Looking Back. Walking Forward.

From Lucy's vantage point in an armchair in my parents' living room, she had a direct view of the kitchen sink where my father stood, both hands deep in a sink full of dirty plates and bowls. We'd just enjoyed a delicious dinner together with the Sankofa team and DC Committee, but 20 people make a mound of dishes, and he'd taken on the task of dismantling it. Lucy was amazed. She called me over and whispered, "There are so many women in this house, and he is doing the dishes." My mom and I smiled, and we all joked about the strangeness of American men who do housework and how different things are in our cultures.

The weeks I spent with the Sankofa team were full of these moments - amusing, simple, and sometimes sobering - as the Amani family opened share its homes and communities to our friends from Africa. Together we explored the world of line dancing, hauled baggage, hung out on runways, steamed costumes, and piled into countless vans. We prayed together for families far away and comforted one another as in loneliness and exhaustion. We laughed and ate till we thought we could bare it more. We feasted on good things.

The Sankofa US Tour was unlike any other experience the Amani family has shared before. It was new for all of us, even the Americans traveling with the team who constantly improvised our way through new circumstances. Yet after spending the past four years sharing about Amani in the United States, my eyes were open to new depths of its ability to draw people together and facilitate meaningful bonds of peace, hope, and encouragement. In Florida, Texas, Virginia, Maryland, and DC, I heard the Amani women boldly share their personal experiences of sorrow and renewal with a striking blend of meekness and conviction. (Unfortunately, I was unable to be in North Carolina with them but heard great reports about it.)

Naturally, I was particularly grateful for the meaningful experiences we had together in the DC area. My experiences and relationships through Amani over the years have given me vision for hope and peace in DC. The Sankofa team brought fresh particularity to that reality. Goretti shared weighty words of God’s presence with us in sorrow at a gathering of senior citizens at Central Union Mission. Mary K. led a hundred elementary students at the E.W. Stokes School in NE DC in a raucous round of old spirituals. Stella shared with the students – many of whom are recent immigrants themselves - about her experience growing up as a refugee. Audience members at the show in Springfield told me in wide-eyed wonder that the event was far beyond what they expected in quality and beauty. In a region buzzing with international news, whose pulse beats with world-change and power-wielding, the women of Amani shared truth about the source of hope and peace. Their presence grounded me and still reminds me that this is a message we so need here.

Now the Sankofa team has returned to homes in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and throughout the US. As we do so, the richness of these weeks will continue to unfold in our lives and relationships. We continue to look back and walk forward. I’m inspired for the work ahead of us in DC to do just that.

Amani's Kenya Country Director Mary Maina concluded each Sankofa show with the following words. They are timely and sum up well the message of Sankofa that I carry into the days ahead:

"At Amani, we are discovering hope for the future: a peace that comes from Jesus Christ. As we are learning to thrive amidst sorrow, we entreat you to join us in this journey of learning from the past and walking boldly toward the future. Despite the uncertainties that the future holds for all of us, our families, and our countries, may we leave this place tonight knowing that we can be ambassadors for a peace that transforms."

You can watch the show online thanks to Forest Hill Church, our hosts in Charlotte, NC. Check it out at: http://foresthill.lightcastmedia.com/console.php?u=3037&c=697757024.
Note: Due to a technical glitch, the narration pieces before each of the three sections of the show are not included in this recording.

Below are a few more images from Sankofa courtesy of Jillian Pichocki (www.jillianpichocki.com) and Brian Tropiano (www.briantropianophoto.com).

Getting excited for Sankofa!

This is an exciting and groundbreaking season for Amani ya Juu. I came on with Amani full-time at the end of the summer, just in time to dive in headlong to planning for Sankofa: Look Back. Walk Forward., a high-end fashion narrative produced by the women of Amani on tour this month in the United States.

Through brilliant costumes, choreography, lighting and music, women from six countries - Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Burundi, and Uganda - use the fashion runway as their stage to depict courageous journeys from warn-torn pasts to their new community at Amani ya Juu. The narrative highlights separation from homelands, transformation through brokenness, celebration of hope in the midst of difficulties.

“Sankofa” is an Akan word that means “We must go back and accept our past so we can move forward. We do this so we can understand why and how we came to be who we are today.” We can all learn our past experiences in order to understand both who we are today and celebrate our future.

