UWAO News covering the period, May 2019-November 2020
Warm greetings, to you all and especially to those of you who are active supporters of UWAO, the United Women of Africa Organization! We hope and pray that you, your families and all your loved ones are not just safe, but doing well during these challenging times as we live under the ominous threat of COVID-19 – a vicious scourge that has taken so many lives and shattered the livelihoods of millions. If you have suffered any loses, especially in terms of life/lives, please accept our most sincere condolences and solidarity.
We are delighted to let you know that UWAO is alive and well despite the challenges of COVID-19! In bulletin form, below is an update on how the organization has been faring since posting the last news briefing last year and seeing some of you at our thanksgiving luncheon on October 19th, 2019:
On May 19th, 2019, UWAO held her annual members’ get-together at Sister Margaret Mbugua’s residence, which she has generously offered to the organization for meetings, endearingly naming it the “UWAO Headquarters.” We welcomed two new members: Pauline Uti Mazrui (introduced by Sister Micere) and Thandi Zwana (introduced by Sister Joyce Mabhena). Sister Pauline has proven to be an invaluable UWAO member; but due to unanticipated family emergencies, Sister Thandi had to excuse herself from membership soon after joining. Earlier in the year, UWAO had welcomed back Sister Florence Mandebvu from a long leave of absence.
In keeping with our UWAO constitution, Sister Dithole wa Thebe was installed at the last year’s get-together as a Life Member of UWAO in recognition of her presence in the organization for 10 years. Members congratulated her on this achievement. Sister Dithole joined a growing group of sisters honored as Life Members in past years. Our late Sister Njeri remains the only “Member for Ever,” posthumously bestowed upon her. May her soul rest in eternal peace. Ashe! Afya! Moyo! Amen! Ameen!
At her general meeting on September 15th, UWAO voted to donate $300 to Sister Lucia’s Charity, DAFINA, in recognition of her service to the organization and for managing her website with diligence and competence.
On September 28th, UWAO supported PACCNY, the Pan African Community of Central New York, during the organization’s annual Unity Day by contributing dishes for the reception as well as by donating $100 to assist in defraying costs for the event.
In October, UWAO donated $1,000 to Bahamas through Red Cross International in aid of Hurricane Dorian’s casualties and survivors.
On October 19th, 2019, UWAO held a thanksgiving luncheon at the University United Methodist Church in honor of her supporters and donors, with special emphasis on role they had played by participating in the highly successful 2018 fundraiser. The planning committee consisted of Sisters Dithole Coordinator); Olive; Penina and Micere. Bravo, committee, on a job well done!
In November, UWAO set up an elections committee consisting of Sisters Mumbi (Coordinator); Monique and Patricia. The new elected officials, installed at the January 19th, 2020, general meeting were: Sisters Micere (President); Olive (VP); Patricia (Secretary); Jemeli (Assistant Secretary); Mumbi (Treasurer); Margaret (PRO). Good job, elections committee!
On December 1st, 2019, Mumbi wa Mugo, one of our members, was promoted by Accenture International to the position of Senior Manager. This is an outstanding achievement in Accenture, a global corporation, especially for a Black woman of color originating from Africa. What is commendable is that Mumbi has arrived at this position without ever compromising her principles/commitment to social justice, community activism and progressive change in general. UWAO warmly congratulates Mumbi.
At the January 2020 general meeting, it was agreed that members would contribute money to send to Sister Wanjiru Ngare Bolton, a former UWAO member who had given birth to Baby-boy Ngare in Ottawa where she currently lives. Sister Micere coordinated the effort that raised $360.Congratulations to the Bolton and may Baby Ngare grow! Ashe! Afya! Moyo! Amen!
On February 22, 2020, the African Women’s Initiative (AWI) in Ithaca contacted Sister Micere through Prof. N’DriAssie-Lumumba of Cornell, requesting assistance from UWAO in welcoming Ann Ochola, (from Kenya). Mrs. Ochola was landing at Hancock Syracuse Airport on February 24th to visit her son, Ian Ochola – a Cornell student hospitalized with a comma in the intensive care unit of Upstate University hospital. UWAO has rallied around the Ochola family since then, assisting with: purchasing winter clothing for Sister Ann; buying her groceries; offering pocket money; emailing/phoning/texting/chatting on WhatsApp; visiting her at Serah Guesthouse and visiting Ian in hospital. Thankfully, Ian did come out of the comma and after a long period receiving physio-therapy in Syracuse and Albany, he is now back in Ithaca. Sister Ann Ochola will be returning to Kenya around mid-December. UWAO wishes the Ochola family all the very best!
