of Ronyi. Like millions of others, his family also fled across the Ugandan border as a result of the tensions in Sudan. Over the past 20 years, the family has moved back and forth across the border a few times, depending on the security situation in Sudan. Since his father died 12 years ago, Dedi Isaac fled with his mother and siblings. Dedi Isaac talks about the relatively relaxed coexistence of refugees and residents of three countries (Congo, South Sudan and Uganda) in this northern tip of Uganda. It is called ’three cornerstone country’ where people live peacefully with many mixed marriages. Although with different passports, due to the sometimes arbitrarily drawn borders of previous colonial regimes, but with the same age-old cultural roots.
During corona times, the ambitious Dedi Isaac, in his early twenties, started a small initiative in the Bidibidi refugee camp, where he also lives: ‘Youth Focus on Transforming Communities (YFTC). He helps young people in the settlement to amplify their voices through oratory debates and grass root advocacy. Moreover, he focuses on passing on and developing digital skills. During the lessons about the internet, he also tries to make young people aware of their situation. Within the camp, YFTC brings young people together every week to talk about their future. More than 2,000 young people have already participated in these conversations. These so-called ‘round tables’ often include influential people who want to care about the fate of young people.
Dedi Isaac has now trained around 500 young people through a longer digital course, and has also put some of them in touch with banks and other lenders to set up their own small business. Registrations for his classes are booming, and he has set up an independent committee of young people to make the selection for the coming courses. Skills to run a business are now also being learned. Isaac himself has taken many online (management) courses, and thus obtained his business administration diploma. And he is also a professional filmmaker. He is now trying to take the next steps towards economic independence with the young people.