A fashion narrative uses the medium of a fashion show to share a story through clothing design, accessories, movement, music, lighting, and narration. In the case of Sankofa, the women of Amani will share their collective story of looking to past hardships and walking toward hopeful futures. Sankofa provides space to explore the painful yet redemptive journeys of Amani women through traditional dances and evolving motifs.

Creative design and ingenuity in Amani’s products reflect the restoration and transformation process at work in every person in the Amani family. Amani’s new clothing line Amani Pamba (meaning “Peace Adorned”) reflects this essential element. Amani designers have created “wearable art” using colorful motifs and patterns of African cultures to create pieces that reflect this process.

I've been thrilled to participate in preparations for the Sankofa tour. Sankofa presents a unique opportunity for the women of Amani to share their stories through their own creative stregnths. They will also be doing outreach through schools, community organizations, and churches during the tour to allow them to interact more personally with people of many walks in the US.

Sankofa is already underway! The first show takes place in Orlando this Saturday, October 4th. Then we're off to Dallas for a special event on Tuesday, October 8th before the next show in Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday, October 10th. The tour will conclude on Friday, October 17th with the DC area show.

If you live in one of the areas Sankofa will visit, I hope you'll consider attending an event. Tickets and donations opportunities are available in Amani's online shop.

Here's a link to the Sankofa announcement on Amani's blog.

Stages of Improvisation

"Every work of art is an 'act of faith' in the vernacular sense of being a venture into the unknown...Every work of art, even if long premeditated, enters a stage of improvisation as soon as the artist moves from thinking about it to beginning to form its concrete reality."
- Denise Levertov from "Work That Enfaiths"

One might argue that my current undertakings with Amani ya Juu do not actually qualify as a work of art. But this comment by Levertov draws a parallel between my processes of late and the artist's way. My work with Amani moving toward a DC ministry center presence has certainly been "long premeditated." I've included this photo of Zipporah and me from our visit to Simprosa's house last summer while I was in Nairobi. I've mentioned before that my time in East Africa last summer solidified my desire to fully enter the Amani family. I've been so grateful to see these connections continue and deepen.

This summer, I poignantly felt the prickly insecurity of venturing into unknown places. Working multiple jobs was exhausting. While (falsely) priding myself on my willingness to take the risk of support-raising, the fears and doubts easily crept in about this position really working itself into sustainability.

Since May, I have seen a strong support base emerge, rooted in the DC area with strong ties throughout the States. Because of your support I was able to leave two of my part-time jobs and transition to full-time status with Amani. What an answer to a prayer long-offered! I finally have the time available to dive into this work with openness and creativity.

And now as summer draws to a close and the days cool off, I find myself in a season of improvising with time, plans, and dreams. As with any new job, the fresh ideas are endless. My great task is finding balance and taking risks toward the long-term vision of a DC center. I'd like to share with you a few of the ways we're experimenting with growing sales and ministry relationships locally. These are just a few highlights of the past few months:

• Visit to the DC Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services with Restoration Ministries - Rachel and I joined RM volunteers on a Sunday afternoon this August for a luau-themed party with the girls who they visit at the DC Youth Rehabilitation center. RM is building relationships with girls who are vulnerable to sex trafficking.

• Coordinating new commission-based sellers - Amani is experimenting with commission-based sellers in the area. These individuals or businesses are selling Amani on consignment and earning a commission. Hopefully this will be a sustainable source of income for Amani and our partners.

• Selling at Adams Morgan Day Festival - We organized a booth at the 30th Annual Adams Morgan Day Festival in northwest DC in September. Thanks to many volunteers from Church of the Advent, we were able to sell products and share with many neighbors about Amani.

• Establishing a regular market presence - We've been happy to welcome Arnila, a friend from college who came to DC for a graduate program in peace and reconciliation. Arnila is coordinating a volunteer effort to establish a regular presence at local markets such as Eastern Market. This will allow us to regularly sell products and share Amani's message.
  

• Sankofa: Walk Back. Look Forward. - Amani is bringing its high-end fashion show to DC on October 17th, and we're busy preparing for their arrival! This is a tremendous opportunity for the women of Amani to share their collective story of brokenness, transformation, and celebration with audiences in the United States. I'll post more on this soon, but for more information or to buy tickets, you can visit Amani's website.
  

