Help Gloire and Daniela Pay for Their Wedding in Ugandan Refugee Camp

Please read the story below written by my friend and colleague, Gloire Mudekuza in Uganda. Gloire is an amazing young man who, despite having been through tremendous traumas in his life, has turned things around and is working hard to help others. He does this mainly through his non-governmental organization (NGO) called Plethora Social Initiative. Thanks for considering giving what you can to this campaign, Gail

Greetings everyone!

My name is IRENGE GLOIRE MUDEKUZA and I am a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo but I am currently living in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement Camp in Uganda.

About six years ago, when I was only 22 years old, I fled my county due to the war there and the resulting insecurity and unrest, particularly in Eastern Congo where I was living. During the war, thousands of people were killed, women were raped, there was much bloodshed, and in my presence I saw my loved ones being killed and burnt, even some of my family members.

I was tortured and threatened with death until I finally got the chance to escape the rebels and then found myself living as a refugee in Uganda. As a result of all I had been through, I became traumatized and developed mental health issues, such as a phobia of soldiers and PTSD.

I received some help and eventually recovered. It was then that I met and then fell in love with DANIELA MUGISHO, who is also from the Congo, and she helped me to overcome many challenges that I faced, as we are both refugees who have been through similar situations. We started learning from each other about how to forget the past and build a better future full of hope and inspiration. We have since transformed our traumas into a passion to serve our community as a changemakers in the refugee settlement camp, working to give others hope and to overcome their stress and stigmatization.

Daniela and I are getting married on December 16, 2023 and we are unable as refugees to afford our wedding expenses due to a lack of income opportunities in the refugee camp. What makes this even tougher is we are both living without our families who could support us, as we had to leave them behind in our native country when war broke out. So we are reaching out to you as are our international family.

We have put together this crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds we need to have a beautiful and joyful wedding day. We ask for you to donate to this campaign to support us so we can celebrate our union and our amazing love.

Our wedding celebration will also be an opportunity for refugees in our settlement camp to come together, be entertained, and to drink, dance, feel happy, and forget about their past experiences for a while as they witness our union.

Thank you kindly for donating whatever you can to make our day as special as possible for us and for the other refugees in Nakivale Refugee Settlement Camp.