A Second Chance: How UCBC’s Justice Initiative is Bringing Hope to the Forgotten

For nearly a year, Kavugho Gentille waited in prison with little hope that she would ever leave.

Her troubles began with a mistake.

Working at an Airtel Money shop in Beni, she accidentally handed a customer $700 instead of $70. When she discovered the error later that day, she was horrified. But what followed was even harder to imagine. Rather than working toward a solution, her employer had her imprisoned and demanded she repay the full amount.

Kavugho had no way to do so.

“There was nothing my family could sell to pay the debt,” she recalls. “I remained locked up in the women’s prison.”

Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. With no money and no legal representation, her case stalled. Like many prisoners in the Democratic Republic of Congo, she found herself trapped in a justice system where poverty can be as powerful a sentence as any crime.

Then something unexpected happened.

Other women in the prison noticed that no one seemed to be following up on her case. They told her about a group of Christian lawyers in Beni who were helping prisoners who had nowhere else to turn. Through them, Kavugho was connected to UCBC’s Justice Initiative and the Christian Lawyers Association.

Soon, lawyers arrived to review her case.

“Without their intervention, I would probably still be in prison today,” she says. “I believed I would spend my whole life behind bars.”

Kavugho’s story is far from unique.

For Paluku Kasayi Daniel, the path to prison began with a dispute over land he legally owned. After completing the required procedures to secure his concession, another individual appeared claiming ownership using what Paluku says were falsified documents. When he challenged the claim, he found himself behind bars.

The experience left him disillusioned.

“There is no longer true justice,” he says. “If fairness truly prevailed, things would be different.”

Through the Justice Initiative, Paluku connected with Christian lawyer Master Pierrot, who helped defend his case through the courts. Eventually, the evidence prevailed. Paluku won his case and regained his freedom.

“We will never be able to repay you in proportion to what you have done for us,” he says. 

Stories like these are what drive the Justice Initiative’s work.

Operating through UCBC, the initiative provides legal assistance to vulnerable individuals who often have no advocate and no means to navigate an overwhelmed and frequently corrupt justice system. For many, a lack of money can mean years in prison awaiting action on a case. Others are imprisoned for offenses that do not warrant such lengthy detention. Some have committed no crime at all.

Master Pierrot knows these realities firsthand.

“What is particularly difficult is to practice as a lawyer, judge or magistrate while remaining Christian and honest,” he says. “It is a daily struggle.”

He describes a system where corruption can influence outcomes and where refusing to participate in that corruption often creates conflict. Yet despite the challenges, he remains hopeful.

“There are many jurists, lawyers, magistrates and judges who have embraced the philosophy and message carried by [our network] of Christian lawyers,” he says. “It is possible to practice this profession while remaining honest and faithful to one’s values.”

For him, the work is about more than legal victories. It is about restoring dignity, defending the vulnerable and demonstrating that justice is still possible.

For Kavugho, that justice meant freedom.

For Paluku, it meant reclaiming his future.

And for countless others who have nowhere else to turn, the Justice Initiative offers something equally powerful: a second chance.