In early March, UWAO learnt that Sister Mari Muniu, one of our members, had lost a niece in Texas. Sister Micere coordinated a collection of funds from members to support Sister Mari in defraying costs for travel to the funeral. The effort raised $340, including $100 from UWAO’s membership social benefit fund as per our constitution stipulation.
At the general meeting of May 17th, UWAO celebrated the recovery of one of her members, Sister Jemeli, who had tested negative after being hospitalized with COVID-19. Sister Jemo’s recovery continues as she struggles with the after effects of the disease. She’s been heroic about it. UWAO offers continued best wishes to our sister, praying for her full recovery.
At the May 17th meeting, UWAO congratulated Sister Ndanda on her 10th year wedding anniversary. Congratulations, yet again, Sister Ndanda and all the best for the family!
At the same meeting, Sister Micere proposed the introduction of a special item at the end of the agenda for sharing experiences. The idea was/is for sisters to engage in socializing and having dialogue outside “official business” as a way of bonding and learning what individuals are going through. “Sharing” time has proven critical in our getting to know and understand each other better. All too often people meet officially, focusing on “work” and “business” at hand, but they leave meetings without knowing what is going on in one another’s lives. “Sharing” is now a permanent item on all our meetings’ agenda and among other things, it is helping us to fulfill one of UWAO’s objectives: sisterly solidarity and support for one another.
On July 16th, Sister Joy MutareFashu-Kanu successfully defended her PhD dissertation in the Department of Sociology, Portland State University, Oregon. Some of us attended the virtual event via Zoom and were very proud of Sister Joy’s performance. Later, UWAO sent Dr. MutareFashu-Kanu a congratulatory card and $100 from the members’ social benefit fund. Salute, Sister/Dr. Fashu-Kanu!
At the general meeting of July 19th, Sister Mumbi offered to hold a virtual Excel class for members. One of UWAO’s objectives is the sharing of skills among members with a view to promoting individual and collective growth/advancement. Sister Mumbi has been extremely generous in sharing her technical skills. She designs UWAO’s posters; fliers; programs for events; screens presentations; compiles and presents slide shows; hosts our teleconferences and Zoom meetings, etc. UWAO is appreciative of Sister Mumbi for her indispensable services.
Sister Joy kindly offered to poll members on possible dates for the Excel class. UWAO is appreciative to Sister Joy for volunteering to undertake this time-consuming task.
A couple of years ago, UWAO agreed to be recognizing members’ birthdays ending with 0/5 (e.g., 1910, 1915, 1920, 1925…!!!). In July, Sister Micere coordinated the effort to mobilize members to contribute for qualifying members. The effort raised $650, which was distributed among four sisters who had such birthdays in 2019/2020: Sisters Joyce; Ndanda; Monica and Jemeli. They each received $262.50, plus another $100 each from the members’ social benefits fund.
In mid-October, UWAO learnt that one of Sister Penina’s sisters had been stabbed to death by her co-wife in Nyanza, Kenya, leaving behind five young children. At that time, another one of Penina’s sisters was critically ill in hospital (in Kenya). Micere coordinated a solidarity fundraising effort among members to assist Sister Penina and her family with funeral costs and the upkeep of the 5 children left behind. UWAO sisters raised a total of $850 in support of Sister Penina.
On November 17th, UWAO held her annual elections. The election committee that had done all the hard work of organizing nominations and distributing ballots virtually, consisted of Sisters Jemeli (Coordinator); Margaret; Pauline and Sister Micere, as an ex-official member and advisor. Sister Jemeli and her committee did stellar work. Just before election day, Sister Jemeli was hospitalized, but in real UWAO spirit of commitment, she continued to coordinate the committee from her hospital bed despite appeals from members to rest and focus on healing, especially as Sisters Margaret and Pauline were ready to stand in. UWAO thanks members of the elections committee for their excellent work. Because we were voting virtually (via email), in an effort to protect the confidentiality and integrity of “secret-ballot” voting, UWAO appointed an outside commissioner to receive the ballots and then report the results at the November 17th Sister Lucia Mugambi, the industrious web manager of our UWAO website, graciously agreed to serve as elections Commissioner. UWAO is indebted to her. The 2021 team officials are: Sister Micere (President); Sister Penina (VP); Sister Jemeli (Secretary); Sister Pauline (Assistant Secretary); Sister Mumbi (Treasurer) and Sister Margaret (PRO). In welcoming incoming officials and thanking the previous team, the President singled out the Secretary, Sister Patricia Dankwa Sprague, for her outstanding performance, industriousness and total reliability – attributes she had demonstrated when she had served as the previous President of the organization. UWAO celebrates you, Sister Patricia – her youngest member.
