Amani's U.S. Safari

In September, a team of five women from Amani Kenya visited the United States. The women on the team were Jerita, a leader in Production at Amani; Elizabeth, an important member of Distribution; Trizah, who oversees Bookkeeping and Quality Control; Bella, who works in Design; and Joyce, Amani Kenya's Country Director. They travelled to Memphis, Tennessee where they spent a week with the women of Hope Presbyterian Church, a long-time partner of Amani ya Juu. Hope's Women's Ministry invited the group to travel to the United States to share their stories and vision for peace with the women of their church. Amani is grateful to Hope’s Women's Ministry for the great personal and church-wide sacrifice that made it possible for the group from Kenya to travel to the United States. For the second leg of their journey, the visited the Amani center in Washington, D.C. The following are pictures from their time in DC, with some side trips to see friends in Virginia and Maryland. It was impossible to capture everything that happened during their visit, but we hope that you can at least catch a glimpse of the special time the Amani Kenya group was able to share with their friends in the United States. 

During the Open House, the Amani Kenya ladies showed our customers how to make paper beads

Elizabeth is an expert at rolling long strips of paper into beautiful beads

Trizah shows her new friends how it's done

Megan Burkhart, AmaniDC's Financial Assistant, meets the mamas

Happy to see old friends

Visiting with past and present Amani staff

First stop while sightseeing, the White House

Taking pictures of the White House

The ladies were quite impressed by the national monuments

Elizabeth outside a DC landmark, Ben's Chili Bowl

Walking together in Washington, D.C.

Sharing a meal together at an AmaniDC staff member's home

Trizah made many kinds of new friends while in the USGathering at the home of a new Amani supporter

Reconnecting with long time Amani friends

The AmaniDC staff and Amani Kenya group at the DC shop

Jerita does office work

Bella and Julie enjoy working together

Fellowship time at Redland Baptist Church

Women from Redland buying Amani product

Bella speaking with Joyce at her side

Dancing and singing

Good friends cherish time together

Preparations underway to feed 20 people

Making chapati

Chaos in the kitchen

The spread: chapati, cabbage, greens, stew, and ugali

After the meal with old friends

One last meal together and time to reflect on the blessings of the week

Saying farewell

One last shot of the Amani Kenya team and the AmaniDC staff