Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 20, 1995 TAG: 9510200009
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TONYA WOODS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"When you step off the plane in Nairobi there's such a strong impact when you see this incredible skyline,'' she recalls of her journey to Roanoke's sister city nearly four years ago. ``And if you didn't know you were in Africa you would have thought you were in a large city in the United States.''
The Roanoke-Kisumu Sister City Committee hopes to introduce Roanoke to some of the culture that impressed Evans with "In the Spirit of Harambee," an event that will include music, traditional Kenyan fashions, African delicacies and artifacts from the market place of Kisumu. It will be held Saturday from 6 to 10 p.m. in the Business Science Building at Virginia Western Community College. Admission is $7 for adults and $3 for children 10 years old and younger. Tickets will be available at the door.
"When people think of Africa they think of people running around half-dressed and seeing wild animals everywhere," said Evans, chairperson for the Roanoke-Kisumu Sister City Committee.
She hopes that the celebration, which will include guests from Nigeria, Uganda and Liberia, will give others some insight about different cultures.
Storytellers will entertain with African folklore, and dancers will demonstrate and teach African dances.
Native Kenyans will model African garb they've designed and made, and guests will be able to partake of African dishes like sukuma wiki, which means "push the week" in Swahili.
"This is a dish that many families on the low economic scale would prepare at the end of the week," Evans said.
Whatever food is left over at week's end could end up in the pot with this dish. Usually it consists of some type of greens, onion, tomatoes and maybe a little beef or pork.
Also on the menu will be chapati. This is made by rolling bread in dough and frying it in oil.
This will be the first year of "In the Spirit of Harambee." If it is a success, Evans said, the celebration may continue.
The word "harambee" is taken from the African language of Swahili and means "let's pull together."
For more information, call 989-4187.
by CNB