I am Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe. I have helped thousands of young women victimized by the Lord's Resistance Army. AMA.

What was your impression of the "Kony 2012" video about the LRA's leader, and did it's release have any affect on your work?

Well, it didn't affect my work exactly. Positiively or negatively, it's not about my work. But I really do feel it was a great highlight, because these same children who are in that video are children who have also been with us. So there was a great awareness in the public eyes, especially in the international community, but again, I say, the emphasis is there. And for me, I personally think the emphasis should NOT be on the rebel leader. The emphasis should be on those who were affected! Because even if we catch this man today, where are our plans for those who have been affected? Otherwise, I am very happy that many people saw this video, I am happy that it did, at least it made people aware of what has happened in Uganda for all these years. But people should know that it is NOT finished - we are dealing with the aftermath of this war. People need a lot of healing process, and there are so many things we need. If there are non-governmental organizations who have been in Northern Uganda and now want to say "it is time for us to leave," It would not be a good thing, because for ME this is the time to begin, the time to start rebuilding people.

If the conflict does come to an end, what will be the first steps to rebuild?

EDUCATION.

We really need to offer, at least, an education, especially to women and children who lost all their chances. And of course, for the women now, a good number of them will need reading and writing skills at least, for their children definitely, we need to invest in quality education and health. For the women too, we need to give them quality health. At least they should be able to access a doctor, and they should also be able to get good attention in some health centers or clinics at least, because sometimes in Uganda you get hospitals that are so congested, or you have to pay for your medication and these women don't have a lot of money. And for women with HIV / AIDs, they are accessing medicines given by the government, but what they need is HOW They are being taken care of while they are taking the medication - how is their feeding, how are their children, while they take these medications? Their nutrition is very, very important.

It is common that women who are escaped have HIV / AIDS, and that clinic within our school is of great support to not only the women in our centre but also around the community. We make sure people get quality medication and that they are able to see a doctor at least once in a week. We give as low a charge as you can get anywhere, so people can access this medication. And I have to rely on people who can help me get quality medicine and medication to put in this clinic, I have to rely on some donations as well to help these people.

Hi Sister Rosemary. I hope you are enjoying New York City! Where can people go online to donate to help your cause?

Go to http://www.prosforafrica.com/ and you can donate there We can also write a letter of taxation, as well. And http://www.prosforafrica.com/ sends the money to me, 100%.

Thanks for all that you (and your group) does. How can we help make a difference?

Also - where are the girls you helped now?/What are they doing?

I keep track of them, and a good number of them are working on - a lot of them have little shops, selling dresses, or small businesses they have started. Sometimes we look for them for employment, WE have to create the employment. Like I have some girls, for whom I started clinics, I say "Why don't you work as a cleaner in the clinic?" For some of the girls, we have taught catering, in almost all restaurants and hotels in Northern Uganda, you will find at least one girl from St Monica! At least one girl! And sometimes they start their own small eating places, I think they are quite busy. When I go around the market, I always come back quite refreshed, I always find at least one girl working. And if I don't see them working, I say "come back, we will teach you how to make money."

What do you think of the idea of people fighting in the name of religion and committing these atrocities? Under what circumstances do you think war can be justified under religious doctrine, and who gets to decide that?

I don't think I can even support anyone who thinks of killing people in the name of religion! Because for any religion, you have to save life at all costs. And of course, life is not given by anybody, it's given by God. Whether you have faith or not, God has given you that life, and I don't think that thinking "I will take somebody's life because of my faith" is right.

Have you found the people you educate and help are reaching out to and teaching their peers?

EXACTLY. IN fact, if I want to find new teachers, I almost always call back the women I trained! And for me I have realized that is one way of helping them, is by exposing them, by making them understand that they have the talents. They can now educate other people. In fact, one of the girls who is in the documentary film with a very tough story is still with me, she is teaching others, and I've put her in charge of a group of women - you would never believe. She is so good in teaching them! She is learning english by herself. That is a great story of joy for me, to see how this girl is walking with her head up, and give back what she learned to others. This girl was made to kill her own sister. And now she is smiling more every day, she is teaching others, I can send her to go out without me being there, and she is able to go and teach. This is the services. And I feel that is one way for us to walk towards rehabilitation completely.

