Cris Cyborg to assist Ugandan villages in new partnership

Cris “Cyborg” Justino will be partnering with Fight for the Forgotten (FFTF), a non-profit organization based in Oklahoma City, to help support development projects in impoverished villages in Uganda.

As announced in a press release obtained by FanSided, Cris “Cyborg” Justino will assist in partially funding the initiative of Fight for the Forgotten (FFTF), founded by MMA fighter Justin “The Big Pygmy” Wren and his wife, Emily, last year. This project’s focus will be assisting the Batwa Pygmies, who have been referred to as one of the most oppressed peoples in the world.

“I’ve been a fan of Cris Cyborg as a pioneer of women’s MMA for over a decade. In recent years, I’ve become even more of a fan because of how she’s been using her platform to make a difference in her community and this world,” Wren said. “We are blown away that Cris reached out wanting to help us transform two Ugandan communities by providing them access to life-giving, clean water.”

FFTF has been lobbying on behalf of the Batwa Pygmies with the local government. Wren says his organization is looking to get land titles for the people and “empower a team of local entrepreneurs to drill their own water wells and launch a sustainable farming initiative.”

Justino’s contributions will go towards funding the area’s first two wells.

Wren’s organization fights for basic human rights across Africa, as well as provides an anti-bullying campaign in the United States.

He stepped away from MMA in 2011 to live with a Mbuti Pygmy tribe in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for a year. According to the release, Wren said the tribe had been suffering through enslavement and disease, but his organization has managed to free about 1,500 members of the group and provide 2,470 acres of land and access to clean water.

“When I heard of Justin’s work in Africa, it really touched my heart,” Justino said. “It’s amazing to see how his work is empowering the local communities by creating progress and change. Globally more than three million people die each year from water-related diseases, so when the opportunity to get involved became available I knew this was a cause God was putting in my heart.”

Justino is currently awaiting the booking of her next fight.