In 2000, when Popina Khumanda was five years old, rebel soldiers attacked her village in the northern region of the DRC and took her, her 18-year-old sister, and many others captive. After five years in captivity, where they were subjected to torture and rape, Popina and her sister managed to escape and walked 6000 km to South Africa. Popina ended up in a children’s home in Despatch in the Eastern Cape.