Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe of Uganda, just named as one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People" and the 2007 CNN Hero of the Year, will be at Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga on Thursday.
Local author Nancy Henderson wrote the book,
Sewing Hope, which tells the story of how Sister Rosemary restored hope and dignity to girls who had been violently abducted as children by Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).
Through St. Monica's Vocational School, Sister Rosemary has provided an education, training in design and tailoring, and emotional nurturing to these young women and their children who had escaped from the LRA after several years of abuse.
Sister Rosemary, a nun with the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, will celebrate mass with Notre Dame students and staff at 8:30 a.m. This will be followed with Sister Rosemary interacting with the student body through discussion and question and answer. The students will present Sister Rosemary with a collection of pop tabs - collected over several weeks - that will be used by the girls at St. Monica's School to create hand-crafted purses. The students will also present her with an original work of art. Several classes are reading the book and creating projects that will be on display for her visit to the school. Sister Rosemary will stay at Notre Dame to enjoy lunch with the students and to sign copies of the book, Sewing Hope.