Victoria Nyanjura was 14 years old when the Lord’s Resistance Army abducted her from her school in northern Uganda. That night in October 1996, soldiers kidnapped 139 girls before one of the school nuns persuaded the captors to set some free. Victoria was not among the lucky ones. Instead, she would spend eight years captive in the notorious Joseph Kony’s violent cult. She would be assigned as a wife to a rebel commander and have two children.
Nearly eight years later, in the chaos of a botched attack, she escaped into the night with her infant and toddler. She was eventually discovered by government troops and returned to her family.
But escape wasn’t a happy ending—it was just the beginning. Victoria had to rebuild a life, and she knew that she wanted help from Notre Dame.
In 2020, she earned her Master of Global Affairs degree at Notre Dame.
Now, Victoria Nyanjura MGA '20 is the head of St. Bakhita's Vocational Training Center in Kalongo, Uganda. With the help of Notre Dame business students, she and her students—girls once held captive by the Lord's Resistance Army and now their children—are learning the same skills used by Fortune 500 companies to create economic stability and make a difference in the world.
Members of the John Cardinal O’Hara Society contribute to human flourishing across the globe through their investment in the next generation of Notre Dame business leaders like Victoria.