PEN Trust Goes to the USA
For six weeks, PEN Trust Directors, Mungwe ABC Athman and Andrea Wall were in the US. The main purpose of the visit was to register a sister NGO in the US named Poverty Eradication Network of Tanzania. (See separate story.) Other purposes were to connect with current partners and donors as well as create new partnerships. Although six weeks sounded like a long time - many partners and programs were not able to be visited - we sincerely apologize for that! Take a look at some of the people and projects we did have a chance to meet with…
We visited the American Association of University Women’s - Minneapolis Branch located in the Gale Mansion. We were hosted by Catherine Martignacco and stayed for lunch and two lecturers and met many people connected with our partner organizations.
We also visited a ministry called Christ For People who invite people with disabilities of all kinds to come and worship together as a community.
Afterwards we enjoyed an ice cream social.
We had a chance to meet with Heidi and Jilliane Brinkman. Jilliane is one of “Ms. Wall’s” former Kindergarten students that has kept in touch over the years. As a family, they have contributed many items such as toys, clothing, books, school supplies, etc. Learn more about them in a future article as they sponsor a student for all four years of secondary school.
The Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden is a slice of wilderness in the midst of a large metropolitan city.
The Minnesota state flower, the Ladyslipper.
The Nature Center where you can learn more about the flowers and wildlife available in the garden.
No trip to Minneapolis can be complete without a walk around Lake Calhoun.
The Pavilion at Lake Calhoun.
While in the US we had a chance to visit with some of PEN Trust’s longtime supporters. Andrea catching up with Etta Carlson and Pastor Phil Worthington.
Mungwe ABC Athman presenting a little background on himself as well as the history of PEN Trust and our activities in central Tanzania.
After the potluck dinner and presentation, people had a chance to purchase crafts from Tanzania.
The Minnesota State Capital Building in St. Paul.
The golden horses atop the entrance to the Minnesota State Capitol building.
A view of the rotunda at the Minnesota State Capitol building.
Our friends are part of the Civil War roundtable so we had a chance to look at some Civil War paintings in the Governor’s Ballroom.
On our city tour, we visited the Como Park Conservatory.
Beautiful flowers.
More flowers.
