Forced to flee their homes, cross borders, and start over—often with little more than the clothes on their backs—refugees show remarkable perseverance and unyielding courage every day.
Nuria has exemplified that kind of courage. After leaving war-torn Somalia, she arrived in Ethiopia’s Kobe Refugee Settlement with her husband and six children eager to start a new life. Unfortunately, they found few job opportunities in the settlement, and Nuria’s disability—having previously lost one of her legs—made it even harder to find work.
For Nuria and her husband, every day felt like a struggle to feed their children. “I used to borrow food from my neighbors whenever we were hungry,” she shares. “I had lost hope in life.”
Even as her hope faded, Nuria still longed to build a better future for her children—but she didn’t know the path forward.
Starting over shouldn’t require a miracle. Refugees living in extreme poverty need opportunities and resources to have a real shot at rebuilding their lives.
That’s where DREAMS comes in, and it changed everything for Nuria.
What is DREAMS?
Delivering Resilient Enterprises and Market Systems (DREAMS) is an award-winning, first-of-its-kind program by Village Enterprise and Mercy Corps designed to help refugees build self-reliance and lift themselves out of extreme poverty—for good.
In this unique partnership, Village Enterprise’s entrepreneurship-driven poverty graduation model equips refugees living in extreme poverty with the tools and training they need to launch small businesses. Meanwhile, Mercy Corps works to strengthen existing market systems and connect entrepreneurs with reliable value chains in the area. Together, this approach ensures that the local economy is positioned to help these new businesses thrive long-term, and reduces refugees’ dependency on short-term aid.
DREAMS launched in Uganda in 2022 after a successful pilot, and the program expanded to multiple refugee settlements in Ethiopia in 2023. Since then, it has grown to reach communities in Kenya and Tanzania.
Across countries, DREAMS has seen great success. In fact, in the latest cohort of entrepreneurs to have completed DREAMS in Ethiopia, only 17% of participants started the program above the international poverty line of living on $2.15 or less per day. When they completed DREAMS, that number soared to 91%.
Why refugee self-reliance matters more than ever
This past year has proven what we’ve already known—foreign aid can vanish at a moment’s notice.
As global aid budgets shrink and the number of displaced people continues to rise, cost-effective and sustainable solutions like DREAMS are more than simply innovative—they are essential.
Unlike traditional aid models that offer temporary support, DREAMS unlocks long-term economic resilience. By empowering refugees to actively participate in their local economies, DREAMS doesn’t just alleviate extreme poverty—it strengthens local markets, fosters social cohesion with host communities, and reduces reliance upon humanitarian aid.
“For too long, refugees in Africa have been viewed primarily through the lens of need, but DREAMS is shifting that narrative,” says Winnie Auma, Chief Operating Officer at Village Enterprise. “It’s not about what’s been lost, but about what becomes possible when we invest in potential. DREAMS equips refugees to become confident entrepreneurs who not only lift their families out of extreme poverty, but also drive economic growth, contribute to the economies of host countries, actively engage in markets, and build futures defined by choice, not circumstance.”
By showing what’s possible when poverty graduation programming is combined with market systems development, DREAMS is creating a powerful new blueprint for poverty alleviation—one that can be scaled by governments, replicated by community-based organizations, and sustained by local economies.
Meet two extraordinary DREAMS entrepreneurs in Ethiopia
Nuria from the Kobe Refugee Settlement
Despite her limited mobility and the unique challenges that she faced to find work, Nuria still dreamed that she would be able to start a new life in the Kobe Refugee Settlement.
That’s when she discovered DREAMS had launched in her community.
Through DREAMS, Nuria gained knowledge in business planning, financial literacy, bookkeeping, market analysis, and team dynamics. Together with two other women in her refugee settlement, they used their business grant from Village Enterprise to launch a small retail shop selling basic foods and household goods.
With their newly acquired business skills, the group steadily grew their enterprise, increasing its original value from 18,100 Ethiopian Birrs ($130 USD) to 30,000 ($217 USD) in just a few months. They invested their profits back into their store, expanding the products they sell and fueling continued growth.
But Nuria also used her profits to purchase something special. She was finally able to upgrade from a walking stick to medical-grade crutches. “Because of my disability, I used to prefer to stay in one place,” she says. “I felt isolated.”
