Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, who was named one of Time’s Most 100 Influential People in 2014 for her work in northern Uganda and South Sudan, will speak at Northwestern State University Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public. The event is sponsored by Northwestern State’s Student Government Association.

Sister Rosemary, a member of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus based in Juba, South Africa, has worked for more than 30 years to serve those impacted by bloody civil wars in northern Uganda and South Sudan.

Armed with only a sewing machine, she openly defied Joseph Kony and the rebel soldiers and commanders of the Lord’s Resistance Army in their 20-year reign of terror. Since 2002, Sister Rosemary has enrolled more than 2,000 girls at the Saint Monica Girls’ Tailoring Centre in Gulu, Uganda, who had previously been abducted by the LRA or abandoned by their families.

At Saint Monica’s, girls are taught to make their own clothes, grow their own food, learn a valuable trade and show mercy to others who are less fortunate. A similar school has been opened in Atiak, Uganda, just over 50 miles from Gulu and Sister Rosemary hopes to establish more schools.

In 2007, Sister Rosemary was named a CNN Hero. Her story was told in a Sewing Hope, a documentary by filmmaker Derek Watson and narrated by Academy Award-winner Forest Whitaker. A book of the same name by Reggie Whitten and Nancy Henderson was published in 2013 with all proceeds going to Saint Monica’s.

For more information on Sister Rosemary, go to sewinghopefoundation.com.