Maria Nhambu

Creator of a popular workout based on African dance (Aerobics with Soul®), Maria Nhambu has made sharing her love of Africa and its culture and rhythms the focus of her life. Her memoir, Africa’s Child, tells her dramatic story from birth to her departure from her homeland.

Born in Tanzania, East Africa, she was raised by German nuns at an orphanage for mixed race children. Throughout the hardship and mixed blessings of her childhood, Nhambu (as she is called) sustained her spirit through dance and kept alive her dream of further education.

She was able to fulfill that dream in the United States where she attended college, became a teacher, and eventually married and raised two children.

Currently, she is sharing her inspiring story through book presentations, through connecting and working with book clubs, and at talks around the United States.

Maria Nhambu lives in Delray Beach, Florida, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.