Recognizing the challenges and hardships caused by COVID-19, UWAO has decided to forego a fundraiser this year. In lieu of a fundraiser, we are sending our supporters and donors a “Thank you” letter from the president to check on how they are managing. To accompany the letter, Sister Mumbi has designed a beautiful card with pictures of some of our ongoing projects in order to assure them that the donations they have so generously made are still at work. UWAO is grateful to Mumbi for having taken on this very time-consuming task. Meanwhile, our PRO Sister Margaret is at work on providing information to Sister Lucia for updating our website. We are deeply appreciative to Sister Margaret for taking on another very time-consuming task on top of serving as a member of the elections committee that just recently completed its work.
Finally, we wish to take this opportunity to once again thank all our supporters and donors. Without meaning to boast, we are sure you agree with us that what a small ordinary working and non-working women’s organization such as UWAO has achieved is something to be proud of. It takes commitment, self-sacrifice and vision. UWAO could not have done this without the solidarity of our supporters and donors. So, salute to you! The United Women of Africa honor, appreciate and celebrate you. Thank you, thank you!
In closing, we wish you a marvelous forthcoming Holiday Season and safe entry into a New Year filled with special blessings. You are the best!
Mῖcere Gῖthae Mũgo
President, UWAO (2020-2021)
Looking back in remembrance and celebration: Jan 2018-April 2019
May 2019
Sister Joy Mutare Fashu Kanu honored
On May 23, 2019, Sister Joy shared the good news that Portland State University, where she is a doctoral student, had awarded her the President’s Diversity Award. The citation partly reads: “The President’s Diversity Awards Selection Committee are pleased to congratulate you as you have been selected as this year’s recipient of the President’s Diversity Award in the distinguished graduate student category for your outstanding accomplishments in making PSU a more diverse, inclusive and equitable university.”
Congratulations, Sister Joy!
April 2019
Funding for 6 proposals sponsored by members:
UWAO usually holds a fundraiser every other year to fund projects on needy communities, internationally, sponsored by members. For each project to be funded, the member-sponsor has to submit a proposal that is then vetted by all members. In 2018, six proposals were selected for funding and a fundraising luncheon held at the end of October. Each UWAO member had to sell at least 10 tickets towards the luncheon, or in lieu of this, donate to the organization the dollar equivalent of the cost of 10 tickets. Members also donated articles for a silent auction and organized raffles. The event was well attended and guests were treated to an evening of entertainment and feasting. Sorting out donations and expenditure; paying debts and collecting pledges took time. So, it was not until April, 2019, that UWAO was able to finally discern how much should be given to the projects that had been selected for funding. The money raised from the UWAO’s fundraising luncheon was distributed to the various projects: $500 was allocated to four old projects and $600 to two new projects. The total amount allocated was $3,200. UWAO wishes to express deep appreciation to everyone who so kindly contributed to the success of the fundraiser by either attending, or sending a donation. As in some other previous years, Professor Arthur Flowers, an Africana Griot and novelist; friend and former SU colleague of Sister Micere (UWAO’s Foundress) blessed the occasion with his Root-music – free of charge. Salute, Professor Flowers!
April 2019
An unplanned for emergency project:
In April, UWAO learnt of the devastation that Cyclone Idai had left on its path, especially in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. Members agreed that UWAO should donate a total of $1000 from her emergency funds to support the work of reviving and rebuilding devastated communities in the three countries. Among UWAO’s aims is the commitment to reach out to people in need, locally, nationally and internationally. Recovery will take years and UWAO wishes all the individuals, families and communities that have been hit recovery and healing.
April 2019
Sister Olive Sephuma honored
On April 25th, 2019, Sister Olive Sephuma, UWAO’s newest member, Director of the Center for New Americans at Interfaith Works of CNY, was honored with the 2019 LGS (Leadership of Greater Syracuse) Alumni Achievement Award. Congratulations to Sister Olive for this well-deserved honor! Sister Olive, your sisters in UWAO are truly proud of you and embrace you as you celebrate this special recognition. It is not every day that the work and women (and especially women of African origin) get recognized. Kudos, sister!
March 2019
Sister Micere Githae Mugo honored
On March 27th, 2019, Kenya’s Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs held a special ceremony, officiated by Kenya’s First Lady, Her Excellency Margaret Kenyatta, to mark International Women’s Day and to honor the country’s women pioneers and transformers – Sister Micere among them. A book, Pioneers and Transformers: Journeys of Women Trailblazers in Kenya was also launched. (P.S., on July 28th, 2017, Sister Micere had been similarly honored as being among Women in Leadership, published in From Glass Ceilings to Open Skies. Ululation, Sister Micere!
