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Local ProgramsThe following are just a few of the projects that local programs have developed with their sister cities abroad. If you are a member and would like your story posted, please email Adam Kaplan at akaplan@sister-cities.org.Humanitarian Projects Humanitarian ProjectsAsheville, NCHomepage Members of the Asheville Sister Cities Program spent two months this summer in Osogbo, Nigeria following their first visit in 2006. The visit had three major goals. The first was to lead a ten member Sister Cities delegation from Asheville for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to make the sister city relationship official. The second was to see what it would be like to live in Osogbo for several months with an eye to doing so for as much as five months each year. The final goal was to make more documentaries about the people, needs, and culture of the community. Rainer Doost and Valeria Watson-Doost preceded the delegation by three weeks and remained for four weeks after their departure. In the course of their stay they saw endless opportunities to contribute to this vibrant but extremely poor community. Their NGO, the Zamani Refuge African Culture Center, a 501(c)3, has been involved since 2001 with an unwavering focus on crossing cultural divides. While they have organized events and initiated specific assistance projects their main effort has been educational by means of video documentaries. Selected documentaries are seen on their local public access station URTV as well as posted on the web in various forms. Portions of their visit can be seen online:
Cambridge, MA Homepage The Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City Association's Armenia School Aid Project (CYSCA-ASAP) is now 14 years old and still going strong. Recognizing the urgent need for supplementing the meager budgets of schools in Armenia, CYSCA director Eva Medzorian founded the school aid project in 1994. Since its inception ASAP has provided critically needed financial and material aid to over 100 schools in Yerevan from sponsors and donors, all of which was personally delivered by Eva or Jack Medzorian. Funds have typically been used to upgrade bathrooms, repair leaking roofs, repair or replace old or broken desks and chairs, replace broken windows, purchase computers, school supplies, etc. This project has succeeded because of the concept of directly linking a sponsor to a school, monitoring, documenting and verifying the use of the aid, and reporting back to the sponsors. Anyone interested in sponsoring a school should contact Eva Medzorian at emedzorian@aol.com for details. Corning, NY Last year Corning Sister City Program chaired and celebrated the 20th Anniversary of our their relationship with Lyiv, Ukraine, which began in 1987. This has been a very busy and successful year for Corning. They traveled to Lviv in October, their tenth trip to visit their adopted Lviv Regional Specialized Children's Hospital, which serves children with cancer from the Chernobyl disaster and over 400 diabetic children. Over the years, they have sent over $50,000 in addition to nearly 100 containers of humanitarian aid for these children. This time they were honored with two additional plaques for their contributions in the two Intervention Centers for diabetics. This brings a grand total of four plaques with the William & Gloria Misnick names for their efforts. In 2004 the William and Gloria Misnick Diabetic Clinic was dedicated, and shortly afterwards a Diabetic Teaching Center was also dedicated. They have also sent over seven and a half tons of Braille and Large Print books to a Media Center for the blind in Lviv. During a visit they saw the sound equipment that had been purchased for the blind, and with the large number of Braille & Large Print books that were donated, a satellite center in Kiev was also opened. The program has also adopted a school in Lyiv-School #4-which has taught English for over 50 years. In the museum at the school, there will be a Corning section, since they have extensively supported the school in a variety of ways. Corning members were honored during their visit in October by being selected to be part of the Guidance Council at School #4, the only U.S. citizens to be accorded this honor. Corvallis, OR Homepage The Corvallis-Gondar, Ethiopia sister city program was established in 2004. They established a mirror committee in Gondar whose members include the mayor as well as other prominent citizens, and these committees have jointly identified, approved, and carried out projects to provide clean water to the residents of Gondar. They have made efforts to ensure the continuity of their work by organizing a delegation to visit Corvallis that included both the incoming and outgoing mayors. They have also formed both formal and informal partnerships with Oregon State University and University of Gondar for technical exchanges, including visits by the Dean of the School of Public Health and a graduate fellow to identify potential areas of collaboration. The Gondar Committee also sponsored an evaluation of water and forestry practices to provide guidance on improvements that can be made to improve Gondar residents' access to clean water. Denver, CO Homepage The Axum-Denver sister city partnership has been focused on the quality of water for many years. These volunteers worked with the sister city committee to develop a pilot program to engineer a water filtration system for the city of Axum along with the established of a water treatment plant with equipment donated from Denver Water. In 2002, Denver Water representatives trained residents of Axum to utilize the equipment and maintain the water laboratory. Because of its work in establishing a water-quality laboratory, as well as a current project providing water purification tablets to the community, the committee has a comprehensive understanding of the water and sanitation issues facing Axum. Through their sister city relationship they have cultivated relationships with various local actors, including the mayor of Axum, the local nursing school and hospital, and