MINNESOTA AFRICAN WOMENS ASSOCIATION

MAWA began in 1998 when the two African women founding members met as advocates in a battered women’s shelter in the Twin Cities. Seeing the plight of African women clients - the isolation, cultural misunderstanding and bewilderment - they began speculating on setting up a centre that could provide culturally appropriate services for African women in dire situations. They began extending themselves in their own free time to help meet the unseen needs of these clients - doing language and cultural translation with lawyers, using VAWA to meet their immigration needs, providing emotional support, self-esteem building and violence prevention education while recognizing the cultural values and barriers that guide the choices of their African women clients.

As they got more involved with diverse African communities in the Twin Cities, they began learning more about the areas in which there were gaps in programming - African teen moms, sexual exploitation of younger girls by older men on the promise of US citizenship, etc. These unmet needs and the urging from other African women, led the two African women advocates to incorporate MAWA as a non-profit organization in 2002.

MAWA serves over 600 Pan-African women and girls each year assisting them to increase their community integration and economic self-sufficiency, including significant employment and job training services.

MAWA helps African women and families with: support, education, and connection to resources to resettle in Minnesota, gain education and employment, provide support and skill building to assure that African girls succeed in school and go on to college, and; support to increase the involvement of parents to assure their children’s success in school.