NOTED HUMANITARIAN SISTER ROSEMARY NYIRUMBE TO ATTEND EAST CENTRAL UNIVERSITY’S FALL GRADUATION ON SATURDAY

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe poses with ECU President John Hargrave and Ugandan ECU students Richard Kirabira (left) and Charles Mugabi (right) in this 2010 photo. It was Sister Rosemary’s first visit to ECU. Sister Rosemary is expected to attend Saturday’s fall commencement ceremony as Kirabira and Mugabi will be honored with achieving their master’s degrees.

- # # # -

When graduates of East Central University receive their diplomas on Saturday, Dec. 15, a special visitor will be in attendance.

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, a nun and noted humanitarian, will be in the audience in support of two Ugandan men – Richard Kirabira and Charles Mugabi - who are receiving their master’s degrees. Sister Rosemary is also a guest of ECU President John Hargrave and Reggie Whitten, founder of Pros for Africa.

The commencement ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. at ECU’s Kerr Activities Center in Ada.

Sister Rosemary is director of the St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring Centre in Uganda where she works with displaced women who have lost their childhood, dignity and families as a result of being kidnapped by child soldiers, used as sex slaves by Ugandan rebels and becoming mothers at an early age. Some of the young girls also were child soldiers, ordered to kill their relatives and friends.

“Sister Rosemary is a great lady with high character and has the drive to help others,” said Kirabira, who worked for Cornerstone Development/Africa, prior to coming to the United States. St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring School has worked with Cornerstone as a trusted partner, according to Kirabira.

By achieving his master’s degree in business accounting, Kirabira plans to go back to Uganda and continue his work as a business developer.

The linking of Sister Rosemary with Reggie Whitten and Hargrave occurred in March of 2010 as Hargrave traveled to Uganda with Whitten and several NFL football players with Pros for Africa, an Oklahoma City-based organization that aids disadvantaged African children, to drill water wells, provide doctors and medical care and teach life skills.

Mugabi, who is getting his master’s in business/human resources, and Kirabira hooked up with Hargrave in 2010 after Hargrave’s luggage was lost while traveling to Uganda with Pros for Africa. Mugabi and Kirabira waited three days for the luggage to finally arrive at the airport and delivered it to Hargrave by driving five hours through a dangerous civil war-torn area.

Hargrave offered the pair money for compensation, but they refused.

“The principle we live by is helping others without expecting a reward,” Mugabi said.

But Hargraves’ gratefulness for the massive deed didn’t go void as the pair was invited to the United States to attend ECU and receive their master’s degrees, thanks to funding from Whitten and the Pros for Africa organization.

“Sister Rosemary has made such an impact on the lives of young women. Her unconditional willingness to serve others has helped women, with a troubled past, have a normal life,” said Hargrave.

This will actually be Sister Rosemary’s second visit to Oklahoma and Ada, after coming here in the fall of 2010. During her first visit, then Governor Brad Henry made a proclamation as Sept. 28, 2010 as Sister Rosemary Day in Oklahoma.

Sister Rosemary’s revolutionary initiative to bring hope and healing to hundreds of young women and their babies earned her the 2007 CNN Community Crusader Hero Award from the cable news broadcaster.

Since 2002, her St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring Centre has offered hundreds of displaced women and children a safe place to learn necessary life skills and such trades as cooking, sewing and secretarial work. The nuns at the school, members of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also teach them to love the babies they were forced to have.

The so-called ‘child mothers’ could not return to their former communities either because they would be rejected by their families, they were orphans or were too embarrassed about what they were forced to do while kidnapped.

- # # # -

View the original article here

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Twice the Graduation Fun

CHENEY, Wash. - Eastern Washington University will welcome a Washington State Supreme Court Justice as well as an alumnus with a distinguished military and aviation career for its 2012 Commencement ceremonies, to be held on Saturday, June 16, at Roos Field, on the Cheney campus.

Justice Steven González will be the keynote speaker at the first ceremony, which begins at 9 a.m. and will include students from the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences and Social Work and the College of Business and Public Administration.

Steven González was appointed to the Washington State Supreme Court effective Jan. 1, 2012. Before joining the Supreme Court, Justice González served for 10 years as a trial judge on the King County Superior Court, hearing criminal, civil, juvenile and family law cases. Prior to his election to the King County Superior Court, Justice González was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Washington, where he was part of the team that successfully prosecuted the international terrorism case U.S. v. Ressam, for which he received two Department of Justice awards: the U.S. Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service and the Director's Award for Superior Performance.

Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Neal Sealock '74, BA military science, will be the keynote speaker at the afternoon ceremony, which begins at 2 p.m. and includes students from the College of Science, Health and Engineering and the College of Arts, Letters and Education.

Neal Sealock is an Eastern graduate with 31 years of distinguished service in the United States Army. Commissioning in the U.S. Army in 1974 as a Distinguished Military Graduate, he received a regular commission in the infantry. He was selected by the Army to study Mandarin Chinese and has served three tours of duty in China and two more in the Pacific Rim. Sealock was the U.S. Defense Attaché to the People's Republic of China from September 2000 through August 2002. During that assignment, he was responsible for the U.S. team sent to Hainan Island to retrieve the EP-3 crew and aircraft. Sealock served as the director of Spokane International Airport from December 2005-December 2010. Most recently, he's been working in China as a coach for Check 6 Inc., a company of veterans coaching leadership, performance and safety throughout the world.

This year, Eastern has 2,555 eligible undergraduate (bachelor's) and 538 eligible graduate (master's and doctoral) students who have applied for graduation. Typically, about 55 percent of those students participate in the ceremonies. Students will begin lining up about a half-hour prior to each ceremony in the central mall area before the procession into Roos Field.

Although in previous years there have been separate graduate and undergraduate ceremonies, this year all students will be mixed together and the ceremonies will be divided by colleges. This new format of commencement is intended to improve the student and family experience at the event.

All university parking lots will be available for free parking on graduation day. Attendees should prepare for heavy traffic and backups, as many people will be coming in from Spokane off Interstate 90.

####

View the original article here

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NOTED HUMANITARIAN SISTER ROSEMARY NYIRUMBE TO ATTEND EAST CENTRAL UNIVERSITY’S FALL GRADUATION ON SATURDAY

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe poses with ECU President John Hargrave and Ugandan ECU students Richard Kirabira (left) and Charles Mugabi (right) in this 2010 photo. It was Sister Rosemary’s first visit to ECU. Sister Rosemary is expected to attend Saturday’s fall commencement ceremony as Kirabira and Mugabi will be honored with achieving their master’s degrees.

- # # # -

When graduates of East Central University receive their diplomas on Saturday, Dec. 15, a special visitor will be in attendance.

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, a nun and noted humanitarian, will be in the audience in support of two Ugandan men – Richard Kirabira and Charles Mugabi - who are receiving their master’s degrees. Sister Rosemary is also a guest of ECU President John Hargrave and Reggie Whitten, founder of Pros for Africa.

The commencement ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. at ECU’s Kerr Activities Center in Ada.

Sister Rosemary is director of the St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring Centre in Uganda where she works with displaced women who have lost their childhood, dignity and families as a result of being kidnapped by child soldiers, used as sex slaves by Ugandan rebels and becoming mothers at an early age. Some of the young girls also were child soldiers, ordered to kill their relatives and friends.

“Sister Rosemary is a great lady with high character and has the drive to help others,” said Kirabira, who worked for Cornerstone Development/Africa, prior to coming to the United States. St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring School has worked with Cornerstone as a trusted partner, according to Kirabira.

By achieving his master’s degree in business accounting, Kirabira plans to go back to Uganda and continue his work as a business developer.

The linking of Sister Rosemary with Reggie Whitten and Hargrave occurred in March of 2010 as Hargrave traveled to Uganda with Whitten and several NFL football players with Pros for Africa, an Oklahoma City-based organization that aids disadvantaged African children, to drill water wells, provide doctors and medical care and teach life skills.

Mugabi, who is getting his master’s in business/human resources, and Kirabira hooked up with Hargrave in 2010 after Hargrave’s luggage was lost while traveling to Uganda with Pros for Africa. Mugabi and Kirabira waited three days for the luggage to finally arrive at the airport and delivered it to Hargrave by driving five hours through a dangerous civil war-torn area.

Hargrave offered the pair money for compensation, but they refused.

“The principle we live by is helping others without expecting a reward,” Mugabi said.

But Hargraves’ gratefulness for the massive deed didn’t go void as the pair was invited to the United States to attend ECU and receive their master’s degrees, thanks to funding from Whitten and the Pros for Africa organization.

“Sister Rosemary has made such an impact on the lives of young women. Her unconditional willingness to serve others has helped women, with a troubled past, have a normal life,” said Hargrave.

