The Honor Roll: After Surviving a Brutal Civil War, a Student Takes Human Trafficking Head On
Agnes Igoye discusses her commitment to Uganda’s most vulnerable women
[Editor’s Note: In October, President Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton convened the 10th annual CGI University meeting , which brought more than 1,000 student leaders from around the world to advance new Commitments to Action that address climate change, gender inequality, the refugee crisis, and other pressing issues facing their generation. Over the next several weeks, our Q&A series — the Honor Roll — will highlight 10 exceptional CGI U alumni who have confronted global challenges through their commitments and careers.]
In In 2011, Agnes Igoye was a graduate student at the University of Minnesota who had seen and escaped unspeakable atrocities during Uganda’s civil war. The 2010–11 Fulbright/Hubert Humphrey Fellow — unable to shake the memories of the gender-based violence that had ravaged families during and after the conflict — came to CGI University with a commitment to establishing a rehabilitation center for victims of human trafficking in her home country. Since the launch of her commitment, Agnes has developed critical housing solutions and worked with law enforcement officials to make Uganda a safer place for women.
Agnes graduated from the Mid-Career Masters in Public Administration Program at the Harvard Kennedy School in May, and New African magazine has named her one of the 100 most influential people in Africa. We asked her about her inspirations, her CGI U experience, and her advice for other student change-makers.
CLINTON FOUNDATION: You came to CGI U with a commitment to address human trafficking in Uganda. Why was the topic so important to you?
AGNES: My birth was a scandal. I was born into a community that did not value the girl child. By age 7, I was nicknamed ‘’Amalayat,’’ literally meaning prostitute. When the Lord’s Resistance Army raided our home, my sisters and I were targeted for sexual exploitation. We were lucky to flee. Displaced and lost everything. These experiences shaped my Commitment to Action — to counter human trafficking and protect and rehabilitate survivors.
Later, one particular survivor heightened my resolve to build a rehabilitation center. It started with me responding to a frantic midnight phone call from a survivor who had listened to me speak about human trafficking at her university campus. Circumcised as a child, she was married off to a man fit to be her father, before she healed from her wounds. After years of abuse, she managed to escape and returned to her parents. They scolded her for bringing shame to the family, for abandoning her husband. Their plan to forcefully send her back to her husband was aborted when she fled. I rescued her at midnight. With no rehabilitation centers, I sheltered her at my house, where I lived with my mum and sister.
However, she felt guilty for invading our space. Three days later, she disappeared and I have never seen her again. I wish I had a rehabilitation center to take her — my failure to protect her haunted me, still does. It’s the reason I built a rehabilitation center!
CF: Can you remember the moment when you realized the impact that you were making through your CGI U commitment?
AGNES: It was emotional. It was when I first visited the home of our first beneficiary of the Huts for Peace program, which houses survivors of human trafficking. A homeless mother of six daughters, who had suffered sexual exploitation as a weapon of war by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). She was evicted from her matrimonial home by relatives of her late husband who died in abduction. They blamed her for her husband’s actions. He had killed his relatives, under the command of the LRA.
Upon request, the local church donated land where we constructed a hut for the homeless mother and her six daughters. I had physically participated in the construction of the Hut and had returned to witness the beneficiaries enter their new home.
When I arrived I found three generations. The beneficiary, was accompanied by her mother and three sisters, with their children. 15 people had come to occupy the hut which was already small for one family. I wept. It made me realize the impact of my commitment in housing families but also made me realize how hard I had to work, to build more housing to avoid overcrowding, so every woman, with her children can live in dignity.
CF: What was the most important lesson from your CGI U experience?
AGNES: To be creative and flexible. Not to wait for external funding to start. To Engage and listen to beneficiaries, ask questions and to trust their valuable guidance to solutions to their problems. During the implementation of my commitment, I met a group of 15 women (Rwot Omiyo group), displaced victims of human trafficking and gender-based violence including rape as a weapon of war by the Lord’s resistance Army. Several of the women took care of grandchildren who lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. They had survived abduction only to lose their lives to HIV/AIDS due to sexual exploitation in captivity. All the women lacked housing (huts).
“Why can’t we build these huts ourselves?” I asked.
A brainstorming session ensued. The women decided on where to collectively find building materials like grass, wood, mold bricks and collect water for construction. They divided tasks and made a list in order of urgency, on beneficiaries of the housing project. The Huts For Peace program was born. Women building their own housing. As they built, it attracted attention and volunteers, including men. It brought the community together, and the local church donated land to construct housing for landless women. From my savings I bought a few materials like nails that were not locally available. Communities were built, one brick at a time!
CF: What’s the biggest piece of advice you would you give to college students looking to make their mark on the world while they’re still in school?
AGNES: Start. Don’t look for perfection, it doesn’t exist. Commitments are constant works in progress. Action and passion will bring every step, however small, closer to your goal or vision. Don’t wait to receive external funding to start your commitment. Let people find you along the way. They will. And never be afraid of failure.
When I started building a shelter for survivors of human trafficking, I was a student on a Fulbright-Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship at the University of Minnesota. I used my meager savings from my previous job to build a foundation. I kept laying one brick at a time, as I continued to speak about my commitment to various audiences, describing how far I had gone. Many saw my passion, including Diane von Furstenberg, who gave me a $50,000 award that I used to complete the shelter.
To kickstart my books project for the education of vulnerable children and victims of human trafficking, I saved $1,000 from my student stipend, much of it from my food budget. I took advantage of school events that offered free food!
With $1,000 I went to Books for Africa, requested their support to send a container of 23,000 donated books to Uganda for the education of vulnerable children and survivors of human trafficking. They uploaded my project on their website, where friends and well-wishers contributed. My initial $1,000 contribution increased to the $11,000 required to ship a container. Since 2011, I have shipped over 92,000 text books to Uganda.
CF: What was your favorite moment as a member of the CGI U community?
AGNES: Cheers from excited barefoot school children in Pallisa, Uganda, when they saw a forty foot shipping container with 23,000 text books. Seated on the front seat, I and the driver had navigated a two hour treacherous journey from the Uganda-Kenya border. It was my first shipment of books to support the education of vulnerable children and victims of human trafficking. With the school gate too small for the truck/container to pass, the children excitedly ferried books to their classrooms. They had never seen so many books nor owned a text book. They were so excited. I wept.
To learn more about Agnes’ journey and fight against human trafficking, watch her video interview with Big Think below.