Thank you for your support and participation in these stages of improvisation. I can't wait to see the work that emerges.

Stepping Out...

Sent May 2008...

Dear Friends,

In my previous letter, I shared some of the journey I am embarking on with Amani ya Juu. I’ve heard from many of you who share my excitement for this adventure. Thank you! Your responses have been such an encouragement to me.

I hope you have seen that I am committed to respectfully and genuinely sharing this journey with you as it develops, trusting that God is working in and through Amani. I believe that Amani’s work Stateside presents a unique, cutting-edge opportunity for supporters to empower an African organization for ministry in the US. I am writing this letter to ask if you would join me in this journey and consider financially supporting me as I come on staff.

Although Amani started as a small stitching project in Nairobi, today its presence extends across Africa and throughout the United States. As our US presence has increased through sales, Amani has remained committed to developing its US outreach to accompany the growth. In my new position, I will focus on developing this growing outreach in DC through an Amani center—a boutique and café where Amani’s African products will be sold and people can come together to share work and life.

As an African-based organization, all staff members make regular trips to the Amani centers in Africa to stay connected and provide natural ways for the Amani women to pour into us as their emissaries in the US. I am looking forward to spending some extended time at the African centers in 2009 as a part of my training and mentoring from the Amani women.

Your support will go directly to provide my living expenses as I pursue this work. It will cover my rent, food, car, health insurance, and some ministry expenses such as travel, etc. Since these funds go directly to my monthly living expenses, I would like you to consider supporting me financially on a monthly basis. My current goal is to raise funds amounting in
$2,000 per month by December 2008. As support grows, I will be able to leave my other part-time jobs and devote time to growing Amani’s ministry in DC. For the rest of 2008, I am focusing on becoming financially stable through support-raising. I have time available to talk with you more about this ministry, and will send occasional updates.

Your role is crucial to building the Amani ministry in DC. Many of you have already been supportive of Amani in various ways as it has grown in the DC area over the past few years, and for this we are deeply grateful. Your prayers, friendship, and involvement have and will continue to sustain and grow this ministry. Amani’s DC presence will emerge through a wide
community of people making financial and spiritual contributions—a growing family committed to passing God’s peace to others around them. I invite you to consider partnering with me and the women of Amani to explore this new territory in peace-building.

Please contact me directly if you are interested in supporting my work with Amani at brittany at amaniafrica.org.

I look forward to walking this journey with you.

Na Imani (In Faith),
Brittany

PS: To learn more about Amani ya Juu, visit our website at www.amaniafrica.org.

The Journey Begins

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;

I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.

These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them. (Isaiah 42:16)

Dear friends,

In early 2004, as I prepared to spend six months in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, a beloved professor warned me with a wry half-smile: “Africa will tie a string around your heart and always pull you back.” I shrugged, sensing he was right but ambivalent about what that might mean. Of course, he was right, and it has pulled me back. The profound impact of my relationships in East Africa on me has been unexpected. I certainly never expected them to be shaping my life in the States several years later.

If we learn anything from Scripture, it is that God’s ways—although merciful and loving—are not as ours. He does not promise us comfort, satisfaction, or even clarity. He will not forsake those who choose to follow him. Instead, they will discover unexpected light dispelling darkness and rough places turning smooth. The past few years have taught me much of this reality, and I’m writing this letter to share with you some of my recent journey to these places.

During my six months in Tanzania in 2004, I was introduced to Amani ya Juu through my friend Rachel interning at this unique women’s stitching project. Like many of the women there, she came to Amani mainly to create beautiful handcrafts out of local materials. Yet as they made bags, kitchen items, and toys together, I saw Rachel learn to share her life with these women across profound barriers and sensed something powerful in the Amani community.

Amani focuses on building peace by meeting needs holistically. It does so by creating space for transformational relationships to flourish among the women—often refugees or fleeing marginalization. In February 2006 I visited Amani’s mother center in Narobi, Kenya for the first time. When I returned to East Africa in the summer of 2007, I visited its daughter center in Kigali, Rwanda, co-lead a group of American women visiting Amani Nairobi for the first time, and later spent a week at that center on my own. And my sense has proved true. Amani demonstrates the transformative power of journeying together with those who are culturally and socio-economically different from us.

