July 6, 2024……………
By Sr. Immaculate Tusingwire, MMS,
Pax Christi International trained 15 religious sisters from Gulu Ecclesiastical Province as Trainers of Trainers in Active Non-Violence and Peace Building.
Coming from different congregations, the sisters gathered at the Association of Religious in Uganda (ARU) secretariat where the intensive training took place from 1st – 6th of July. The purpose of the training was to empower Religious Sisters in Active Nonviolence, Peacebuilding, Gospel nonviolence, trauma healing, conflict management, transformational leadership and living religious life today.
Pax Christi International organized this training in collaboration with ARU because they both recognize a common vision, based on the Gospel of Christ, for addressing the underlying causes of injustice, violent conflicts, and all forms of suffering that undermine the dignity of people.
Among the facilitators were Sr. Dr. Wamuyu Wachira Teresia, Co-President of Pax Christi International and senior Lecturer at St. Paul’s University in Nairobi Kenya, Dieudonne Serukobuza, Pax Christi’s Africa Regional Coordinator, Martha Okumu, Executive Director of Peace Tree Network, and Divina Gekonge, a Lecturer of Peace and Conflict Studies at St. Paul’s University in Nairobi, Kenya.
The trained sisters will implement the program by training other religious sisters and the youths in the Ecclesiastical Province of Gulu for six months being supported by PAX Christi and ARU.
Dieudonne, Africa’s Regional Coordinator shared his hope with the participants of extending the program to other Dioceses in Uganda since the need is not only in Gulu but everywhere.
During the issuing of certificates ceremony, Sr. Lydia Apiri Bwor, the Secretary General of ARU, invited the participants to go out into the world and light it with Peace. The sisters were called upon to be ambassadors of Peace wherever they go
