Nicky Hayward is establishing a Foundation in Uganda to provide work for young girls, many of whom were trafficked into prostitution

Bay of Plenty fashion designer Nicky Hayward is setting up a charity to help the young girls in Uganda who have found a place in her heart.

“We are in the process of setting up ‘Ruth Foundation’ in Uganda, East Africa, and also going through the process of becoming a charitable trust here in New Zealand,” she says.

Ms Hayward spent five weeks in Uganda over Christmas and New Year 2010/11 and returned for a three-month visit last year. The purpose of the visits was to teach some of the young women to sew so she could employ them as part of her fashion label SIR COUTURE. “A week before I arrived into Uganda, I received some heart-shattering news. A young girl, Ruth, who I was to teach sewing to train up to employ in our business, was trafficked to Dubai to be sold as a slave. The remaining three girls that I met to train were her friends and said they have not heard from her since. Sadly, the truth is they may never see her again. Passports are confiscated on arrival. Ruth has put a deep scar in my heart; this is why I will persevere through all trials, deception and corruption. We are doing it for girls like Ruth.”

Ms Hayward says the aim of the Ruth Foundation is to provide shelter for vulnerable women and orphans — a place where they can gain skills and employment through a training and vocational skills unit.

“We have been working with a number of young people who have been trafficked into child prostitution at a young age, some sold as child brides, others as child soldiers,” says Ms Hayward. “Amina was a child bride, sold at 13 to be a wife to an old man. She is now HIV positive and has two children. We have left her with a sewing machine after training her to enable us to employ her. Taka was abandoned and orphaned, left at eight years old in Kampala city. She was very quickly picked up and sold as a child prostitute; she fell pregnant at 15 and escaped. She is another beautiful young lady who we are working with.”

Ms Hayward and her fiancé Stephen are back in New Zealand to get married in March and raise funds for the charity. “We have got some incredible supporters who are mentoring us, helping us with raising funds and are in it for the long haul. We can’t say when we will but we do look forward to releasing our fair trade menswear to New Zealand from the heart of Uganda,” she says.

By Gemma Margerison