When Ramadan arrived in Kenya as a 15-year-old refugee in 2016, he had already lost both of his parents to the conflict in South Sudan.

“We ran first to a church,” he remembers. “But it was not safe. Bullets were everywhere. It was by the grace of God that no bullet entered my body.”

After a dangerous journey to Kenya, Ramadan began rebuilding his life in Kakuma. He enrolled in school when temporary classrooms opened in 2017, eventually completing both primary and secondary education. But education was not the only thing that shaped his future.

Through ADRA’s Together project, Ramadan participated in community training on gender equality, girls’ education, early marriage and preventing violence against women and girls. The experience changed his perspective, and he began sharing what he learned with others. Alongside other youth leaders, Ramadan helped organize community campaigns using drama, poetry, riddles and open discussions. Some events reached more than 400 people at a time.

He has since seen changes in his community, including greater support for girls’ education and reductions in early marriage and violence against women. He remembers one friend who stopped physically abusing his wife after participating in the training and receiving ongoing mentoring. “For the past two years,” Ramadan says, “we have not seen any violence in that home.”

Today, Ramadan is helping encourage a different future for the next generation. “Before, girls were denied access to school and financial independence. Now we see our sisters becoming teachers, doctors.”

Even as the Together project came to an end, Ramadan and other youth leaders plan to continue sharing what they have learned. “We will keep transforming the generation,” he says.

Ramadan’s journey from a young refugee to a community leader shows what can happen when people have the opportunity to learn, lead and create change in their communities. Thanks to donors like you, ADRA continues to walk alongside people as they build brighter futures.