shield arrow-simple-alt-top arrow-simple-alt-left arrow-simple-alt-right arrow-simple-alt-bottom facebook instagram linkedin medium pinterest rss search-alt shaper twitter video-play arrow-long-right arrow-long-left arrow-long-top arrow-long-bottom arrow-simple-right arrow-simple-left arrow-simple-bottom readio arrow-simple-top speaker-down plus minus cloud hb pin camera globe cart rotate Group-35 star edit arrow-top arrow-right arrow-left arrow-bottom check search Close square speaker-up speaker-mute return play pause love new-tab equalizer
Back to Stories

Rita was a loving mother of six young children.

Share

Rita was a loving mother of six young children.

One day, her husband died. That’s when her nightmare began.

M

illy, a 10-year-old girl in Uganda, watched her mother Rita cry.

“I lost hope completely…. I saw all the time (my mother) was crying,” said Milly, 18.

Milly’s mom, Rita, had just become a widow. She cried because she had lost her husband. But she was also angry and scared. Her six little children watched their mother cry almost every day.

Her in-laws, who once accepted her warmly, had become vicious.

They were out to harm her and her children. They wanted her land.

Will you protect other families from violence?

Her relatives cut her crops and threatened her with machetes.

They took over the little shop Rita and her husband had owned to make money, causing Rita’s children to drop out of school because she couldn’t afford the fees.

One relative told a passerby, “I am going to cut this lady into pieces and her children, they are not leaving this piece of land… why are they insisting on staying?

Rita barely had any money left. She walked to a police station and begged them to help. They told her about IJM.

Fight for victims like Rita.

Rita

Then supporters like you came in. You sent IJM to win her case. The court affirmed Rita’s rights to her land. IJM also helped police arrest and jail a relative that had been moving Rita’s boundary markers.

Thanks to support from people like you, IJM helped Rita set up a small business— a piggery to raise pigs for sale.

Nowadays, Milly watches her mother smile, not cry.

“If it weren’t for IJM maybe my mom would have given up by now,” said Milly. “Maybe God answered our prayers through IJM—and we are free.”

You Can Help Send Rescue Today.

When you give a gift today, you’ll be fighting slavery, violence, and injustice across the globe. Together, we can end slavery and violence in our lifetime.

You can make the most impact as a Freedom Partner today.

Your generous monthly support will help send rescue to vulnerable children and families at a moment’s notice, stand with them as they rebuild their lives in freedom and have perpetrators held accountable.

Login

Donor Portal

Review your giving, tax statements and contact info via the IJM Donor Portal.

please sign in
Email Sign Up
Get updates from IJM on stories from the field, events in your area and opportunities to get involved.
sign up