Next Monday, Urbana will host representatives from its sister city, a city thousands of miles away and across the ocean: Zomba, in Malawi, Africa.

The partnership began 25 years ago and stemmed from the long-standing relationships that community organizations had with Malawi.

After returning from a mission trip in 2007, Dennis Roberts, Urbana council member-Ward 2, introduced the idea of becoming sister cities with Zomba to Mayor Laurel Prussing. Prussing agreed, and the partnership was approved in February 2008.

Two years later, Urbana received a $115,000 grant from Sister Cities International through the African Urban Poverty Alleviation program and became one of 17 projects currently monitored by the organization.

“Urbana’s project is considered to be one of the best — the best managed and the best organized,” Roberts said.

In August, Roberts and other committee members did a site visit in Zomba to evaluate needs. The final proposal for grant money use was submitted in February.

The proposal consists of three projects related to health, sanitation and water, as the grant requires. The first project will provide water to those without access to it by constructing standpipes connected to the city water system.

At three primary schools in Zomba with nearly 1,000 students, children share four toilets. To improve this situation, the second project will triple the number of toilets available by adding three eight-unit pit toilets, similar to what Americans would refer to as an outhouse, at each school, Roberts said.

“We’re going to be providing toilet facilities to probably four or 5,000 children and clean, chlorinated, safe drinking water to about 7,500 to 10,000 people,” said Scott Dossett, secretary for Urbana’s sister city committee.

Lastly, in Zomba, hospitals strictly treat a patient’s health needs, which means relatives must solely take care of sick patients.

“We visited the hospital and village and found very bad sanitation conditions,” Roberts said.

Dossett added that the guardian shelter, where caretakers stay, is “woefully in need of remodeling.”

In the last project of the proposal, Zomba Central Hospital will receive four showers and eight flushing toilets that will connect to a main sewer line. Currently, all the waste is running into the street, Roberts said.

Once the proposal is approved by Sister Cities International, they will search for a construction company. When potential offers are received, Dossett will travel to Africa to open the bids with partners in Zomba.

“I anticipate that the project will be very successful,” said Adam Kaplan, program manager at Sister Cities International. “It will help decrease the incidence of waterborne diseases … and … increase attendance (at the schools) and (decrease) time spent traveling to toilet facilities or water points.”

As a first for the new sister city program, representatives from Urbana will attend the 55th annual conference in Arlington, Va., from March 3 to 5.

Travel allowance for visitors Charles Kalemba, chief executive officer of Zomba, and Mussa Mwali, administrative director of Zomba, who are attending the conference and visiting Urbana, will be funded by Sister Cities International.

During their trip, the representatives from Zomba will have dinner with the mayor and University President Michael Hogan, as well as sit in on an Urbana City Council meeting.

“(Government members in Malawi) took very good care of us during our visit in August,” Dossett said. “We’re real pleased to be able to reciprocate.”