Student Feature: Meet Sr. Rose

Sr. Rose Namawejje is pursuing her Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling at IPS.

“First and foremost,” Sr. Rose would like to say that she is “grateful to Almighty God for the constant sustaining and good health. And for all He has done for [her] all [her] life.”

She continues, “I wish to extend my sincere gratitude to Lorraine. It was through her effort I was connected to Loyola Mission grant and Loyola regents who have contributed toward my studies at IPS, and to all members in those mentioned organizations, thank you. To the Cenacle sisters at Fullerton Parkway for hospitality given to me since I arrived in United States of America till to date. My further gratitude continues to go to the instructors who have been inspirational to me, especially Professor Steve Martz and Dr. William ‘Bill’ Schmidt.”

Sr. Rose’s nickname is Michael the Archangel, a name which means “who is like God?” She is from Kampala city in Uganda and Matooke is her local language.

Her favorite things include:

• Hobby – singing and listening to music
• Food – cooked bananas and fresh beans
• Book – Holy Bible
• Sports team – Chicago Bulls
• Color – dark brown
• Singer – Don William
• Motto – My God and my all
• Bible quotes –  “What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?” Psalm 116:12 and “Love one another” John 15:12

Sr. Rose has had extensive education, studying topics like public health, strategic management, psychodynamic counseling and more. She has studied at schools in both Uganda and the United Kingdom. Currently, she is a volunteer at St. Joseph Hospital.

Before joining Loyola IPS, Sr. Rose was the Project Development Coordinator for the Institution of the Little Sisters of St Francis.

“I offered free counseling services at Home Care Department in St Francis Hospital for the HIV/AIDS patients and those who went to the hospital to be screened to know their status of life. Also I taught primary Healthcare to expecting mothers in an antenatal clinic,” said Sr. Rose.

She said her decision to make a change and come to IPS was motivated by her desire to reduce pain in people’s lives.

“With poverty and disease so rampart in my country, I have seen a lot of pain in the lives of many people,” commented Sr. Rose.

Her goal is to extend medical solutions and create more options for health care to those who need them, especially for people living with HIV/AIDS.

“In my ministry, I continually encourage people to invest in viable developmental projects as a way of fighting poverty. By increasing family incomes, I believe people can take care of themselves and their children better.”

Sr. Rose went on to share thought provoking advice from a lesson she learned:

“One of the life’s lessons I have picked up through the years is that while many of our contributions may seem small, their impact in the lives of people can be huge. They may not always be correctly estimated. It is imperative, therefore, to always do the best we can in the moment we have and not to procrastinate, because we are never sure whether we will actually have the future moment we keep waiting for.”

Sr. Rose is getting her MAPC from IPS because she believes it would be good for her to further develop her counseling skills so she can draw more qualified people back to Uganda and continue rendering services to the people there. In fact, a future goal of hers is to start an IPS in one of the Catholic Universities in Uganda, so that Ugandans who wish to study such courses will not have to travel abroad. Though she is enjoying her time and studies here.

“Joining Loyola IPS has opened my eyes, seeing that all people can study pastoral studies not only priests and religious people as it is known in Uganda,” noted Sr. Rose. “Each class is different with different challenges, but important. I look forward to taking two electives from Dr. Peter Jones because I have had so many students speaking about him as a very good instructor.”

Here time here has not been without its challenges though. Sr. Rose is trying to adapt to American culture and is also learning English so she can write her papers and assignments. She said she has overcome these obstacles with the help of colleagues and nuns she has met.

Sr. Rose said she with “go forth to change the world” by transferring the knowledge she is acquiring at IPS to the people of Uganda.

“My major dream is to establish IPS in one of the Catholic Universities in Uganda in image of Loyola IPS and students who will go forth in the programs will help me to change the world too. This school will not be limited to few people, but open to all Ugandans without discriminating in tribe, race, religion, et cetera. Even though studying abroad is fun, especially in developed countries, not all Ugandans can afford to study abroad. Not only that, in Uganda there is no university with faculty of IPS if you want to study pastoral studies you either go to Kenya, UK, USA, et cetera. The best way I will make change is to establish IPS in one of the Catholic Universities in Uganda.”

To conclude, Sr. Rose was nice enough to share a fun story from her childhood:

“The Catholic Church has a day known as Holy Thursday. On this day, the church and Catholics ponder Jesus Christ’s institution of the Eucharist, and how he invited the twelve apostles to celebrate it always in his memory. During the evening of this day, all Catholic Christians, Religious men and women, and the priests watch Jesus in the church throughout the night, pondering about this mystery. On one of these celebrations when we were in the church, watching and praying with Jesus, a schedule for the day was put out. The laity were to keep watch first, the religious sisters were next, and the priests were to remain in the church till the following morning while the other Christians return to their homes for the night. That night I hid myself behind the door so that I could remain in the church with the priest and sisters. I did not want to go home. I soon heard the catechist announce that there was a little girl who was missing and the parents were looking for her. My name was announced then I came out from behind the door very shy, sad and unhappy because my mission was not fulfilled. I had wanted to remain in the church with the religious sisters and priests. Of course my parents and siblings kept asking me why I did that and some were upset with me. But my parents were just calm. So we went home. From that day, I nurtured in my heart, the desire to be a religious sister or nun, so that I may stay in the church and watch Jesus with the priests till morning. And the Lord was so good to me that He answered my prayer and I became a religious sister. This made me very happy and now I am able to spend time with Jesus and watch with him till dawn during the Holy Thursdays.”

Connect with Sr. Rose:
LinkedIn
Twitter: @rosemikemawejje
Skype: rose.michael73 or rosie192069

 

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