Cooking demonstration postponed

The AERWA cooking demonstration scheduled for Friday, Nov. 14, at the JAO compound has been postponed due to an emergency in the speaker's family. Apologies for any inconvenience.

YouTube chef La Sonia to give cooking demo Nov. 14

This Friday, Nov. 14, from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m., AERWA welcomes Sonia Kabanda, host of the “La Sonia” cooking show on YouTube, to the African Queen at the JAO compound (498 Avenue Colonel Lukusa, Gombe) for the second installment of our new cultural series. Mimicking the format of her YouTube show, Sonia will be giving a cooking demonstration in English of one of her favorite Congolese dishes. Attendance is free for AERWA members and $5 for non-AERWA members.

For security reasons, if you do not have a U.S. Embassy-issued I.D., please RSVP here by Tuesday, Nov. 11, so we can arrange for you to access the JAO compound. Please bring a photo I.D. with you and no electronic devices. Your understanding is appreciated.

If you would like a preview of Sonia’s work, please search “La Sonia Cooking” on YouTube and take a look at some of her many videos – from pondu to catfish to chicken in peanut sauce! Sonia is a qualified chef in both cooking and pastry and studied culinary arts at The Nottingham New College. Tell us below if there's a particular dish you would like to see Sonia prepare. Hope to see you there!

Announcing our new monthly cultural series!

AERWA and the U.S. Embassy's Public Diplomacy section are pleased to announce a collaboration on a monthly cultural series aimed at promoting a better understanding of Congolese culture among the U.S. Embassy community in Kinshasa.

The series launches this month. Our first event, on Friday, Oct. 17, will feature art expert Monsieur Mbungu Mbuka from the Antika art gallery at College Boboto.

Monsieur Mbuka will showcase antique Congolese art from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the African Queen hall at the JAO compound at 498 Avenue Colonel Lukusa in Gombe.

Attendance is free for AERWA members and $5 for non-AERWA members. English translation will be provided at the event.

For security reasons, if you do not have a U.S. Embassy-issued I.D., please RSVP by Tuesday, Oct. 14, so we can arrange for you to access the JAO compound. Please bring a photo I.D. with you and no electronic devices. Your understanding is appreciated.

We hope to see you there!

Join our new Facebook community!

On Oct. 1, we launched AERWAkin, a Facebook group for the wider English-speaking community in Kinshasa. Its goal is to connect you to the happenings, people and information that make life in the Congo a little bit easier and a lot more fun. The AERWAkin Facebook community is not intended to be a marketplace for things for sale or rent -- there's already a Facebook group for that -- but an English-speaking peer resource for information and advice about life in the Congo. 

Our online community is already at 80 members and growing. So far, community members have shared advice about barbers, a dependable taxi service and even a few job leads. Please take a look and consider joining. Membership to AERWAkin must be approved by an administrator and member posts will be moderated to ensure a friendly experience for all.

If you enjoy our online group, please consider joining AERWA as a paying member. You do not have to be a U.S. citizen to join and enjoy certain privileges, such as free or discounted entry to our events. Only U.S. citizen government employees under the authority of the U.S. chief of mission may vote on AERWA affairs and enjoy a full range of benefits.

Thank you for making our picnic a success!

Thank you to everyone who came out to Cercle Hippique on Saturday, Sept. 27, especially all our wonderful volunteers! We had an excellent turnout -- about 500 people -- and received lots of positive feedback. Your participation helped support the revival of AERWA in Kinshasa. We're just getting started and can't wait to put together more events for you! 

Your suggestions and feedback are always welcome. For more pictures, join our Facebook group AERWAkin and check out our photo album of the picnic. (Photos courtesy of Patrick Smith.)

It was a rather sunny day, but we had a great turnout despite the heat!

This was AERWA's first big community event in years.

The children's area featured bouncy castles, face painting and crafts from Jungleland.

Our band brought a Michael Jackson impersonator. Actually, we had two: one in the kids' area as well.

He had the right moves!

The bouncy castles from Jungleland were very popular.

Even Batman turned up!

A big thanks to our sponsors! AERWA looks forward to organizing more such events.

Welcome to AERWA Kinshasa

SAVE THE DATE! SAVE THE DATE! SAVE THE DATE! SAVE THE DATE! 

AERWA is hosting a Community Picnic on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. at Cercle Hippique. There will be live music, food and drink, moon bounces, pony rides, face-painting and kids' activities. The picnic is open to the public.

Save time at the gate and avoid long lines by buying your entrance tickets and food coupons online! Simply print out your payment confirmation and bring it to the gate with you. 

Please note that entrance fees and food coupons will be two separate purchases as each "Buy Now" button is a separate transaction. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If you prefer not to purchase online but would still like to buy in advance, you can contact AERWA by email for more information.

Entrance Fee

1 Person $10.00 USD 2 Persons $20.00 USD 3 Persons $30.00 USD 4 Persons $40.00 USD 5 Persons $50.00 USD

Coupons for Food and Drinks

10 coupons $10.00 USD 20 coupons $20.00 USD 30 coupons $30.00 USD 40 coupons $40.00 USD 50 coupons $50.00 USD

Not yet a member of AERWA? Joining is easy.  Simply complete our Membership Form and see payment details.

Having problems viewing this website? We recommend you use Google Chrome to access this site as Internet Explorer users will experience problems. If you do not already have Google Chrome, you can install it here.