As a Lila-Wallace Arts International Fellow, Lily Yeh conducted a 3-month residency in Nairobi beginning in December of 1993. Situated right next to a huge city dump, Korogocvho is a settlement of 100,000 people right outside of Nairobi. The thousands of children and sdults who visit the dump site daily to scratch out a living by recycling trash are refered to as Mukuru people (Swahili for "garbage"). During this initial trip, Yeh engaged residents in transforming a barren curch courtyard into a vibrant environment filled with huge brightly painted angels, flowers and sculpted guardian figures. Yeh worked with Eliimo and Phillda Njau of the Paa Ya Paa Art Center and Father Alex Zanotelli of St. JohnÕs Catholic Church in Korogocho during the trip, setting the foundation for a decade-long partnership.

During the following 10 years, Yeh collaborated with many visual and performing artists to engage community residents, especially children, in art projects that included painting, mask-making, creative drama, photography, mural-painting and sculpture-making. Yeh worked closely with social workers in the community and local groups such as Boma Rescue Center and the Korogocho Street Children Center. In 2003 she worked with another Korogocho-based organization "Education for Life" to create large-scaled visual tools such as painting and banners to warn young people about the danger of HIV and AIDS and to educate them about preventive methodology. As a part of the educational activities, they launched a teach-in festival including a ceremonial procession through town, communal songs, dances, an art exhibition, and theatrical performances.

This 10 year long partnership enriched the lives of many on both continents. In 1994, with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, Elimo Njau of Paa Ya Paa visited the Village and conducted workshops on Kenyan culture and East African Art in Philadelphia and New York. In September 1996, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Village, John Omondi (dancer, drummer, and choreographer from Korogocho was sponsored by INROADS program to conduct a month-long residency at the Village, which named its culminating event of the year Kujenga Pamoja Festival. Kujenga Pamoja means in Swahili the Village motto, Together We Build. The naming of our festival gestured our solidarity with the Korogocho community in Kenya and celebrating the heritage of people in our North Philadelphia community.