Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe: She gives hope for young women scarred by war

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe

By Forest Whitaker / TIME | April 23, 2014

Derek Watson

She gives hope for young women scarred by war

In Gulu, Uganda, Sister Rosemary has made it her mission to provide within an orphanage a home, a shelter for women and girls whose lives have been shattered by violence, rape and sexual exploitation.

At the Saint Monica Girls’ Tailoring Center she runs, those women can become themselves again, thanks to the security and comfort they feel — a tremendous accomplishment in a country still fragile from years of civil war. But what truly fascinates the people who have the privilege to meet with Sister Rosemary — as I did when I narrated a film about her, Sewing Hope — is her magnetic and contagious energy.

For girls who were forcibly enlisted as child soldiers, Sister Rosemary has the power to rekindle a bright light in eyes long gone blank. For women with unwanted children born out of conflict, she allows them to become loving mothers at last.

The traumas she heals are unfathomable, but the reach of her love is boundless.

Whitaker is a producer, director and Academy Award–winning actor