Witnesses to bring story of Rwanda, South Africa tragedy aftermath to University of St. Francis
Two witnesses to the aftermath of the carnage in Rwanda and South Africa will discuss “After the Tragedy, Then What?” on Thursday, March 15 at the University of St. Francis in Joliet.
Sister Madge Karecki, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph who spent 21 years in South Africa, will present her message as a witness to the trials of women and children in South Africa.
“The beautiful and mineral-rich country of South Africa impoverished its own people through the enactment of apartheid policies that were in force for more than four decades,” said Karecki. “Apartheid policies devastated the self-esteem and confidence of people of color and especially women,” she added.
Karecki notes the Kopanang Women’s Project, of which she is a founder, as one creative response to the plight of South African women. The Kopanang Women’s Project works to improve the quality of life of women through education, leadership training, job and entrepreneurial training and health care and child-rearing education. The project encourages women to pursue independence and financial freedom.
Karecki is also the co-founder and director of the Franciscan Institute of Southern Africa and founder of the Office of Worship for the Catholic Diocese of Joahnnesburg. The first woman to receive a doctorate in missiology from a South African university, she is an associate professor at the University of South Africa.
The presentation will include a discussion by Dr. Diljeet K. Singh, Ph.D., a gynecologic oncologist at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, on her study “HIV & HPV Infections in Rwandan Women: Implications for Global Policy.” Singh maintains that educators are “obligated to address the issues of our day: poverty, violence, AIDS, cancer and sexual inequality.” She notes that in the “100-day genocide of 1994, an estimated 250,000 Rwandan women experienced multiple episodes of trauma and brutal rape, with resultant HIV infection in up to two-thirds” of the victims. Many of these women were likely simultaneously co-infected with the HPV virus, identified as a cause of cervical cancer. Cervical cancer remains the number one cause of cancer death among women in much of the developing world, according to Singh.
The “After the Tragedy, Then What?” presentation is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Contemporary Ethics at the University of St. Francis. The purpose is to “explore how we who are removed in our daily lives from tragedies throughout the world should ethically respond to these crises,” said Sister Rosemary Small, center director and vice president for Mission. “Both Sr. Madge Karecki and Dr. Singh come as witnesses and messengers to tell us that tragedy and crisis live on in the aftermath and to give us insight on how we can make a difference in the world’s events,” Small added.
The “After the Tragedy, Then What?” presentation is at 7 p.m. in the university’s Moser Performing Arts Center auditorium. Admission is free. For information, call (815) 740-3827.