Now, she can better move throughout the refugee settlement and access the market with a greater sense of ease, mobility, and confidence.
No longer isolated, Nuria’s leadership soon became evident. Her peers selected her to lead their local business savings group of 30 other entrepreneurs, a core part of Village Enterprise’s poverty graduation program. Through their business savings group, Nuria’s personal savings reached 8,000 Ethiopian Birrs ($57 USD) in just five months. She used this hard-earned savings to purchase a goat. With plans to start rearing goats on the side, this was an important step toward diversifying her income and building household assets.
Today, Nuria says her life has transformed. Her children eat multiple meals a day. She can afford medical care. She’s saving up to buy 20 iron sheets to fence her family’s land. And perhaps most meaningfully, she’s also changed perceptions about her disability and what she’s capable of.
“My neighbors used to underestimate me, and I wasn’t perceived as important,” she says. “But now they see that I can earn a living, save money, and provide for my children. They come to me for advice. They ask me to explain what I’ve learned from Village Enterprise.”
Nuria is now committed to supporting others, especially people living with disabilities. “I want to share what I’ve learned and encourage them to start saving too,” she says.
With a deep sense of gratitude, Nuria reflects on how far she’s come, “Village Enterprise has played a significant role in my life. This program was a turning point for my entire family.”
Nimco from the Kobe Refugee Settlement
In both Uganda and Ethiopia, DREAMS supports not only refugees, but also members of the surrounding host communities living in extreme poverty, equipping them to become entrepreneurs as well. By including both refugees and host community members, the program strengthens social cohesion and helps local markets grow in ways that benefit everyone.
Nimco is a member of the host community and a mother of three living in Ethiopia’s Kobe Refugee Settlement.
Like many families in the area, they also struggled to make ends meet. With no reliable income and few economic opportunities, Nimco and her husband used to rely on subsistence farming and informal labor to get by. But the income from these activities was unstable and insufficient, trapping her family in a cycle of poverty and food insecurity.
A brighter future started to feel possible when Nimco enrolled in DREAMS. Nimco received business training and a dedicated mentor to help her establish a thriving business for the first time. Nimco learned how to track income and expenses, set savings goals, and make crucial business decisions. With these new skills, she began to envision a future that extended beyond survival.
Using her business grant from Village Enterprise, Nimco decided to launch a business rearing sheep and goats alongside two other women in the settlement. With familiarity in the trade, Nimco brought valuable knowledge to her new business group. Additionally, through the market systems development work by Mercy Corps, Nimco was able to make connections to local livestock suppliers allowing her business group to secure better prices, more consistent supply chains, and stronger market access.
But it wasn’t just technical expertise that Nimco offered. She quickly became a key leader within her group—facilitating decisions, resolving conflicts, and helping to coordinate day-to-day operations. Her initiative and dedication played a critical role in the early success of their enterprise.
Using her profits from their successful sheep and goat business, Nimco decided to launch a second business, helping to diversify her income and grow her savings. She opened a small shop selling tea, a long-time aspiration she never thought would come true. Owning her own tea shop has become Nimco’s proudest accomplishment. “I never imagined this would be possible,” she says, reflecting on how far she has come.
Today, both of her businesses provide Nimco with reliable and steady income for her family. She’s been able to provide more nutritious meals for her children, access important healthcare, and purchase household assets such as cups, cooking utensils, and thermoses. For Nimco, these small household items represent something much bigger—a better quality of life and a renewed hope for the future.
The transformation in Nimco’s life goes beyond her business. It’s a shift in how she sees herself—not just as a mother, but as an entrepreneur, a provider, and a leader. The confidence and pride she now carries is a testament to the power of opportunity, mentorship, and entrepreneurship.
Nuria and Nimco’s journeys are a powerful reminder that with the right support, refugees can overcome enormous challenges and build thriving futures. With grit, determination, and the support of DREAMS, they turned hardship into stability, and emerged as confident leaders in their families and communities.
DREAMS is the recipient of Fast Company’s 2023 World Changing Ideas Award and a 2021 winner of the Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award for Refugees managed by Lever for Change. It’s funded by Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Gates Foundation, ICONIQ Impact, IKEA Foundation, and the extraordinary generosity of anonymous donors.
Learn more about DREAMS here.