the departments of education, health, and water. In addition, they were selected as one of three sister city programs pilot the Safe Drinking Water Initiative with Procter & Gamble because of their strong relationships in Axum and their expertise in water projects. Falls Church, VA Homepage Maura Constance, a Falls Church nurse-practitioner, completed the Marine Corps Marathon on Oct. 26 as part of her successful effort to raise funds for the 2009 salary of the Kokolopori clinic doctor. Maura, who chairs the Health Clinic Committee for the Kokolopori-Falls Church Sister City Partnership, says it was the thought of all the friends and family who supported her cause that kept her going mile after mile. Forty-five people donated to Maura's cause this year, including a generous anonymous donor who made a $3,000 challenge grant, and Red, White and Bleu, which sponsored a wine and cheese tasting benefit to support the fund. Dr. Pondolo Saidi, who was hired one year ago with funds raised through Maura's first marathon, treats about 30 patients a day in Kokolopori. The cases he sees most often include malaria, parasitic and fungal infections, cuts and wounds, malnutrition, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. He also delivers babies and teaches workshops about public health and hygiene. For a virtual tour of the Kokolopori clinic, see the website, www.kokolopori-partnership.org. With funds raised in Falls Church, the Kokolopori health clinic staff conducted a sample survey in the 35 villages of Kokolopori earlier this year to gather data about the nutritional status of babies, young children and pregnant and nursing women. The purpose of the survey was to assess the most important needs for early nutritional intervention. The survey found that approximately 9% of children under the age of five are malnourished, half of these severely. Contributing factors identified included presence of parasitic worms, too-early introduction of solid food into the diet of nursing infants, and the fact that 25% of pregnant women and 20% of nursing mothers are also malnourished. While Ingrid Schulze was visiting Kokolopori in January, she interviewed two up-and-coming community leaders, Veronique Lilima Lokasola and Sebastian Lokole Botsuna on video. The two young people discuss what they see as some of the most important issues for successful conservation and development in Kokolopori. The interview can also be found on the program's website. A manufacturer of solar power generators, Solar Stik, Inc., has committed to donating one of their Solar Stiks (an $8,500 value) for Kokolopori's health clinic. The solar power generator is comprised of two 50-watt solar panels on a sturdy mast that can be manually adjusted twice a day to track the sun and maximize energy collection, plus batteries and an inverter. The company's CEO, Al Zaccor, who lives in the City of Falls Church, or the company's President, Brian Bosley, will travel to Kokolopori early in 2009 to personally install the solar panels, and train health clinic staff in their use and maintenance. The panels will power electric lights for the clinic. Until now, emergency night-time medical procedures like surgeries and childbirths have been conducted by hand-held flashlight. Family Medicine in Falls Church also made a generous donation in support of this project, as did several individual Falls Church donors. Solar power is also urgently needed for a variety of other uses like charging laptops, batteries, and running a small vaccine refrigerator. Phoenix, AZ Homepage At the Sister Cities International conference in 2007, Phoenix Sister Cities received the Innovation Award for Sustainable Development in the field of municipal cooperation. This award was in recognition of Phoenix Sister Cities' participation with other cities in sharing information and cooperating on issues of mutual concern. Phoenix Sister Cities has continued to cooperate with the Phoenix Police and Fire Department by hosting a delegation from Chengdu, China which was treated to an in-depth look at the local fire departments as well as public safety program. Following the 2008 earthquake in Chengdu, Phoenix Sister Cities also arranged for aid to be sent to the region. Tulsa, OK Homepage Tulsa's sister city, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, received a life-saving gift from the Tulsa International Airport in mid-December. An Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting truck, retired from service at Tulsa International Airport, will help firefighters in Latin American countries train for aircraft emergencies, airport and fire officials say. The 24-year-old ARFF truck was donated to the San Luis Potosi Fire Department's International Training Center by members of the Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust Nov. 13 following a proposal to the board by Tom Wintle, a retired 25-year veteran of the Tulsa Fire Department. Wintle, who speaks fluent Spanish and has befriended San Luis Potosi Fire Chief Adolfo Benavente, said the ARFF vehicle will aid training for airport fire departments throughout Mexico, Central and South America. "The next time you fly into Cozumel, Cancun or any of the resort towns in Mexico or South America, you can be sure that these guys will know what they are doing," Wintle said. Wintle and Fred Chambers, the former trainer for Tulsa International Airport's Fire Department, will accompany the ARFF vehicle as it is transported via rail to San Luis Potosi. "San Luis Potosi has a state-of-the-art facility," Chambers said. "Their training far exceeds FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) standards. They have full-sized aircraft and helicopter mock-ups that they burn diesel and propane fires in. I will train them on the specifics of that particular truck. I brought them the total training curriculum packet from my company. It meets ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) standards. "They had nothing. Now they have a curriculum and training that meets international standards. The (ARFF) truck will help that along. It's one thing to tell somebody about something, but when