Founder, Holly Elissa, travelled to northern Uganda in 2008. There she met Oneka Richard, former refugee, and together they formed Caleb’s Hope, a Canadian/Ugandan NGO working with displaced women and children affected by the LRA genocide in the remote Acholiland region roughly 17km from the border of South Sudan.
OUR HISTORY
Art therapy photo by Acholi child on how he experienced the genocide of his people
With community leaders, they focused on mental health, economic security, land reclamation and home construction, HIV/AIDS care, and food security.
After their final program was fully developed – organic farming – the charity services came to a close, fulfilling the charity’s original goal of ‘going out of business’ in the area.
Since then, Holly returned to school to pursue a legal education, in the aim of improving her ability to serve under the NGO. She has both an LLB and LLM and her specialties are international human rights and animal law. Oneka launched a climate-conscious honey and beekeeping social enterprise in Gulu. We couldn’t be more pleased to relaunch the organisation, as of 2024, as United Commons, with a new mission to help beings in need embracing a holistic ecofeminist approach that incorporates environmental stewardship, human rights and animal welfare.