“Amani ya juu” is Swahili for “peace from above.” Women at Amani demonstrate the life-changing nature of God’s peace that we receive through Jesus Christ when we come together to heal, work, and seek peace for ourselves and our communities. I’ve learned of this peace through my friendships with Amani women: Maggie’s hugs, Gladys’ tears, Simprosa’s patience, Jerita’s enthusiasm, and Jeanette’s somber nods of compassion. These and other women have shared their stories with me and I with them. With them, I find a mysterious sense of “home,” which bears testimony to the Spirit dwelling there. Though in some ways I find their suffering unimaginable, we meet in a place of common brokenness. I am part of the family—known, prayed for, loved, shared with.

Amani’s philosophy has far-reaching impact because of its conviction that every person who enters the community also takes Amani with them wherever they go. Amani has grown globally as women from many places experience this peace and community that overcomes differences. Personally, my experience with Amani has given me a vision of hope amidst the brokenness I see in DC. The two worlds increasingly seem less disparate to me. By sharing Amani with others in the US, I—along with other Amani volunteers and staff—have seen women encouraged and challenged to see poverty, difference, and hope in new light. We have seen women who would never consider faith open to this “peace from above” because of the strong testimony it bears through beautiful products and life stories.

The dynamic reception Amani has in the United States indicates great potential for impacting lives in this context. Despite its affluence and sophistication, American society remains desperate for true peace. My life in DC continues to impress this upon me as I grow to understand the deep roots of pain and injustice that this city bears. Yet, I believe that the model that has proved powerful at Amani in East Africa can be translated into specific contexts in the US. This model holds a high view of personal journeys toward wholeness and reconciliation. It also believes that when women work together—and in doing so share their lives—they develop vibrant, contagious energy.

In December 2007, I resigned from my position at a DC social service agency where I worked in communications and community relations for two and a half years. My experience there honed my philosophy of ministry with the poor and marginalized while developing my professional skills and non-profit experience. When I left, it was without certainty but with great hope that soon I would be able to bring these things to Amani’s bourgeoning US ministry, which has been growing the past three years.

I am humbled and grateful to be able to tell you that the opportunity for this ministry is becoming a reality. Amani has decided to build a ministry center in Washington, DC, and I have the pleasure to serve in laying the foundation of this new initiative. We plan to eventually operate a self-sustaining retail storefront patterned after the flourishing Nairobi center, boutique, and café where Amani products are sold, stories shared, and lives touched. The DC center will provide an environment for women from vastly different backgrounds to work alongside one another and form relationships. My time in DC has revealed great fragmentation, isolation, and hidden injustice that keeps rich from poor, person from person, darkness from light. We desire to bridge these worlds—building peace within the complicated racial and economic wounds of our Nation’s Capital.

By creating a space for Amani in this city, we hope to enter into the process of transformation already taking place here. Our ideas have evolved greatly over the past few years and will inevitably continue to do so as we move forward. My role in this project will entail cultivating partnerships, researching locations, and exploring the possibilities for connecting Amani to the needs and resources in DC. I may also spend some time in East Africa for further training with Amani. As I begin the process of raising support for my involvement with Amani’s DC center, I am currently supplementing my income with other part time jobs. My ability to devote time to this project depends on raising financial support to support my position. Once I am able to rely on this support, I will be able to fully engage in Amani DC center plans.

I’ve taken the time to share this with you because you have a significant connection to me personally or to DC. In a few weeks, you will receive another letter from me extending the opportunity to join me in this innovative, faith-stretching effort. Please consider whether you might be interested in partnering in this initiative with me. The uniqueness of this ministry means that supporters in the United States can have a direct impact here at home and far away in Africa. Similarly, Amani’s African origins mean that supporting this endeavor empowers African women to share their spiritual and physical gifts with those in the United States—a role-reversal of historic proportions!

Thank you for taking the time to learn a little bit about Amani and my journey thus far. If you have questions or would like to know more in the meantime, please feel free to contact me directly via phone or e-mail. You can also learn more about Amani at www.amaniafrica.org. I look forward to sharing more of this journey with you!

Amani Iwe Nawe (Peace Be With You)!