Will Sewing Hope be released on Netflix eventually? Thank you for all the work you have done making the world a better place!

Thank you! :)

It will be available through http://www.snagfilms.com

Thank you for doing this. My questions is how do you keep others motivated and faithful during difficult times?

My life of prayer, and support from my community as well. That is really what keeps me going. I never move away from my prayer life, and of course, every day I must get committed. I always make fun with people, I make sure that i don't forget my coffee as well!

Prayer, and my coffee, and my community support. I have my sisters, and they make me continue doing what I am doing because they are all involved now. In the beginning there were only 3 of us, and I had to drive a lot of things and I was the main person dreaming and struggling to do what I thought would be an attempt, at least, to do something. But later on, I understood that all of the sisters have come to know that this is what God called us to do. Even the whole congregation understands exactly where we are going.

I love this! Coffee is also a beautiful thing. Thank you so much Sister.

Hahahaha! I was BORN in a coffee growing area, so tea has no meaning to me!

We just pick coffee from the plants, and we dry, we roast, and we grind with our stones, and boil it crude. That is what my dad taught me. My mother was not able to make coffee, but my father was doing that, he taught me how to make crude coffee. And there is no Nescafe for me, I strongly believe the coffee in my father's garden is the best, because I picked it, I ground it, and I roasted it! The process of making it!

wehat is your average day like?

My average day like? I get up in the morning at 5:30, and go to the church for my prayer with my sisters. At 7 AM I have mass. Come back, eat breakfast, then I join the students and sometimes women and after lunchtime, then I come back into the community. At 2 PM, I go again to work. Up to 4:30. 4:30 sometimes I participate in sports with the girls or i go on my own, or I go with the sisters and my greatest sport is walking, every day I take 2 hours walking. 6:30 back with the community sisters for prayer, and this is the time, I don't even look at any phone or calls and so-forth. 6:30 up to 9, because at 8 we have dinner and I value my community life very very much, I have a moment of getting support from my own sisters. So my community life, my prayer life are tied together. And then I go to bed, I am always the last to go to bed, unfortunately! Actually when I go very late to bed, the sisters are always surprised that i get up! But it doesn't matter, because I am not remaining awake for nothing, I am working, and I find that working at night is the best for me, I found that during the war to make sure that the children were safe and everywhere things were quiet, so it became my habit.

Hi Sister Rosemary, thanks for doing this.

What are your thoughts regarding the effectiveness and transparency of financial and humanitarian assistance from governments compared to that that of NGO's. Also do you feel that foreign investment in Africa is enabling positive growth and development in the continent, or do you feel that it does more harm than good in the longterm?

I think that as long as we use the people on the ground, as long as they work as partners, they are good. Because if foreign investments come and they start doing things by themselves without finding out the needs of the people, that will really harm people. Because I think for any foreign investment, the way of thinking about it is that you are bringing bricks, that we will put on a foundation that is already made - foreign investments is coming to add on what has already existed. But if you come with a new idea and you are bringing in people to understand something new, I think it will not work. I think people need to build from WHERE they are. It needs to be a partnership. Because we are all learning from each other. Foreign investments need to learn from where they are going to, and we also learn from foreign investors. Nobody should think that my idea is superior, or anything.

And it is difficult, because i personally have not worked a lot with government aid, but when we talk about government aid, let us not forget trickle down theory. It may be difficult for us to understand how it works since i have not worked with government aid. I feel very comfortable with our work as an NGO, but the only thing is a lot of charities, the fund which is given to do one type of work, the money is not used for that type of work. Is that because of a lack of reporting tools? Because if you are held accountable about what you are doing, I think that will work very well with charities. Accountability is the greatest thing we need to do. If we are not held accountable, it is a red flag.

Thanks for the response, and thanks for what you're doing in the region.

