A chance encounter with an advert opened the door to a different future
For years, Baraka Martin Sulamaro relied on subsistence farming to survive. The 27-year-old refugee, who has lived in Bidibidi Refugee Settlement since fleeing to Uganda in 2017, cultivated small food crops that barely met his family’s daily needs. With unpredictable rainfall and dry conditions in the settlement, farming was increasingly difficult, leaving little hope of earning an income.
Today, Baraka spends his days learning how to breed fish, formulate fish feed, construct ponds and manage hatcheries, skills he believes will enable him to build a business of his own and create opportunities for other young people.
“I don’t think about employment anymore,” he says. “Even with the little I get, I can dig my own pond, buy fingerlings and start raising fish myself.”
His journey reflects the growing impact of the Refugee and Host Community Youth Empowerment and Transformation Initiative (RETI), is equipping refugee and host community youth with practical skills that lead to employment, entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihoods.
When survival leaves little room for planning ahead
Like many young refugees in Bidibidi, Baraka’s life revolved around finding ways to survive each season. Crop farming was the only livelihood available to him, but the harvests rarely produced enough beyond household consumption.
“Before joining this programme, I was just a peasant farmer,” he recalls. “I grew local crops simply to sustain myself. Looking at the climate here, rainfall is inconsistent. The farming we do does not bring the profit that someone would want.”
His education had also been interrupted. Displacement forced him to leave school, and after arriving in Uganda at the age of 18, he struggled to return to the classroom. The COVID-19 pandemic further disrupted his studies, while financial pressures meant that supporting his family often took priority over education.
“Sometimes, as a student, you struggle even to feed your parents,” he says. “Instead of concentrating on school, you are thinking about how your family will survive.”
After completing Senior Six, Baraka found himself at home without meaningful work and with few prospects. Rather than remain idle, he began searching for an opportunity to learn a practical skill.
An opportunity that matched both the environment and his ambition
That opportunity came through RETI after Baraka noticed an advertisement displayed at the transit centre in Bidibidi Refugee Settlement.
Implemented by a consortium comprising Muni University, Gulu University, Bishop Stuart University, Finn Church Aid, DanChurchAid, Community Empowerment for Rural Development (CEFORD), PALM Corps, Meeting Point Kitgum and Young African Refugees for Integral Development (YARID), in partnership with Mastercard Foundation, RETI equips refugee and host community youth with market-responsive skills, enterprise support, financial inclusion, mentorship and employment pathways that enable them to transition into self-employment and wage employment.
Among the vocational training opportunities offered under the programme, fish farming immediately caught Baraka’s attention.
“I picked interest in fish farming because of the climate we have here,” he explains. “I felt it was something that could work in this environment.”
Learning by doing, not by watching
Before joining the training, Baraka admits he knew almost nothing about aquaculture.
“When I came to fish farming, I was actually raw,” he says with a smile. “I knew nothing about it.”
The training quickly changed that.
Unlike conventional classroom learning, RETI’s aquaculture course places strong emphasis on practical experience. Participants spend much of their time applying what they learn in real production settings.
“The theory is only there to guide you,” Baraka explains. “Most of the learning is practical because once you do it yourself, the knowledge stays with you.”
Through the programme, he has learned pond construction, hatchery management, fish health management, water quality control, fingerling production and fish feed formulation using locally available ingredients such as fish meal, maize bran, rice bran and blood meal.
One experience stands out above all others.
“I personally got involved in injecting the ovulation hormone, removing the milt from the male catfish and mixing it with the eggs so they could hatch,” he says. “Doing it myself made me understand the whole process.”
The practical nature of the training has given him confidence that he can apply these skills independently after completing the programme.
Changing perceptions, building confidence
Beyond technical skills, the training has reshaped how Baraka thinks about work and opportunity.
Before joining RETI, he believed fish could only be obtained from rivers and lakes.
“What surprised me most was that fish can be kept in one place and harvested whenever you need them,” he says. “I always thought fishing meant going to the river. I never imagined you could rear fish at home or even in tanks.”
The programme has also challenged social beliefs he previously held.
“There are women learning alongside us,” he says. “That changed my thinking because I realised fish farming is for everyone.”
Most importantly, the experience has strengthened his confidence in his own future.
“My confidence has changed in a positive way,” he says. “I now know I can create something for myself instead of waiting for someone to employ me.”
Building a livelihood that can support others
Baraka already sees aquaculture as more than a source of income. He sees it as a business that can grow, employ others and improve household welfare.
His dream is to establish his own fish farm, manage a hatchery and eventually create employment opportunities for other young people.
“If I get the resources, I want to have my own ponds,” he says. “I also want to bring in other young people so that we learn together, work together and improve our lives together.”
He also hopes to continue advancing his education in aquaculture, believing that every additional qualification will strengthen his ability to expand the enterprise.
Sharing knowledge is equally important to him.
“If I get the opportunity, I want to teach other young people what I have learned because sharing knowledge can also change someone’s life.”
More than skills, a foundation for the future
RETI is designed to strengthen not only the technical capacity of young people but also their ability to transition into employment and entrepreneurship through vocational training, enterprise development, financial inclusion, mentorship and life skills support. For Baraka, these opportunities have shifted his outlook from uncertainty to planning.
Although he acknowledges that access to more training equipment and protective gear would strengthen practical learning, he believes the greatest resource he has gained cannot be measured in tools or infrastructure.
“Knowledge does not rot in a human being,” he says. “Once you have it, you already have something to start with.”
That belief continues to shape his ambitions. What began as an interest sparked by a simple advert has become a clear vision for the future, one where he is no longer waiting for opportunity to arrive but preparing himself to create it.
About this project
- Title: Refugee and Host Community Youth Empowerment and Transformation Initiative (RETI)
- Period: 01.06.2023 – 31.05.2027
- Partners:
Muni University
Gulu University
Bishop Stuart University
Finn Church Aid,
Community Empowerment for Rural Development
PALM Corps
Meeting Point Kitgum
Young African Refugees for Integral Development. - Amount: 27,358,466 USD
- Number of people reached: 100,000 (60,000 female)
- Donor: Mastercard Foundation
