Farzaneh Hall
Email: nyirumbe@ou.edu
Now serves as a part-time lecturer in the David L. Boren College of International Studies where she teaches and mentors students on the intersections of international development, political violence and reconciliation and Social Entrepreneurship and leadership. Drawing on years of work in education and community partnerships, she foregrounds the practical skills of listening, coalition-building, and care—linking scholarship to hands-on engagement with NGOs, schools, and local communities. Sister Rosemary is a Ugandan Catholic nun of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus who has devoted more than three decades to serving women and children affected by war in northern Uganda and South Sudan. As director of St. Monica’s Girls’ Tailoring Centre in Gulu, she has helped restore dignity and independence to over 2,000 girls who were abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) or abandoned by their families, teaching them to sew their own clothes, grow food, learn trades, and rebuild their lives through mercy and practical skill. Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe has received numerous awards, including the United Nations Impact Award, Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” and has been named a CNN Hero. A book and a documentary film – both titled Sewing Hope – share her moving story. Rome Reports has described her as “the Mother Teresa of Africa.” Sister Rosemary earned her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Oklahoma in 2022 and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Oklahoma in 2021.