This will actually be Sister Rosemary’s second visit to Oklahoma and Ada, after coming here in the fall of 2010. During her first visit, then Governor Brad Henry made a proclamation as Sept. 28, 2010 as Sister Rosemary Day in Oklahoma.

Sister Rosemary’s revolutionary initiative to bring hope and healing to hundreds of young women and their babies earned her the 2007 CNN Community Crusader Hero Award from the cable news broadcaster.

Since 2002, her St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring Centre has offered hundreds of displaced women and children a safe place to learn necessary life skills and such trades as cooking, sewing and secretarial work. The nuns at the school, members of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also teach them to love the babies they were forced to have.

The so-called ‘child mothers’ could not return to their former communities either because they would be rejected by their families, they were orphans or were too embarrassed about what they were forced to do while kidnapped.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

NOTED HUMANITARIAN SISTER ROSEMARY NYIRUMBE TO ATTEND EAST CENTRAL UNIVERSITY’S FALL GRADUATION ON SATURDAY

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe poses with ECU President John Hargrave and Ugandan ECU students Richard Kirabira (left) and Charles Mugabi (right) in this 2010 photo. It was Sister Rosemary’s first visit to ECU. Sister Rosemary is expected to attend Saturday’s fall commencement ceremony as Kirabira and Mugabi will be honored with achieving their master’s degrees.

- # # # -

When graduates of East Central University receive their diplomas on Saturday, Dec. 15, a special visitor will be in attendance.

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, a nun and noted humanitarian, will be in the audience in support of two Ugandan men – Richard Kirabira and Charles Mugabi - who are receiving their master’s degrees. Sister Rosemary is also a guest of ECU President John Hargrave and Reggie Whitten, founder of Pros for Africa.

The commencement ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. at ECU’s Kerr Activities Center in Ada.

Sister Rosemary is director of the St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring Centre in Uganda where she works with displaced women who have lost their childhood, dignity and families as a result of being kidnapped by child soldiers, used as sex slaves by Ugandan rebels and becoming mothers at an early age. Some of the young girls also were child soldiers, ordered to kill their relatives and friends.

“Sister Rosemary is a great lady with high character and has the drive to help others,” said Kirabira, who worked for Cornerstone Development/Africa, prior to coming to the United States. St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring School has worked with Cornerstone as a trusted partner, according to Kirabira.

By achieving his master’s degree in business accounting, Kirabira plans to go back to Uganda and continue his work as a business developer.

The linking of Sister Rosemary with Reggie Whitten and Hargrave occurred in March of 2010 as Hargrave traveled to Uganda with Whitten and several NFL football players with Pros for Africa, an Oklahoma City-based organization that aids disadvantaged African children, to drill water wells, provide doctors and medical care and teach life skills.

Mugabi, who is getting his master’s in business/human resources, and Kirabira hooked up with Hargrave in 2010 after Hargrave’s luggage was lost while traveling to Uganda with Pros for Africa. Mugabi and Kirabira waited three days for the luggage to finally arrive at the airport and delivered it to Hargrave by driving five hours through a dangerous civil war-torn area.

Hargrave offered the pair money for compensation, but they refused.

“The principle we live by is helping others without expecting a reward,” Mugabi said.

But Hargraves’ gratefulness for the massive deed didn’t go void as the pair was invited to the United States to attend ECU and receive their master’s degrees, thanks to funding from Whitten and the Pros for Africa organization.

“Sister Rosemary has made such an impact on the lives of young women. Her unconditional willingness to serve others has helped women, with a troubled past, have a normal life,” said Hargrave.

This will actually be Sister Rosemary’s second visit to Oklahoma and Ada, after coming here in the fall of 2010. During her first visit, then Governor Brad Henry made a proclamation as Sept. 28, 2010 as Sister Rosemary Day in Oklahoma.

Sister Rosemary’s revolutionary initiative to bring hope and healing to hundreds of young women and their babies earned her the 2007 CNN Community Crusader Hero Award from the cable news broadcaster.

Since 2002, her St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring Centre has offered hundreds of displaced women and children a safe place to learn necessary life skills and such trades as cooking, sewing and secretarial work. The nuns at the school, members of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also teach them to love the babies they were forced to have.

