Last Saturday morning, African Road supporters filed in out of the Portland rain with brunch dishes and a heartfelt curiosity to learn about East Africa.
After coffee was poured, plates were filled up, and the mingling settled down, everyone gathered in Dennis and Janie Henderson’s living room to hear and see the stories Kelly, African Road Executive Director, collected on her last working trip to East Africa in July.
While Kelly clicked through photos and descriptions of African Road partners and projects across the region, it was the little side stories and fun tidbits she couldn’t help but add that made the updates so special. These projects aren’t just numbers to African Road – they are people and they are friends.
One of the big updates was on The Women’s Bakery Project, a campaign African Road is running right now in partnership with The Women’s Bakery. Anyone interested should visit The Women’s Bakery Project page and jump in!
To round out the morning, board member Carol Lentz presented a framed photo collage to members of Western Psychological and Counseling Services as a token of thanks for their generous support of the African Road Gala earlier this year. The cute picture of a pig reminded everyone of the charming story Daryl Quick shared at the Gala about Daisy the Pig!
There was laughter, there were tears (really), there were a lot of great questions and answers. There were even live updates coming in from a business training class in Kenya!
But most importantly, there was community. Thank you to all the friends that were there and for those of you who weren’t – we hope to see you next time!