February 2019
Reaching out to the youth in the community:
Young women students at a local school, Nottingham High School, had contacted Sister Patricia Sprague, UWAO’s previous president, seeking support from UWAO for their “Girl Up Club” which was organizing an event to celebrate Black History Month. The celebration included a meal to be shared with the community, offering dishes reflecting cultural diversity. A number of UWAO sisters attended and contributed African cuisine dishes. UWAO also donated $100 towards the event. The “Girl Up Club” expressed a lot of appreciation for this support. One of UWAO’s objectives is to engage in community outreach and by supporting these young women of the Nottingham High School’s “Girl Up Club,” a connection was made with high school youth – an important constituency of the Syracuse community.
February 2019
Solidarity with members in mourning
Around February 6, 2019, UWAO sent a package of $525 (personal contributions by members) to Sister Monica Gachoka and Brother Man Wai, her husband, to assist in the funeral costs for Brother Man Wai’s brother who had passed away in China. This was in recognition of Brother Man Wai’s service to UWAO whose members regard him as an honorary member of the organization to which he has rendered invaluable service over the years. May the departed one rest in eternal peace. Ashe! Afya! Moyo!
January 2019
UWAO Elections:
UWAO’s annual elections process/activities culminated with the casting of secret ballots at the General Meeting of January 28th, held at Sister Margaret’s residence, UWAO’s usual meeting venue, also known as UWAO HQ (thanks to Sister M’s generosity). Visit the UWAO office bearers’ section of the website for details on the new officials. Congratulations to the incoming team and also to the outgoing lot on a job well done!
November 2018
Fundraising Day
On November 10th, 2018, UWAO held a Fundraising Luncheon at the University United Methodist Church, 324 University Ave/1085 East Genesee St., Syracuse. As indicated in another section, this was a memorable occasion and once the expenses had been taken care of, we managed to raise a total of $3,200 – quite an achievement in these days of lean purses! Hats off to all our supporters for their generosity. Kudos to all UWAO sisters and especially those who worked extra hard to make this day a success. Special thanks go to UWAO’s 2018 Fundraiser’s Planning Committee, coordinated by our PRO, Sister Dithole wa Thebe, for efficient planning.
June 2018
Departure of Sister Alice Bedi’s Mother
In June, Sister Alice Bedi traveled home to Kenya to fetch her ill mother and bring her to the USA for medical treatment. Most unfortunately, shortly after Sister Alice’s arrival in Kenya and having made all the arrangements for the trip back to the United States, her beloved mother took a turn for the worse and passed away on June 17th, 2018. UWAO reached out to their sister by collectively putting together $660 (on top of the token Social Needs assistance given to members in good standing) to assist with funeral costs. May the elder rest in eternal peace. Ashe! Afya! Moyo!
May 2018
Baby-boy Marvel Umulikiwe Bolton Arrives:
On May 31st, 2018, Sister Wanjiru (nee Ngare…daughter of Sister Margaret Mbugua…UWAO Life Member) and her husband, Fidele Bolton, welcomed their firstborn, Marvel Umulikiwe, into this world in Ottawa, Canada. UWAO sisters celebrated with them and sent the usual token monetary award given to members in good standing to mark a special family occasion. May Umulikiwe “grow and grow.” Ashe! Afya! Moyo!
May 2018
UWAO annual get-together: welcoming of new members and recognitions
On May 19th, 2018, UWAO held her annual potluck get-together – an event at which new members are welcomed and at which existing members in good standing are recognized for unique achievements, including being honored and certificated as Life Members if they have been in the organization for 10 years. Sisters Ruth Omuduki and Olive Sephuma formally joined UWAO on that day and have proven to be invaluable members. A warm welcome yet again, Sisters Olive and Ruth. At the event, UWAO also recognized and certificated Sister Penina Kamina (in absentia) for having won the Carnegie Scholar Fellowship Award at SUNY Oneonta. Congratulations, once again, Sister Penina! Sisters Mumbi and Micere have always offered their residence for this annual event and UWAO appreciates their warm hospitality.
January 2018
Baby-girl Thenjiwe Erica Offori Arrives:
On January 17th, 2018, Sister Ndanda Mabhena Offori (UWAO Life Member… granddaughter to UWAO Life Member, Joyce Mabhena) and her husband, Dr. Eric Offori, welcomed their second-born, Thenjiwe Erica Offori, to this world. UWAO was at hand to celebrate with them and sent the usual token monetary award given to members in good standing to mark a special family occasion. May Thenjiwe “grow and grow.” Ashe! Afya! Moyo!