The so-called ‘child mothers’ could not return to their former communities either because they would be rejected by their families, they were orphans or were too embarrassed about what they were forced to do while kidnapped.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

NOTED HUMANITARIAN SISTER ROSEMARY NYIRUMBE TO ATTEND EAST CENTRAL UNIVERSITY’S FALL GRADUATION ON SATURDAY

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe poses with ECU President John Hargrave and Ugandan ECU students Richard Kirabira (left) and Charles Mugabi (right) in this 2010 photo. It was Sister Rosemary’s first visit to ECU. Sister Rosemary is expected to attend Saturday’s fall commencement ceremony as Kirabira and Mugabi will be honored with achieving their master’s degrees.

- # # # -

When graduates of East Central University receive their diplomas on Saturday, Dec. 15, a special visitor will be in attendance.

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, a nun and noted humanitarian, will be in the audience in support of two Ugandan men – Richard Kirabira and Charles Mugabi - who are receiving their master’s degrees. Sister Rosemary is also a guest of ECU President John Hargrave and Reggie Whitten, founder of Pros for Africa.

The commencement ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. at ECU’s Kerr Activities Center in Ada.

Sister Rosemary is director of the St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring Centre in Uganda where she works with displaced women who have lost their childhood, dignity and families as a result of being kidnapped by child soldiers, used as sex slaves by Ugandan rebels and becoming mothers at an early age. Some of the young girls also were child soldiers, ordered to kill their relatives and friends.

“Sister Rosemary is a great lady with high character and has the drive to help others,” said Kirabira, who worked for Cornerstone Development/Africa, prior to coming to the United States. St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring School has worked with Cornerstone as a trusted partner, according to Kirabira.

By achieving his master’s degree in business accounting, Kirabira plans to go back to Uganda and continue his work as a business developer.

The linking of Sister Rosemary with Reggie Whitten and Hargrave occurred in March of 2010 as Hargrave traveled to Uganda with Whitten and several NFL football players with Pros for Africa, an Oklahoma City-based organization that aids disadvantaged African children, to drill water wells, provide doctors and medical care and teach life skills.

Mugabi, who is getting his master’s in business/human resources, and Kirabira hooked up with Hargrave in 2010 after Hargrave’s luggage was lost while traveling to Uganda with Pros for Africa. Mugabi and Kirabira waited three days for the luggage to finally arrive at the airport and delivered it to Hargrave by driving five hours through a dangerous civil war-torn area.

Hargrave offered the pair money for compensation, but they refused.

“The principle we live by is helping others without expecting a reward,” Mugabi said.

But Hargraves’ gratefulness for the massive deed didn’t go void as the pair was invited to the United States to attend ECU and receive their master’s degrees, thanks to funding from Whitten and the Pros for Africa organization.

“Sister Rosemary has made such an impact on the lives of young women. Her unconditional willingness to serve others has helped women, with a troubled past, have a normal life,” said Hargrave.

This will actually be Sister Rosemary’s second visit to Oklahoma and Ada, after coming here in the fall of 2010. During her first visit, then Governor Brad Henry made a proclamation as Sept. 28, 2010 as Sister Rosemary Day in Oklahoma.

Sister Rosemary’s revolutionary initiative to bring hope and healing to hundreds of young women and their babies earned her the 2007 CNN Community Crusader Hero Award from the cable news broadcaster.

Since 2002, her St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring Centre has offered hundreds of displaced women and children a safe place to learn necessary life skills and such trades as cooking, sewing and secretarial work. The nuns at the school, members of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also teach them to love the babies they were forced to have.

The so-called ‘child mothers’ could not return to their former communities either because they would be rejected by their families, they were orphans or were too embarrassed about what they were forced to do while kidnapped.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

NOTED HUMANITARIAN SISTER ROSEMARY NYIRUMBE TO ATTEND EAST CENTRAL UNIVERSITY’S FALL GRADUATION ON SATURDAY

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe poses with ECU President John Hargrave and Ugandan ECU students Richard Kirabira (left) and Charles Mugabi (right) in this 2010 photo. It was Sister Rosemary’s first visit to ECU. Sister Rosemary is expected to attend Saturday’s fall commencement ceremony as Kirabira and Mugabi will be honored with achieving their master’s degrees.

- # # # -

When graduates of East Central University receive their diplomas on Saturday, Dec. 15, a special visitor will be in attendance.

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, a nun and noted humanitarian, will be in the audience in support of two Ugandan men – Richard Kirabira and Charles Mugabi - who are receiving their master’s degrees. Sister Rosemary is also a guest of ECU President John Hargrave and Reggie Whitten, founder of Pros for Africa.

