She arrived hungry. Now she feeds Uganda's new refugees.

At dawn in Ocea Reception Centre in Uganda’s West Nile, Rebecca is already at work.

By 6:00 a.m., smoke curls from cooking fires as she sorts beans and rice, stirs porridge and starts cooking for families fleeing conflict. Some days, she helps prepare meals for more than 2,000 newly arrived refugees.

But Rebecca is not just a cook. She knows, deeply, what a hot meal means to someone who has lost everything. “Hot meals symbolise life,” she says. “It shows that at least people will eat. Here, food is assured.”

For refugees arriving exhausted and hungry after dangerous journeys, a hot meal is often far more than nourishment. It is safety. It is dignity. It is the first sign that they have reached refuge.

Uganda hosts more than 2 million refugees and asylum-seekers, with new arrivals still crossing its borders from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan. At reception centres like Ocea in Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement, the World Food Programme (WFP) provides hot meals to new arrivals to meet immediate food needs before families move into longer-term assistance. For people who may have gone days without food, these meals can be lifesaving, supplying energy and nutrition at a moment of acute need.

Rebecca remembers that feeling well.

In 2012, when conflict erupted in South Sudan, she fled with her family first to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then onward to Uganda through Koboko. Along the way, armed men stole everything they owned.

“We were left with only the clothes we were wearing,” she recalls. “We had nothing.”

During the journey, food was scarce. She and her children survived on wild fruits, including roadside mangoes. Travelling with young children, including a four-year-old daughter, made the journey even harder.

“There were days we had nothing to eat,” she says. “It was very rough.”

When her family finally arrived at Ocea Reception Centre, the hot meals they received, delivered by WFP, brought immense relief.

“They served porridge for breakfast, lunch and supper,” Rebecca remembers. “I was so happy and relieved that finally my family was getting at least a meal every day.”

That meal marked a turning point.

Rebecca first worked as a cleaner at the centre, then trained as a cook with the Danish Refugee Council – a role she has held since 2014.

Now she stands on the other side of the serving line, offering to others what once sustained her.

“I get very happy when giving fellow refugees food,” she says. “Because I know how important it was for me when I was also a new arrival.”

Her empathy shapes how she serves.

She vividly recalls one father arriving with ten hungry children after days without food.

“The children were crying,” she says. “As a mother, I just felt by instinct I needed to serve them first.”

She often prioritises older persons, pregnant women and people who are ill.

“When you have ever been very hungry, then you know what I am saying,” she says. “Hunger can even make you steal food. I understand, and I serve people without complaint.”

Rebecca also helps ensure each person receives the right ration – and always keeps a little aside. “I leave something in the saucepan in case someone missed serving time,” she says with a smile.

Cooking has rebuilt her own life. She supports a household of 11, receives WFP cash assistance as a Category 1 refugee household, and her income helps pay school fees for seven children.

With arrivals continuing in Uganda, she says support for hot meals is needed more than ever. “Please add more support, because food is still needed as more refugees keep coming.”

Returning to South Sudan feels uncertain. “I am not sure if I will ever go back,” she says quietly. “But I pray for the best.”

As the afternoon serving line grows at Ocea, Rebecca lifts another ladle of rice and beans – offering what once carried her family through their darkest days: a warm meal, a welcome and a reminder that even in displacement, hope can still be served hot.

WFP delivers critical life-changing interventions in Uganda, thanks to government partners including Austria, Canada, Denmark, European Commission (ECHO), France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom and the United States of America.