Round Hill Community Church invites the community to hear humanitarian Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe speak on Monday, April 10 at 7 p.m. Sister Rosemary, a Ugandan nun and one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World,” is the subject of the book Sewing Hope. Her speech will be followed by a Q&A, book signing, and a wine and cheese reception. The cost is $10.
Sister Rosemary has been honored for her work in saving the lives of thousands of girls during the rebel wars in Uganda and South Sudan. She has received the United Nations Impact Award, been named a CNN Hero, and been honored by the “Women in the World” summit conferences in this country and around the world.
This is Sister Rosemary’s second visit to Round Hill. She will update us on the current news and challenges she faces in her continuing work at St. Monica’s various campuses in Gulu, Moyo, Adjumani, and at the Sewing Hope Orphan Village in Atiak in Uganda. Due to drought and famine, she has started an agriculture program to raise cows and grow food, and continues to educate the young women and children to become self-sufficient. Through the Sewing Hope Foundation Sister Rosemary teaches the children to sew, cook, and make purses and jewelry. The purses will be for sale the day of the talk.
For the last 30 years Sister Rosemary has answered the call to serve the victims at the epicenter of the bloody and violent civil wars that decimated North Uganda and South Sudan. For years, Joseph Kony and his “Lord’s Resistance Army” terrorized villages and stole children from their families, forcing them into slavery. Armed with only a sewing machine, Sister Rosemary openly defied the rebels in their reign of terror. Since 2002, she has enrolled more than 2000 girls, who had been abducted and abandoned by their families, into her “Saint Monica’s Girls Tailoring Center” in Gulu, Uganda. She has made it her mission to provide a home and school for women and girls whose lives have been shattered by violence, rape, and sexual exploitation and given them ways to support themselves through job training in tailoring, catering, and other practical skills to restore their dignity, independence, and hope. She says, “I want to give a voice to the voiceless and give these young women and children dignity so they will be accepted in society.” Her story is of one woman’s fight to bring hope and dignity back to her nation.
For reservations: visit roundhillcommunitychurch.org or call 203-869-1091. The church is located at 395 Round Hill Rd.
