For years the RHF has stood as a beacon of hope, working from Jinja, Busoga, in Eastern Uganda to support survivors of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Human Trafficking. For many, finding safety meant taking the heartbreaking step to flee from Uganda and rebuild their lives from scratch in South Africa. ​They built homes, found peace and began to heal. But now that fragile peace has shattered, as a severe xenophobia crisis is unfolding. Rising local tensions and overwhelming pressure on authorities have led to a reality where African migrants are being forced out of South Africa. For our RHF survivors caught in this turmoil, the danger is doubled. These women cannot simply come back home to Uganda, because this would put them right back at extreme risk. They are trapped between a crisis abroad and danger at home.

Another heartbreaking reality is child labour on our sugarcane plantations. Hollow-eyed children, their feet bare, perform backbreaking manual labour. Instead of sitting in a classroom, learning how to read and write, they are out in the blistering heat, hacking down cane, clearing sharp debris and carrying loads three times their weight. This is a life of poverty, violence, neglect and exploitation. When a child is pulled out of school and pushed into the sugarcane corridors, they lose their defence and become invisible.