
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 22, 1990                   TAG: 9007220103
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-15   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DEBORAH EVANS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MAYOR GOES AHEAD WITH KENYA TRIP

At least 18 people have been killed during recent anti-government protests in Kenya, but Mayor Noel Taylor appeared every bit the typical, carefree tourist Saturday as he left the airport for Roanoke's sister city of Kisumu.

"The Lord takes care of babies and fools," teased his wife, Barbara, who was not making the trip with her husband.

Months of planning by the mayor, City Manager Robert Herbert and nine others almost went bust when demonstrations in Kenya's capital city of Nairobi turned violent. Kisumu is about 165 miles away, but some of the travelers wanted to postpone traveling - and changed their minds only after a couple of meetings and State Department approval.

Danger seemed Taylor's least concern as he stood in the airport lobby. Wearing casual pants, a short-sleeved shirt and a straw-like hat, Taylor exchanged last minute good-bye hugs with family and well-wishers, posed for group photos and talked about the excitement of the trip.

"Now that my time [to travel] has arisen, I'm getting excited," Taylor said. "I haven't had time to be nervous."

Postponing the trip while still accommodating the schedules of the 11 travelers would have been too difficult, he said.

The purpose of the trip is a fact-finding mission that will aid city officials in planning for an upcoming visit to Roanoke by Kisumu representatives. Roanoke may be able to offer technical assistance or other help to its sister city, Taylor said.

"And of course we're going to learn a great deal about the culture, the habits and operation of their city," he said. "That kind of exchange makes for a great learning experience - a blending of cultures."

Taylor used the example of America's new friendliness with the Soviet Union to illustrate why the Kisumu trip is important.

"Today, I find that Russia and America have reached a much greater understanding as we have grown close enough to study our forms of government, to really sit down and talk to one another."

Taylor said he was urged to stay home until calmer times in Kenya, but felt the trip was necessary to bridge gaps in understanding between governments.

A conversation with a man who was in Africa when John F. Kennedy was killed helped make up Taylor's mind. The man told Taylor he had been unable to explain to his friends in Africa that Lee Harvey Oswald would not automatically succeed to the presidency.

"The ways of government differ in different countries," Taylor said.

by CNB