“It’s the most beautiful day of my life,” she said.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited Minneapolis on Monday to share reform developments with the country’s diaspora. The event was hosted by the Oromo Community of Minnesota. It is the first time an Ethiopian prime minister has come to Minnesota, which has the United States’ largest Oromo diaspora. Oromos are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, and Abiy is the first of them to lead the country.

Since his election by the parliament in April, Abiy has made peace a priority in a country marred by violence. In addition to releasing political prisoners and opening previously restricted internet access, he accepted peace deals with Ethiopia’s northern neighbor Eritrea 20 years after a war that killed nearly 100,000 people. Now he’s traveling the United States asking Ethiopians here to help move the country forward.

It’s a break from the repressive narratives of past leaders, said Tadesse Nigatu, a member of the Coalition of Ethiopians in Minnesota.

“It’s just a dream-come-true type of occurrence,” he said.