Over the 35-year Sister City relationship, the Denver-Nairobi Committee has been involved in numerous economic, humanitarian, and cultural projects. The committee sponsored numerous high school youth exchanges and the collection and delivery of prosthetic equipment to Dagoretti Children’s Centre for the Handicapped in Nairobi. They also collected books, school supplies, equipment, and scholarship assistance for delivery to Materi Girls School in outlying Meru County.
In June 1999, sixteen Denver-Nairobi Committee members traveled to Nairobi, Kenya to the US-Africa Sister Cities Conference. At that time, medical supplies were delivered to Purnwani Maternity Hospital and books, school supplies and sporting equipment delivered to a middle school in Bura Village. The first US-Africa Sister Cities Conference of the New Millennium was hosted by the Denver-Nairobi Committee in 2000. Keynote speakers included Leonard Robinson, Jr., President/CEO National Summit on Africa, the Honorable Maxine Waters, Congresswoman, State of California and The Honorable Gail Schoettler, PHd, US Ambassador, Global Treaty on Communications.
Additionally, the Denver-Nairobi Committee chose to Combat HIV through Art by presenting its first Aids Fundraiser entitled I Rise Again. This project (showcasing works of art by local artists) trained 15 young ladies (and one gentleman) from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe to model garments designed by local designers and craftsmen with fabrics imported from throughout the African Continent. Models strutted proudly as they presented personal garments from home in a set entitled Opening the Treasure Chest. Net proceeds from the fundraiser were donated to a Kenyan facility dedicated to Aids prevention.