The commencement ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. at ECU’s Kerr Activities Center in Ada.

Sister Rosemary is director of the St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring Centre in Uganda where she works with displaced women who have lost their childhood, dignity and families as a result of being kidnapped by child soldiers, used as sex slaves by Ugandan rebels and becoming mothers at an early age. Some of the young girls also were child soldiers, ordered to kill their relatives and friends.

“Sister Rosemary is a great lady with high character and has the drive to help others,” said Kirabira, who worked for Cornerstone Development/Africa, prior to coming to the United States. St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring School has worked with Cornerstone as a trusted partner, according to Kirabira.

By achieving his master’s degree in business accounting, Kirabira plans to go back to Uganda and continue his work as a business developer.

The linking of Sister Rosemary with Reggie Whitten and Hargrave occurred in March of 2010 as Hargrave traveled to Uganda with Whitten and several NFL football players with Pros for Africa, an Oklahoma City-based organization that aids disadvantaged African children, to drill water wells, provide doctors and medical care and teach life skills.

Mugabi, who is getting his master’s in business/human resources, and Kirabira hooked up with Hargrave in 2010 after Hargrave’s luggage was lost while traveling to Uganda with Pros for Africa. Mugabi and Kirabira waited three days for the luggage to finally arrive at the airport and delivered it to Hargrave by driving five hours through a dangerous civil war-torn area.

Hargrave offered the pair money for compensation, but they refused.

“The principle we live by is helping others without expecting a reward,” Mugabi said.

But Hargraves’ gratefulness for the massive deed didn’t go void as the pair was invited to the United States to attend ECU and receive their master’s degrees, thanks to funding from Whitten and the Pros for Africa organization.

“Sister Rosemary has made such an impact on the lives of young women. Her unconditional willingness to serve others has helped women, with a troubled past, have a normal life,” said Hargrave.

This will actually be Sister Rosemary’s second visit to Oklahoma and Ada, after coming here in the fall of 2010. During her first visit, then Governor Brad Henry made a proclamation as Sept. 28, 2010 as Sister Rosemary Day in Oklahoma.

Sister Rosemary’s revolutionary initiative to bring hope and healing to hundreds of young women and their babies earned her the 2007 CNN Community Crusader Hero Award from the cable news broadcaster.

Since 2002, her St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring Centre has offered hundreds of displaced women and children a safe place to learn necessary life skills and such trades as cooking, sewing and secretarial work. The nuns at the school, members of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also teach them to love the babies they were forced to have.

The so-called ‘child mothers’ could not return to their former communities either because they would be rejected by their families, they were orphans or were too embarrassed about what they were forced to do while kidnapped.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More

Twice the Graduation Fun

CHENEY, Wash. - Eastern Washington University will welcome a Washington State Supreme Court Justice as well as an alumnus with a distinguished military and aviation career for its 2012 Commencement ceremonies, to be held on Saturday, June 16, at Roos Field, on the Cheney campus.

Justice Steven González will be the keynote speaker at the first ceremony, which begins at 9 a.m. and will include students from the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences and Social Work and the College of Business and Public Administration.

Steven González was appointed to the Washington State Supreme Court effective Jan. 1, 2012. Before joining the Supreme Court, Justice González served for 10 years as a trial judge on the King County Superior Court, hearing criminal, civil, juvenile and family law cases. Prior to his election to the King County Superior Court, Justice González was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Washington, where he was part of the team that successfully prosecuted the international terrorism case U.S. v. Ressam, for which he received two Department of Justice awards: the U.S. Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service and the Director's Award for Superior Performance.

Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Neal Sealock '74, BA military science, will be the keynote speaker at the afternoon ceremony, which begins at 2 p.m. and includes students from the College of Science, Health and Engineering and the College of Arts, Letters and Education.

Neal Sealock is an Eastern graduate with 31 years of distinguished service in the United States Army. Commissioning in the U.S. Army in 1974 as a Distinguished Military Graduate, he received a regular commission in the infantry. He was selected by the Army to study Mandarin Chinese and has served three tours of duty in China and two more in the Pacific Rim. Sealock was the U.S. Defense Attaché to the People's Republic of China from September 2000 through August 2002. During that assignment, he was responsible for the U.S. team sent to Hainan Island to retrieve the EP-3 crew and aircraft. Sealock served as the director of Spokane International Airport from December 2005-December 2010. Most recently, he's been working in China as a coach for Check 6 Inc., a company of veterans coaching leadership, performance and safety throughout the world.

