Our Story

Kema and Amber's sisterhood spans over two decades. Their friendship began during their college years in Charlotte, NC, where they bonded as members of the UNCC track & field team. What started on the track grew into a deep, spiritual connection rooted in support, reflection, and fierce love. That bond became the foundation of Agbara. Agbara was born from lived experience and a shared calling.

Both Kema and Amber journeyed through seasons of loss, growth, and healing. Along the way, they were drawn to ancestral practices, sacred rest, and spiritual reclamation. In reconnecting with their own power, they felt called to help other Black women do the same. It is within this transformative process that 'Agbara' came to fruition. It is a reflection of their friendship, their medicine, and their commitment to creating sacred space for Black women to heal, be held, and return to themselves.


The Women Behind Agbara

Meet the women leading our healing retreats in Costa Rica and beyond. Together, we hold space for rest, transformation, and sisterhood. 

Amber Wood

Sacred Woman ~ Healer ~ Light Worker

Amber Wood is a certified Holistic Practitioner, Reiki Master, Meditation and Breath-work Practitioner, and Herbalist from Durham, NC. Through her own loss journey, she was brought to a place of seeking deeper healing - mind, body and spirit, and this uncovered a desire to cultivate safe spaces of healing for other women. It also inspired her to launch her company, Scales & Alchemy, which was founded on the belief that every woman deserves to be seen, heard, healed, and whole. 


As she journeyed through her own path to self-discovery, she realized that her mission was to go beyond healing in the general sense and she found greater inspiration to expand and become a Pregnancy Loss Practitioner. In this capacity, she guides women to heal their loss wounds through the uses of neurolinguistic programming (NLP), emotional freedom techniques (EFT), and nervous system down-regulation to promote holistic recovery.


Amber brings forth a tapestry of sacred practices, and it’s her use of her innate wisdom, divine guidance, formal and informal education and a multidimensional approach that encourages expansive evolution in her clients, as they navigate their own experiences. She understands that her role isn’t to diagnose, but to remove barriers to their self-discovery and cultivate an environment where her clients can lean into their own inner wisdom for guidance. Her experience honors women's wholeness, and creates a nurturing sanctuary for their soul. At Agbara retreats, Amber holds sacred space with care, compassion, and clarity.


Kema Ward

Yogini ~ Death Doula ~ Mentor


Kema Ward-Hopper is an Alliance Certified Yoga Asana Instructor, Certified Death Doula, Life Coach, and author originally from Houston, TX, now based in San Ramon, Costa Rica. Her work is rooted in her own transformative journey, which includes surviving cancer, reclaiming her voice, navigating grief, and embracing a life guided by mindfulness and ancestral wisdom.


Kema empowers individuals to heal, grow, and embody wholeness by integrating the 8 Limbs of Yoga with accessible spiritual practices. Her approach is intuitive, trauma-aware, and deeply attuned to the needs of Black women and women of color.



She is the co-founder of UnpluggedCR, a mindfulness collective that supports expats and locals in cultivating presence and inner peace. Alongside her husband, she offers yoga, meditation, and community healing experiences in Costa Rica and beyond.

As a co-creator of Agbara Retreats, Kema holds space for Black women to rest, restore, and return to themselves through healing retreats rooted in ancestral care, embodiment, and sisterhood.


Kema is also the author of For My Beloveds and The Power Within, with a forthcoming memoir exploring her healing journey in depth. Through her writing, teaching, and presence, she helps others remember their own power, create lives of purpose, and hold space for collective healing.

Janeen Anderson

Creative ~ Flow Facilitator ~ Cultivator

Janeen is an Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher who integrates bodywork, energy healing, and mindfulness to help women reclaim their power, rise from the shadows, and embody a life of bliss and balance.

As a Flow Facilitator, she offers integrative mindfulness practices and yoga asana that elevate the experience of being—within the body, heart, and mind. Her teachings thread yoga philosophy through movement and meditation, empowering students to witness and embody Divine Bliss, Alignment, and Power.

Drawing from both Humanistic and Eastern Psychology, Janeen’s approach fosters deep relaxation, self-awareness, compassion, and inner peace while strengthening the body, mind, and spirit. Her intention is to help others flow more freely and bend more beautifully, on and off the mat.

For nearly a decade, Janeen has also worked as a Mindful Photographer, capturing the essence of women, families, and personal brands through portraiture and visual storytelling. She curates photography sessions that serve as rituals of rebirth—honoring the sacred stories that live in the body and soul.

As a Flow Facilitator, Embodiment Coach, and Artist, Janeen brings Divine love and presence into every space she enters. Through her work with Agbara and beyond, she helps women around the world remember who they are and return to the joy and peace that are their birthright.