Founder of Women in Action for Women (WAW), an NGO
Victoria Nyanjura (born circa 1982) is a Ugandan community activist, who is the founder of Women in Action for Women (WAW), a Ugandan-based non-governmental organization, that attempts to improve the lives of young people and women through vocational training, business education and guidance in accessing community and government services.[1]
Nyanjura worked as a volunteer at the Justice & Reconciliation Project, a non-governmental organization that aims at rehabilitation war-ravaged communities in Northern Uganda, based in the city of Gulu. She later became an employee at the NGO, in its Gender Justice department.[3] She has also worked at International Justice Mission, another NGO, focused on protecting Ugandan widows on property ownership.[1]
Other considerations
In 1996, at the age of 14 years, Nyanjura was one of the 139 girls abducted from St. Mary's College Aboke on 10 October 1996, by rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army. The deputy headmistress of the college, Sister Rachele Fassera of Italy, pursued the rebels and successfully negotiated the release of 109 of the girls. 30 of the girls were retained by the rebels. Nyanjura was one of the 30. After eight years in captivity, characterized by torture and sexual abuse, she was able to escape and regain her freedom in 2004.[1][2]