Dr. Rebecca S. Dali will be coming to Conrad Grebel University College to present a talk for students and staff. We encourage all to come during this hour. You are welcome to bring your lunch from home and eat it during the presentation/Q&A session.
More about Rebecca:
Rebecca comes from the North-East part of Nigeria near Cameroon and, with her husband Sam, has served the Nigerian Church of the Brethren (EYN) for many years, particularly in educational programs at various levels. In 2012, Rebecca defended her doctoral work, The Plight of Women in Violent conflict in Northern Nigeria 1980-2008: An Ethical Analysis, at the University of Jos (supervised by Global Scholar Canada prof. Wendy Helleman). Since then she has taught at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria (just outside Jos), and the Brethren’s Kulp Bible College. During those years, she initiated work with vulnerable women and families through the NGO Center for Caring, Empowerment and Peace Initiative (CCEPI), which she herself established as a vehicle of aid. With her colleagues, Rebecca has worked in many locations considered “too dangerous to enter,” to rescue those who survived attack, particularly from Boko Haram. Through CCEPI, survivors receive physical, mental and spiritual support, and help in rebuilding their lives, livelihood and community.
In August 2017, Rebecca and CCEPI were recognized by the de Mello Foundation for the prestigious Sergio Vieira de Mello United Nations Humanitarian Award. She also received the 2021 Founders Award from the Global Tassels Foundation. Such attention for her work led to death threats from Boko Haram; with her husband Sam she has taken refuge in the USA, and co-pastors a small church in rural Iowa. But even from the USA, Rebecca manages to lead the work of CCEPI, and continues to write stories of the women encountered, to advocate globally for the often forgotten people of her beloved homeland in Northeast Nigeria.