United Women of Africa Organization: Abbreviated History

The United Women of Africa Organization (UWAO) was born in 2003 when the founding member, Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo, gathered together a group of African women mainly living in the Syracuse area to share her vision (please refer to “About Us” and “Mission” for details).  A number of women in the Syracuse African community had shared with her the challenges of isolation in a new environment away from home.  After a great deal of reflection, she decided to call women she knew and propose the formation of a collective support group or organization for bringing together women of African origin. Brainstorming meetings were held monthly for a few months and in the end, a core group of 12 members decided to officially launch an organization.  Following a lot of discussion, we decided to name ourselves the United Women of Africa Organization in an effort to emphasize unity and a sense of our Pan Africanist identity.

During the first couple of years, the organization spent a lot of time debating its mission, objectives, direction and possible programs.  In the end a small sub-committee, chaired by the foundress, was formed to draft a constitution and come up with by-laws. There were extensive discussions and suggestions from the rest of the members. Finally, the sub-committee emerged with a final draft of the constitution as well as bylaws that were adopted by the organization.  A steering committee consisting of Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo as chair, Mũmbi wa Mũgo as secretary and Zainab Rubama Black as treasurer, served the organization in a voluntary capacity during this early phase.  In terms of the program to be adopted, there were many instructive debates. Some people strongly favored activities that would focus exclusively on generating funds for members’ social welfare, while others were convinced that UWAO should also engage in fundraising with a view to supporting needy communities locally and internationally.

In 2006, the United Women of Africa was formally registered as a not-for-profit organization with a tax-exempt status, thanks to a lot of work by the then secretary, Mumbi wa Mugo.  The following year the first executive committee of UWAO was constituted through informal nominations and self-volunteering.  The following served as EC members:  Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo (President), Marĩ Mũniũ (VP), Faith Maina (Secretary), Mũmbi wa Mũgo (Treasurer) and Agnes Kariuki (Public Relations.

Since inception and registration, UWAO has embarked on a variety of activities, including fundraising – mainly through organizing dinners serving an African cuisine that has now become quite popular in the community.  During the formative years, the bulk of our financial sponsorship came from the Department of African American Studies at Syracuse University and especially its Africa Initiative.  The Community Folk Arts Center and the Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company – outreach units of the same department – gave us free space for most of our activities.  The “Activities” section of the website lists our projects over the years, but at some point UWAO had a members’ self-support initiative (the merry-go-round) that eventually phased out.

Abundant thanks to Sister Lucia Mugambi, who originally agreed to design the UWAO logo and website at no cost to the organization.  Sister Lucia’s work has indeed been what the old adage describes as “a labor of love.”