This coming Saturday the Roanoke-Kisumu Sister City Program is holding a funds drive and pocket change collection outside of the Kroger store located on 3971 Brambleton Avenue on Sunday, July 30th from 9am-3pm to support drought relief efforts provided by an organization based in one of Roanoke’s seven sister cities in Kisumu, Kenya. All proceeds will go to benefit the drought relief efforts in Northern Kenya provided by the New Life Home Trust (NLHT), which is one of the four Kisumu-based organizations that are affiliated with the Roanoke-Kisumu Sister City program.

The thing that makes this a unique reporting opportunity is the “hometown” nature of the event; supporting this funds drive is a way for people to have a direct response to what is happening in another part of the world. Instead of just reading about tragic global events (such as the famine in Somalia), Roanoke residents have the unique opportunity to connect and contribute to relief efforts through the Roanoke-Kisumu Sister City Program and its relationship with the New Life Home Trust (which have been working together for the past thirty years).

One of the goals of the Sister City program is to provide an avenue of “citizen diplomacy” that allows US citizens to connect with other communities and cultures around the world through relationships established between international cities, it is the objective for this event to do just that. In addition, the Roanoke-Kisumu Sister City has been in effect since 1976, and Kisumu, Kenya is Roanoke’s only Sister City in Africa.

Questions? Please feel free to contact event coordinator (and former Edge staffer) Betsy Graves at blg3q@virginia.

You can also reach Marylen Harmon, the Chair of the Roanoke-Kisumu Sister City Group, at: MHarmonAKA@aol.com

For more information about the Roanoke-Kisumu Sister City Program, visit: www.rvsci.us

Submitted by Betsy Graves.