Nairobi park in US takes pride of place at Obama convention

The American city of Denver captured the attention of the world two weeks ago when it hosted Democratic party presidential candidate Barack Obama as he formally accepted his nomination for race to White House.

But unknown to many Kenyans, Nairobi city featured prominently during the hugely successful party national convention. The City of Nairobi Park in Denver was the ideal resting place for the thousands of delegates.

Many of the visitors were happy to link Nairobi with the presidential nominee as his father, Barack Obama Senior, spent quite a chunk of his adult life here.

The park was named after the Kenyan capital following a relationship pact signed between the two cities in 1975.

According to Denver city authorities, the park reminds “Denverites of our sister city in Africa, where people speak both English and Swahili”.

The two cities consider each other “sisters” working together to foster cultural and educational relations.

The park, with playing equipment for children and seats, is popular with the residents who frequent it on weekends. With its well tended grass and trees, it is an ideal place for picnics.

Mr Gregory Jackson, a 57 year-old retired black lithographer, found the park the best place to while away time as he listened to the radio broadcast of the convention proceedings.

“This park is so beautiful that I visit it three to four times a week,” he said during the convention. “I know that it is named after a beautiful city in Kenya, which is the country where Mr Obama’s father came from.”

Mr Jackson believes Kenya is a great country, arguing that it has produced a person who is shaping politics in the powerful democracy.

“I have no doubt that Mr Obama will win the November elections and start evening out racial disparities here,” he added.

At another corner of the park Ms Jacky Tayler, 44, was having a drink as she sat under a tree. To her, however, the park’s name does not mean much.

She has not heard of any mention of Mr Obama, whom she supports for the presidency, having roots in Kenya. “I know Kenya is in Africa, but I have never heard of Mr Obama’s links to that country,” she said.

“I come to this park because it has good grass to sit on and relax under the shade, especially in the summer.”

Links between the two cities started when, in September 1974, Nairobi assistant town clerk Simon Getonga visited Denver to explore the possibility of establishing a sister city relationship.

The visit bore fruit; he found out that an organisation called People-to-People of Denver, the corporate forerunner of Denver Sister Cities International, had expressed interest in establishing sister ties with an African city.

A year later, on March 2, 1975, Nairobi became Denver’s third sister city. The relationship idea was mooted because Nairobi, like Denver, is situated on a high plateau, with two of the highest peaks in Africa a small distance away.

“Nairobi is an exciting and cosmopolitan city and serves as a centre of commerce for all of East Africa,” says the Denver official website, which explains the sisterhood.

“Like the Queen City of the Plains, Nairobi is a beautiful city and has often been called the jewel of Africa.”

The inauguration on March 2, 1975 of the sister city relationship was followed by a two-week “Salute to Nairobi” cultural extravaganza in downtown Denver, with folk art, dances, handicrafts and other products from Kenya on display at various locations.

The Denver-Nairobi committee has since sponsored a number of successful projects, including a student exchange programme, periodic shipments of textbooks to Kenya and fund-raising events.

Dagoretti Children’s Centre for the handicapped in Nairobi is one of the beneficiaries. Books and other supplies as well as scholarships have also gone to Materi girls school in Meru.

And Nairobi families have hosted Denver students in a youth exchange programme.

Colorado city authorities say Denver and Nairobi are bustling modern cities with international airports, diverse populations and nearby snow-topped peaks.

“Nairobi is an exciting and cosmopolitan city and, as the capital of Kenya, serves as the centre of commerce for all of East Africa,” they say.

In June 1999, a team of 16 Denver-Nairobi committee members travelled to the Kenyan capital for a US-Africa sister cities conference and donated medical supplies to Nairobi’s Pumwani Maternity Hospital.

School supplies

They also delivered books and other school supplies, including sports equipment, to a primary school at Bura.

The committee has also joined the fight against HIV/Aids through art fund-raisers entitled “I Rise Again”. Through the project, which showcases works of art by the region’s artists, 15 youngsters from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe are trained to design garments with fabrics from all over Africa.

Through Denver Sister Cities International, members take part in international festivals and other events and in home stays as they host visitors from other sister cities.

Denver has nine sister cities in all the continents — Brest (France), Takayama (Japan), Karmiel (Israel), Potenza (Italy), Cuernavaca (Mexico), Chennai (India), Kunming (China), Ethiopia’s Axum and Ulaanbaatar of Mongolia.