The Greater Newburyport/Bura Alliance is a non-profit organization affiliated with Sister Cities International, Inc. It is composed of volunteers and supporters from greater Newburyport, Massachusetts. We are committed to fostering friendship, cross-cultural understanding and mutual respect between the people of the greater Newburyport area and Bura, Kenya.

We do this principally through an exchange of cultural and financial resources, and visits, between GNBA and its partner organization in Bura, the Mwengere Development Committee, for the long-term benefit of both communities. These activities are dedicated to enhancing awareness, communication, education and leadership development by linking our communities in mutually defined projects to empower the participants.

How We Started

The Greater Newburyport/Alliance is modeled on the successful Amesbury for Africa Sister City program which was founded by Dr. Mark Bean and a group of concerned adults and youth in 1985. At that time, while the world's attention was riveted by stories of war and famine in East Africa, this group looked for a way in which their community could be directly involved in the fight against hunger and see the results of their efforts.

Dr. Bean had recently met Bishop James Mundia who was studying at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge. Bishop Mundia, a native of Esabalu, Kenya and Dr. Bean thought it would be a good idea to work towards developing a sister city relationship between Amesbury and Esabalu. Since that time, there have been many exciting developments including exchanges of people and information benefitting all participants.

An early member of Amesbury for Africa was a Kenyan living in Amesbury, Tony Shake. Tony took part in helping establish the relationship with Esabalu and saw its benefits firsthand. He hoped that someday there would be a si.milar relationship established with his native home of Bura, Kenya.

From the beginning, Amesbury for Africa attracted interest throughout the Lower Merrimack Valley, and after several years, there were enough people from Newburyport, West Newbury and Newbury to begin a new group. It was a short step from there to the formation of the Greater Newburyport/Bura Alliance. The Alliance began meeting in 1992. In October, 1994, Mayor Lisa L. Mead of Newburyport issued a citation declaring Newburyport and Bura, Kenya sister cities. The group was incorporated as a non-profit, tax exempt organization in 1995.