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For Afiwa Allahare, her position as communication officer at the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) in Nairobi, Kenya, is just another step towards what she calls: “fulfilling her purpose on earth”. Photo: Marianne Ejdersten/WCC

For Afiwa Allahare, her position as communication officer at the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) in Nairobi, Kenya, is just another step towards what she calls: “fulfilling her purpose on earth”. Photo: Marianne Ejdersten/WCC

For Afiwa Allahare, her position as communication officer at the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) in Nairobi, Kenya, is just another step towards what she calls: “fulfilling her purpose on earth”.

“I still have a yearning and I don’t want to do the same things forever. I know I’m not yet where I’m supposed to be, but I am on my way”, she says.
Until destiny takes her there, she is fully committed to the tasks and challenges her current position brings. She was appointed in January 2016 after eight years as an administrative assistant in the same organization, where she initially served for a couple of years at AACC’s regional office in Lome, the capital of her native Togo, before being transferred to Nairobi in 2010.  
“I really enjoy working in a Christian environment and expect to continue to do that in one way or the other”, she says.
On her current agenda is programme work on climate change, peace and advocacy and human trafficking issues where communication plays a key role to raise awareness. Having studied African Anglophone literature up to bachelor level and law up to master’s at the “Université du Bénin” (Lome), she started out as a junior level English teacher back home in Lome, before joining the AACC. She recently felt the need to be better equipped about communications and how to shape campaigns.
“I’ve just returned from a ten-day capacity building visit at the WCC communication department in Geneva, where I got plenty of food for thought. It feels great to be part of that team, and I am eager to contribute”, she says.    
In her spare time, she enjoys reading and practicing playing keyboard. She is also a devoted gospel singer in a praise-and-worship team in her congregation in Nairobi.
Allahare enjoys living in a bustling urban environment but she does get homesick now and then.
“There are big cultural differences between Togo and Kenya, which is more developed and where the western way of life is embedded in society. In Togo, people are more open and less afraid to socialize. You can’t just pass people without saying something”, she says.  
Naturally, her vacations are often spent in her home country, where she has a sister and three brothers, and where her 21-year-old daughter, who lives in Italy, hooks up with her mother and family whenever she can.

 

Link to AACC