November 24, 2021
AVAC mourns the death of our very dear friend and colleague, Terry Mukuka, who died in late November.
Terry was truly a gentle giant—calm and caring, dedicated and passionate about human rights and community development, and incredibly funny and fun. His contributions to what we do at AVAC have been extraordinary, but more than that was how he worked—with each one of us, with each project, with each partner. He reminds us always that it is not only what we do, but how we do it that really matters.
Terry was AVAC’s first ever Program Manager for Grants Management, a key position at AVAC that required superior organization, coordination and management skills, diplomacy, patience, and a sense of humor. As our partners can testify, for 3.5 years Terry supremely filled this role as an exceptional grants manager and one of the kindest people we’ve ever worked with.
Terry came to AVAC in 2018 after having worked with national and international organizations including, American Jewish World Service, Yamba Malawi and Pan African Children’s Funds and the United Methodist Committee on Relief who are helping to improve the health and well-being of people around the world. He had extensive experience managing grants and in designing and implementing community development projects on key health and development issues including, human rights, women’s empowerment, youth development, sanitation/health, agriculture, and more.
Terry will be missed by all of us at AVAC, his wife Barbra, his children, his extended family and the many friends and colleagues whose lives he touched each and every day.
We posted stories and memories of Terry in an online board and we invite our community to join us in reflecting on his life so well lived. A fund has also been created to aide Terry’s family. If you wish to contribute, visit this GoFundMe page.