Thank you!

Wow! Really cool AMA! Thanks for taking the time. I have two questions:

1. If the conflict were resolved tomorrow, do you think the women would want to return home? Or do they truly see Uganda as their home now?
2. How can everyday people living far away from the conflict get involved to help?

1) No, of course, they would like to return home, and apart from that, they would like to have their own destiny in their own hands. And that is one of the reasons we are giving them skills education - not to keep them in one place, but make sure that they can live anyplace, that is why. We always value these women as people who can be helped, and much as they have lost their chances of education, we have to emphasize practical skills, that is why I can say they will be able to support themselves, and they can become a contributing factor even to the economy of the country.

2) There are many ways to support and get involved. One is that people should really get to know about what is gone on, and in that way, they can take that information for themselves and say "I can help in this way" because if you do not do research, you can just ignore it and say it is gone in the post and there is no need to care about it. And yet those who have suffered for more than 10 years - they have the greatest trauma. So those who live outside, they should see how they can get involved in the healing process of those people. It is about raising awareness, and letting other people know that there are still suffering taking place in their hearts, so it is very important to walk with these people always and at least show them that we care. We have orphanages and long-distant adoption where children have people supporting their education from far away, and of course, people who care send us some support, and if there are new people who say "here is where we can send help, genuinely", I think they can send help even to us, or Pros for Africa, and then there is a website on which you can find to donate: http://www.prosforafrica.com/ Then, apart from that, I always tell people: we are trying our best to teach these young women the ethics of work, and so if you can buy the purses these women are making, http://www.sistersunited.com/ (under construction) these young women want to sell things, and we teach them how to work with their own hands, not to remain there begging or waiting for donations. If people want to give us donations, they must find us moving on, they must find us working, so they will not be considered as donors but rather as partners who want to work with us and want to build these young people ahead.

How do we keep campaigns like #bringbackourgirls, which you were instrumental in creating, active in the news cycle? Do you ever get discouraged when the media ignores these stories?

I get very discouraged. And i have been telling that the media should NEVER consider any story which has affected humanity to be something of the past.

I always say: The media should always be the ones to put these stories on the forefront, or at least get a small corner to keep reminding people about it.

Because the media is a very powerful story to help remind these stories. And if the media keeps quiet, I think it is a sin to keep quiet. Because WE are all relying on the media.

It helps when people share these hashtags. It helps.

I should also mention that people are concerned, ready to share the sufferings of other people, even thousands of miles away from them.

What is your own opinion on the Catholic Church's ban of contraceptives in relation to the massive number of people infected with HIV/AIDs in Africa? Do you think the ban has contributed to the spread of this deadly disease?

This is not the first time I am hearing this question! I always say: the first thing that must go with contraception is education. There is no word in my language for condoms. So contraceptives or no contraceptives, people need to become educated.

I am a midwife by profession. I teach natural family planning, but if you don't educate people, it will never work.

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I agree education is everything. That being said, how do you feel about members of the Catholic Church, namely people like Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, who was quoted as saying, "The Aids virus is roughly 450 times smaller than the spermatozoon. The spermatozoon can easily pass through the 'net' that is formed by the condom." This claim was echoed by an archbishop in Nairobi.

You say education is important, but surely false statements like this by the Catholic Church are the complete opposite of education. Does this controversy make you question your membership to the Church?

No, you know, people have different opinions. I cannot speak for others. Every one of us should listen to our conscience.

Yes but when the Catholic Church as an organization is telling Africans that condoms do not protect against HIV/AIDs, thereby destroying the lives of countless people, why would anyone continue to work for such an organization? There are many Christian organizations outside the Church that do great things in Africa and elsewhere, why stay with an organization that is killing hundreds of people a day? The Lord's Resistance Army killed with guns, the Catholic Church kills with lies. I do not mean to be offensive, it just angers me when people willingly support such a dangerous and destructive organization simply because of their faith in God.

Edit: I am Irish by the way, so I have seen first hand what destruction the Catholic Church is capable of.

