Marie, 20 years old: “It was in March 2014 when I first met my now-husband. He came Dungu to visit his aunt. I was passing by, close to her house, because I was on the way to fetch water. That’s when he saw me. And then he sent his sister to tell me that he likes me. He is building a house with bricks for us. My husband is a farmer. The family of my husband has a field and I grow crops there, too.

I also bake donuts, which Sister Angelique taught me. I called my daughter Angelique, because Sister Angelique taught me so many things. She taught me how to work and the importance of work. I wanted my daughter to be just like her.

I have everything. There is nothing else I want. When I finish the work in the fields, I go home and I continue working there, baking donuts to earn money to take care of my family. If someone is sick, I have money to take them to the hospital. I want to stay with my husband and continue our life together. I love him.”

At the age of 14, Marie was captured by the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) in her village of Duru, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The LRA attacked the school and kidnapped the girls. She was held captive for three years.

Since she escaped her kidnappers, she lives in Dungu, DRC, where she met the nun Sister Angelique. In 2012, Marie joined the nun’s literacy classes and also took part in the cooking and sewing classes. Thanks to the bakery and the cooking classes, she is now able to feed her family. Last year, she met her husband and together they now have three-month-old baby girl named Angelique.

Refugees. Ordinary people living through extraordinary times. Share their stories.