CPTnet
14 December 2007
UGANDA: The vision of St. Monica's Tailoring School for Girls

by Sandra Rincón

[Note: People who wish to view photos taken by CPT's exploratory delegation
currently in Uganda will find them at
<http://www.cpt.org/gallery/Winter-2007-Exploratory-Delegation-to-Uganda>

These include photos of Sr. Rosemary and St. Monica's School for Girls
described in the release below.]

When Sister Rosemary came to St. Monica's Tailoring School for Girls in Gulu
four years ago, she saw a lifeless and empty building. Based on her
commitment to the most vulnerable people in society and her experiences as a
teacher and orphanage worker, she dreamed a new vision for this school.
Today, after many struggles, three hundred young women attend the school,
working and learning skills to create their own future and to plant seeds of
hope for their families and communities in war-ravaged northern Uganda.

The CPT Uganda exploratory team spent one week in Gulu town listening and
learning about grassroots initiatives for peace and justice in the region.
The experience of staying as guests in the St. Monica's Tailoring Centre for
Girls gave us an opportunity to see how it is possible to transform the
lives of many using the power of love.

The students are primarily girls whom the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) had
once abducted. The LRA forced them to be soldiers and sexual slaves; many
bore children during their captivity. Brutally separated from their families
and communities, the girls--taken between the ages of seven to twelve--
lived in the bush of northern Uganda, southern Sudan and Democratic Republic
of Congo for several years, until they escaped or were released.

The Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus--Juba, led by Sister Rosemary,
provided the space where these girls felt respect, protection and love. "I
believe," Rosemary told us, "that the girls need total rehabilitation
without limits. They, like many women, are the most traumatized by the
conflict and the situation in the region: they are poor, they are
illiterate, their children and husbands have been killed, they are
displaced--"

The school offers programs in catering, secretarial/business support, and
tailoring. Those who are mothers can take their children to the St. Monica
Day Care Centre, where approximately 100 children are cared for. In the
future, these young mothers will have a special building in the school
compound, where they will be able to live with their children.

The school has become a real home for many people, including the night
commuters, who arrived there to avoid being abducted by the rebels during
the two years of the war prior to the 2006 peace talks.

Sister Rosemary just received the CNN Heroes Award for her work as a
community leader. Our team had the opportunity to participate in a
celebration of the award at St. Monica. Traditional dancing, music, prayers
and songs were part of a moving event where the presence of God linked all
our hearts.

Sister Rosemary knows that her work has just started with the girls,
sisters, mothers and peace practitioners that we saw and met with in Gulu. I
think that through her eyes and those of the other women, new generations
are seeing a promising future for themselves.