But do you think condoms hold the answer to HIV/AIDS? Because I am here struggling with first of all, educating people with HIV/AIDS, because when people know the dangers, then they don't CARE about the condoms. It is like what we are seeing with Ebola, because people are stuck with their traditional beliefs, but they need to be liberated, and they can only be liberated with education. The line should be education. And remember, we are talking here, much as we are talking about the Catholic Church, many of these people who are suffering from HIV/AIDS are in the rural areas. Is anyone giving education in the rural areas, helping them out with that?

Out of the thousands you have helped, who made the most impact and why?

It is so hard for me to answer always that question, because so many of these young women have made an impact on my life.

I remember some names. But the way I see their progress on a daily basis, really always inspires me very very strongly. Then, some of them had children, they escaped with children - they were children of the rebels, and I have seen these children growing in front of me, it was a great inspiration for me, to see these kids growing, and they take me as their grandma or Ma or Aunties - that inspires me quite a lot. I have a quite strong bond with these children. That is my greatest inspiration, in that I can't really say that one of them inspires me.

I have one girl, she escaped - she came from another district, she was VERY young, and she was trained as a child soldier. She was with the rebels for 9 years, they took her as a wife, and she was impregnated by one of the Rebel Commanders. When she gave birth, she decided that the best thing for her to do was for her to escape so her baby could be safe. She got the gun, went to the front line, with her baby on her back - her ONE WEEK OLD Baby- and escaped. When I met this girl, I took her in, and we took care of her until today, but the woman has said to me - you will not believe who she is, but she has got her dignity back. She is living a life she never expected, she is very happy. The baby she escaped with is still in my care, the child had to be taken in, so now i Have this girl and she is in our orphanage. She is a very happy kid, and i am looking forward to re-uniting them one day.

What's happening with those kidnapped girls?

I wouldn't be able to tell, because I am not from Nigeria. Sometimes you don't hear much about what is happening. Sometimes we don't know what is going on. In Uganda, I have worked with women in the past who were kidnapped. Some of them escaped, and some of them were also captured by Ugandan soldiers when they attacked the rebels. Some also were released during the peace talks. But a great number escaped. And of course, a lot of the kidnapped children were also killed. I mean, I Had women who were just the wives of the rebel leader themselves, and I helped them out along with their children. I have one little girl who just lives with me, I don't share her identity with people, she is an innocent just like any other child, but we never tell her who she is - he even does not know that he is the father, the Rebel leader. But we want her to be innocent and happy like other children.

what is your movie about?

The movie is about the work I am doing with these young people and young children, and when you think about Sewing Hope, you might easily be confused to think the movie is about Sister Rosemary. I am on there speaking on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves. I remain there as a subject of what has gone on for the last 20-25-30 years, the war which has taken a lot of lives of innocent children and women and men and yet the women did not know very much about it. Maybe the world knew more about it due to Kony, then the people who suffered during this war. I think that everybody needs to know more about this war. It took the people of Northern Uganda, VERY VERY backwards. Back to the stone age. A lot of people are living in abject poverty because of this war. And it is more felt in women and children. And there is a big gap there as far as education is concerned, health care, and even infrastructure - imagine, you will see people living in temporary homes, that is the level of poverty people are living in, and people are still going on - you will find they are not able to afford - people are living on less than a dollar a day, a lot of things, really which are only a result of the poverty and the war which went on for all this time.

Have you ever seen a diamond in the flesh?

No. No. I have never seen a diamond in real life. I come from a small village! You have to know that! Not even here in New York!

In your extended programs, why is there so much focus on girls as opposed to boys? I imagine that the children that do come in with women as apart of the 250 do include boys, but you only mention girls in your additional programs. Is there a cultural reason for this, a personal reason? Please forgive my ignorance if there is.