This year, Eastern has 2,555 eligible undergraduate (bachelor's) and 538 eligible graduate (master's and doctoral) students who have applied for graduation. Typically, about 55 percent of those students participate in the ceremonies. Students will begin lining up about a half-hour prior to each ceremony in the central mall area before the procession into Roos Field.

Although in previous years there have been separate graduate and undergraduate ceremonies, this year all students will be mixed together and the ceremonies will be divided by colleges. This new format of commencement is intended to improve the student and family experience at the event.

All university parking lots will be available for free parking on graduation day. Attendees should prepare for heavy traffic and backups, as many people will be coming in from Spokane off Interstate 90.

####

View the original article here

Read More

NOTED HUMANITARIAN SISTER ROSEMARY NYIRUMBE TO ATTEND EAST CENTRAL UNIVERSITY’S FALL GRADUATION ON SATURDAY

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe poses with ECU President John Hargrave and Ugandan ECU students Richard Kirabira (left) and Charles Mugabi (right) in this 2010 photo. It was Sister Rosemary’s first visit to ECU. Sister Rosemary is expected to attend Saturday’s fall commencement ceremony as Kirabira and Mugabi will be honored with achieving their master’s degrees.

- # # # -

When graduates of East Central University receive their diplomas on Saturday, Dec. 15, a special visitor will be in attendance.

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, a nun and noted humanitarian, will be in the audience in support of two Ugandan men – Richard Kirabira and Charles Mugabi - who are receiving their master’s degrees. Sister Rosemary is also a guest of ECU President John Hargrave and Reggie Whitten, founder of Pros for Africa.

The commencement ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. at ECU’s Kerr Activities Center in Ada.

Sister Rosemary is director of the St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring Centre in Uganda where she works with displaced women who have lost their childhood, dignity and families as a result of being kidnapped by child soldiers, used as sex slaves by Ugandan rebels and becoming mothers at an early age. Some of the young girls also were child soldiers, ordered to kill their relatives and friends.

“Sister Rosemary is a great lady with high character and has the drive to help others,” said Kirabira, who worked for Cornerstone Development/Africa, prior to coming to the United States. St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring School has worked with Cornerstone as a trusted partner, according to Kirabira.

By achieving his master’s degree in business accounting, Kirabira plans to go back to Uganda and continue his work as a business developer.

The linking of Sister Rosemary with Reggie Whitten and Hargrave occurred in March of 2010 as Hargrave traveled to Uganda with Whitten and several NFL football players with Pros for Africa, an Oklahoma City-based organization that aids disadvantaged African children, to drill water wells, provide doctors and medical care and teach life skills.

Mugabi, who is getting his master’s in business/human resources, and Kirabira hooked up with Hargrave in 2010 after Hargrave’s luggage was lost while traveling to Uganda with Pros for Africa. Mugabi and Kirabira waited three days for the luggage to finally arrive at the airport and delivered it to Hargrave by driving five hours through a dangerous civil war-torn area.

Hargrave offered the pair money for compensation, but they refused.

“The principle we live by is helping others without expecting a reward,” Mugabi said.

But Hargraves’ gratefulness for the massive deed didn’t go void as the pair was invited to the United States to attend ECU and receive their master’s degrees, thanks to funding from Whitten and the Pros for Africa organization.

“Sister Rosemary has made such an impact on the lives of young women. Her unconditional willingness to serve others has helped women, with a troubled past, have a normal life,” said Hargrave.

This will actually be Sister Rosemary’s second visit to Oklahoma and Ada, after coming here in the fall of 2010. During her first visit, then Governor Brad Henry made a proclamation as Sept. 28, 2010 as Sister Rosemary Day in Oklahoma.

Sister Rosemary’s revolutionary initiative to bring hope and healing to hundreds of young women and their babies earned her the 2007 CNN Community Crusader Hero Award from the cable news broadcaster.

Since 2002, her St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring Centre has offered hundreds of displaced women and children a safe place to learn necessary life skills and such trades as cooking, sewing and secretarial work. The nuns at the school, members of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also teach them to love the babies they were forced to have.

The so-called ‘child mothers’ could not return to their former communities either because they would be rejected by their families, they were orphans or were too embarrassed about what they were forced to do while kidnapped.

- # # # -

View the original article here

Read More