All Dolled Up at the 2010 African Awards

Which camera? Ama, Lydia, Rita, Ayan, Felicia

It is always exciting to see AWC members and friends out and about in the community. When we run into each other, we can't help but take an AWC Moment to catch-up on life events. The Mshale African Awards was no different. The ladies clean up real nice...don't you think?

Ayan and Felicia

Rita, Melissa (MAWA) and Ama

Rita and Celebrity News Anchor Robin Robinson

First Member-exclusive Event

Members (Wokie, Beatrice, Ama, Liz and Julia) enjoy a relaxed, cozy and fun time together.

After five years of “getting the word out,” engaging hundreds of women from over 20 different countries, and testing the waters to see what works and what doesn't, AWC launched a campaign to sign up a total of 25 paid members by December 2010.

At a little over 50 percent of its campaign goal, AWC had its first member-exclusive event on Friday, September 17. The event was held at AWC President's home. “This is like hitting the start button again,” Rita said. “The first AWC meeting began right here in this room, February 2004, and it feels good to begin a new chapter in the same space.” As always, not every member could make it due to schedule conflicts.

The meeting was meant to discuss business, as in where AWC has been and where it is headed. We were hoping to get valuable input from the members on the direction of the organization and future programming. Needless to say that business talk did not progress as planned. The relaxed and cozy home atmosphere made it difficult to want to discuss business especially after a long workday. After trying unsuccessfully to discuss serious matters, we gave up and did what we do best—socialize and have fun. We had a wonderful time.

Throughout all the chatter and laughter, we managed to review our member handbook, which includes guidelines and facts about AWC among other things. One important point of dicussion was the move from spending a lot of time and energy on organizing events to focusing on member benefits and needs. Things will start to look and feel different for AWC members and friends in the coming months and we plan to make the transition as smooth as possible while still providing unique opportunities for growth and networking.

We are excited about bringing together a talented group of women who are willing to commit to working together to take AWC to a higher level of leadership, and in the process become ambassadors for AWC mission and vision!

Beatrice and Felicia. What's a get-to-gether without good food?

Before we go...Liz, Ama, Rita, Beatrice, Mimi and the kids got in too!

August Meeting was All About Friendships

If you had to choose 10 characteristics that you would like a true friend to have, what would they be?


That is exactly what attendees had to do at AWC August meeting. They were given a list of 30 characteristics to choose from, and it was not easy to do. “Some are somewhat similar so it makes it difficult,” someone complained.

Here’s an example: would you choose “sense of humor” and/or “fun to be with?” Both are good characteristics to have but they are really not the same—got it? Well, we had an interesting and fun time doing this activity.

Not one of us in at the meeting was a native of Minnesota therefore we all had had experiences loosing close friendships as a result of our move. We also talked about keeping long term friendships alive, even those ones in distant lands. Some of us even had surprising reconnections with friends we thought were lost forever. We discussed the different layers of friendships, all of which we appreciate and cherish —some close, some not-so-close. Many of us had developed new and unexpected friendships that we never imagined possible.

A 2006 research study from Duke University and the University of Arizona showed that Americans have almost one-third fewer confidants than they did in the 1980s, and that “ties are more family-based.” Another statistic showed that there are now twice as many people who report not having close friends to share their problems with.

Fortunately, today we have a variety to convenient ways to keep our friendship bonds intact. We can phone, text, email, and use social networking tools like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and the like, to stay connected. However, don’t forget that nothing beats face-to-face connections so meet in-person as often as possible.

Building and maintaining friendships can be fulfilling but can also get complicated. Having a healthy number and layers of friendships is definitely a great way to go.
Action Item:
Make your list of 10 characteristics you would like in a friend but remember to also check yourself and make sure that you too are striving to be all of those things to your friends.