No, there's no personal reason. The reason that I emphasis a lot on work is that the girls, NATURALLY, in my culture, have been doubly disadvantaged. They are left behind in everything education and life. Boys are preferred normally to girls in my culture. And of course, girls always are considered, like a source of income, wealth, they have to get married, sometimes they drop out of education, people do not care about it. That is why I wanted to do something different within my own culture, we value the women and young girls more. I do not exclude boys from that. These young women bring their children, boys and girls. I never thought I would have started a kindergarten, or a day care. This is all because i wanted to start addressing the needs of these children. And this is why I put the emphasis on women - because i wanted to teach them that life can be different, if we give an education to their children.

To tell you the truth, when a woman has a child out of wedlock or out of marriage, the chance of her getting married is very little in my culture. And when she gets married again, the chance of the second marriage supporting the children from the first marriage is very very slim. And it has been worst when women have 2-3 children from the rebels, people raise their eyebrows, looking at these children. Who is going to take the children of the rebel leaders, to get permanently married to the mother? That is one of the greatest reason for us to help women get skills to help support their children and so they can be able to love these children.

Even in my speech in the United States - everybody mentions the "Lost Boys," But nobody mentioned to me the LOST GIRLS. And the "Lost Boys" are able to come here, WHY are they able to come here? Because they don't have children. Where will you go with the children? Honestly, I have not heard anything about Lost Girls, just Lost Boys, but they are exactly children who went through the same situation as the girls - the society, even here, in the United States, where people know the trauma, nobody is saying "can we help them by giving them a moment where we can relocate you with your children?" I have not heard this. Maybe I am disillusioned, but that is my question.

Thank you so much for your response. I had suspected that the cultural differences would have much to do with the direction of many of your extended programs, thank you for providing context to that suspicion and giving me an insight into what it is you're doing.

If you don't mind, I have a follow up question.

In the scenarios you've provided with regards to women finding it difficult to remarry, what are the core causes of this outside of there just being a cultural difference? I'm a man, not a woman, but am divorced and have two children. I don't think, that if I so wish, and I do, that it would be at all difficult to remarry at some point. I don't believe that it would be any more difficult in my country for a woman to remarry either. Are men who marry these women looked down upon by their peers? Are they too proud? Is there a stigma, religious or otherwise, to raising someone else's children?

It certainly is a stigma. First of all, if you already have your own children, and then you have another woman you are marrying coming in with more children, and then for us, the real reason for marriage is to give them children, so bringing more children, more mouths to feed, makes it more difficult. So it is culture. They may look down on the woman, actually. If a woman is coming in with children, from somewhere, and a man will not be respected marrying a woman like that. They will call her "secondhand." You know, I used to tell them, girl I am teaching you the skills, make sure you master them - make sure you get MARRIED to these skills. Because whomever will want to marry you in the future, I will warn you it is a temporary marriage. And i have heard from some of them, they have come back and told me the marriage is not working. And women bond very easily with their children, and that is why it is good for us to be able to help these women be able to support and love their children, and not need to find someone else to rely on.

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It doesn't affect my faith at all, I have a strong conviction that my religion is to help people. I don't understand how people can use the name of religion to kill, or destroy life. I think that is totally different from real faith in God. I don't believe in that. And so for me, all this challenges my faith, that i can protect people, that I can give my life to support people.

It doesn't affect my faith at all

That's the problem. The problem is every other person of religious belief says exactly the same thing. And then what you have competing faiths. Of your your god es "better/different" than everybody elses god. That's what everybody thinks. And that's why so many people die.

Let me ask this a different way. Would you give up your faith if it meant everybody else giving up theirs as well?

I would not. Absolutely no! Why? I don't see the point. Because the reason I am like this is because of my faith. And what keeps on motivating me to keep doing what I am doing is because of my faith. People who use faith as an excuse for violence, I don't think that is right. At least with my little knowledge of what I have seen and heard and read and studied, I have not come across a religion that propagates violence.

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No problem, whatever decision you have made, if that is what you have found. If at one time you have found all religions propagate violence. I have to stand on what MY conscience is telling me, which is that violence is wrong. And of course faith is a matter of my conscience. But people are free to decide and also make research and stand by what they believe in.