Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, a CNN Hero whose humanitarian work with young women formerly held captive by warlord Joseph Kony, and featured in the book and documentary Sewing Hope, will speak at Christ United Methodist Church, 8645 East Brainerd Road, on Friday, May 2, from 7-9 p.m.
The free, interdenominational event includes a showing of the film narrated by Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker and a book signing with local author Nancy Henderson and co-author Reggie Whitten, founder of Pros for Africa, which supports Sister Rosemary’s school, Saint Monica Girls’ Tailoring Centre in Gulu, Uganda.
About 250 young women, many of whom were raped, tortured and forced to kill their own family members as soldiers in the Lord’s Resistance Army, currently live on the school’s campus along with their children.
Copies of the book Sewing Hope (Dust Jacket Press, 2013) will be available, along with designer purses crafted from recycled pop tabs by the Ugandan students. All proceeds go to help the young women at Saint Monica’s.
There will also be a discussion and book signing with Sister Rosemary; Nancy Henderson, local author of Sewing Hope; and Reggie Whitten, co-author and founder of Pros for Africa, on Thursday, May 1, from 6-8 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Hamilton Place.
For more information about the event, see www.nancyhendersonwriter.com. To see a trailer of the documentary, go to www.sewinghope.com.