you have a hands-on experience, you remember it a lot more. It makes it more realistic." The ARFF truck being donated to San Luis Potosi is the second ARFF vehicle donated by TAIT in the last two years. In 2006, an ARFF truck was donated to John C. Stennis International Airport in Bay St. Louis, Miss., in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Environmental ProjectsBoulder, COHomepage In April 2008 Bella Energy, a Boulder-based solar energy solution company serving Colorado and the Rocky Mountain Region, donated and installed solar electric and hot water systems on the Dushanbe cyber café in Tajikistan, providing a renewable energy future, not just for Colorado, but also for a community overseas. It's part of the Boulder-Dushanbe Sister Cities' efforts to repay the city of Dushanbe for the unique gift of the popular Boulder-Dushanbe Tea House on 14th Street in Boulder, Colorado. Power is very unreliable in Tajikistan. Winter 2008 in Tajikistan has seen greater than usual power outages due to frozen rivers choking off hydropower, so much so that the government requested international relief aid. Without electrical heat, many people have died. The solar systems provide reliable electricity and hot water for the café. Given a few hours of sun every few days and careful use of electricity, the cybercafé can operate indefinitely. The battery backup system kicks in milliseconds after the power goes out, so computers will keep running seamlessly even if the power stays off for days as it commonly does. Bella Energy predicts the solar systems will produce about 50% of the building's electrical power. The goal is to power all computers, some lights, fridge and electronics related to the solar hot water system. The cyber café demonstrates state of the art clean energy technologies to the local people including solar electric and solar hot water, evaporative cooling, internet use, and computer use. Cincinnati, OH Homepage A delegation from Cincinnati led by Mayor Mark Mallory visited their sister city Liuzhou, China this past November. The highlight of the trip was a dedication ceremony for Longtan Park, which was designed by volunteers from Cincinnati and boasts a 180 foot replica of the Roebling Suspension Bridge that spans the Ohio River. Also on the visit was Cincinnati Parks supervisor Gerald Checco, who was pleased to meet with the Chinese and learn about how they have been incorporating sustainable design into much of the construction for the 2008 Olympic Games. Cincinnati has returned the favor by providing professional training to park officials on how to recruit volunteers to help with park work. Duluth, MN Homepage Duluth's sister city, Vaxjo, Sweden, was named the "Greenest City in Europe When the mayor of Vaxjo and an official delegation visited Duluth last summer to share details on how their city became a model for sustainability. What is particularly interesting is that they are not only 'the Greenest City" but they have turned their "Greenest City" into a business. People come from all over the world to tour their facilities and participate in various seminars, creating a great revenue source for their city. During the visit delegation members met with members of the government and community, and discussed Vaxjo's use of biofuels for energy. Duluth is exploring similar fuel sources for its own energy needs. Melissa Kadlec, the Executive Director of the Duluth program, is in the process of putting together a visit to Vaxjo in the fall of 2009. You can find more information on their sister city program at http://www.duluthmnsistercities.org/cities/vaxjo/ and an article on their delegation visit at http://www.biomassmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=1871. If you are interested in learning more about Vaxjo, please visit their website at www.duluthmnsistercities.org. Fort Worth, TX Homepage Delegates from Bandung, Indonesia came to Fort Worth for five days of interaction with Fort Worth's Transportation and Public Works department to discuss transportation, grid lock, public transportation and environmental issues. The delegates watched several demonstrations on how Fort Worth runs their transportation operations and on ways to improve air quality in Bandung. The dialogue has continued between Fort Worth and Bandung, as the city of Bandung has already begun special initiatives of making the city a greener place. They are adding multiple new public parks and planting trees throughout the city. For an account of Fort Worth Sister Cities member Carlo Capua's trip to Swaziland click here. State of Maryland Homepage The Maryland Sister States Program, housed under the Office of the Secretary of State for the State of Maryland, worked in cooperation with the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Anhui Environmental Protection Bureau to strengthen pollution protections in the Huai River Basin in Anhui Province, China. The project's goal was to help the Anhui Environmental Protection Bureau develop policies and standards for pollution control while working closely with industries and citizens directly impacted by pollution. Communications with all segments of the community affected by pollution was emphasized and the program hoped to develop a public-private partnership between the residents, affected businesses and the provincial government to address short and long-term pollution problems. The Project managers trained local organizations, NGOs, businesses and Bureau staff on water quality management, permit requirements, fee development, and regulation compliance to ensure adequate protections and measures are implemented. The last three training components required significant involvement of affected industries and local citizens to ensure project sustainability. The program also aimed to improve the capacity of local government officials and community stakeholders to develop and disseminate appropriate water quality standards as well as improve the communications and networking between provincial staff, municipal governments, local industries and businesses, and the community at large. Palm Desert, CA Homepage The Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo Sister Cities Comitee, with the support of the Palm Desert Sisters Cities Foundation, from our sister city of Palm Desert, CA, are developing a Nature Conservation Center in the southern coast of the Pacific in Mexico. This project has four main objectives: Conservation, Environmental Education, Scientific Research and Exhibition, since it will be built near the resort area of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Although it is still under construction, you can check more details of the project on the website www.elrefugiodepotosi.com. Economic Development ProjectsAtlanta, GAHomepage The Atlanta Sister Cities Commission Economic Development Sub-Committee held its second Economic Development Partnership Forum from March 12 tp 14, 2008. Titled 'Greener Cities: Public Transit and Green Space Policies' the event was aimed at facilitating the exchange of economic development practices and increasing awareness of economic conditions among Atlanta’s sister cities. The forum, co-hosted by the City of Atlanta and CIFAL Atlanta was designed to broaden participants’ knowledge of the benefits of environmental improvements in land use and transportation policies and to enable delegates to return to their respective countries with a method for managing the opportunities and challenges presented by the sustainable planning of cities. Participating delegates included representatives from sister cities Nürnberg, Germany; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Ra’anana, Israel; Salcedo, Dominican Republic; and Taipei, Taiwan and representatives from Ningbo, China; Porto Alegre, Brazil; Ahmedabad, India; and Kingston, Jamaica. v The conference was coordinated in cooperation with CIFAL Atlanta, the only North American affiliate of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and with the support of the Atlanta City Council’s Advisory Committee on International Relations (ACIR), the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, with support from the Atlanta Beltline, Inc. and the BeltLine Partnership; and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. The forum highlighted the benefits of public transit and green space programs worldwide and helped communicate the City of Atlanta’s environmental initiatives, such as Sustainable Atlanta and the Beltine project, which the delegates had the option of touring. The format of the conference was based around a best practice sharing and case study methodology that invited political and professional participants to share best practices and to deliver concrete action plans for their cities. A Welcome Dinner in the Atrium of Atlanta City Hall enabled delegates and their Atlanta hosts to meet in a festive environment. Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin welcomed all the guests and recognized sister city anniversaries and individual leaders for their contribution to the sister city program. With a year in planning and a target of $50,000 in sponsorship, the Atlanta Economic Development Partnership Forum shows how the Atlanta Sister Cities Commission is supporting the economic development goals of Atlanta as well as its partner cities. Participants had the opportunity to learn from the experiences of other partner cities during the conference, and to meet with host sister city committee members and hold other social and business-related meetings before and after the event. Portland, OR Based on the success of the initial CityLinks work in Ethiopia, ICMA submitted a proposal to USAID in 2007 to expand the ICMA CityLinks partnerships to Gambella region (state) and Somali region and to the city of Dire Dawa as well as to continue the assistance to the city of Adama. The program received $1,450,000 of additional funding for a two-year extension to strengthen local governance through public service delivery and to promote economic growth in the four locations. The new award follows the previous two-year CityLinks partnership between the city of Portland, Oregon, and Adama, which focused on local economic development. The objective of the extension of the CityLinks program in Ethiopia is to strengthen local governance in the emerging Gambella region and to that region's capital city, which is also called Gambella; in Somali region and its capital city, Jijiga; and in the cities of Dire Dawa and Adama, by increasing their institutional capacity, promoting economic growth, improving their performance, and promoting mechanisms for citizen participation and oversight in public decision making. As part of the implementation approach, the CityLinks program will tailor its assistance to respond to specific institutional needs and the context in each of the locations. In Gambella region, the program will concentrate on short-term impact and highly visible public service demonstration projects. With a population of 182,000, the Gambella region is one of the four "emerging regions" in Ethiopia. Those four areas have traditionally been marginalized within Ethiopia. The CityLinks program will work with the state government of Gambella and with the municipality of Gambella to implement sanitation, public transportation, and public finance programs. The CityLinks assistance will look for opportunities to forge cooperation among the state and local levels of government, in order to strengthen intergovernmental relations and thus enhance efficiency and effectiveness in the use and allocation of public resources. The program will also engage communities to promote formal interactions and relationships between civil society and sub-national governments. The CityLinks program will promote short-term impact and demonstration projects in Jijiga to speed up results in the area's basic service delivery and citizen participation. Due to the current security restrictions in travel to Jijiga, the program will provide training and peer-to-peer exchanges from the city of Dire Dawa. This is a partnership the region of Jijiga is anticipating and has responded to with eagerness. Finally, since 2006 the city of Portland has worked in partnership with Adama under the CityLinks program, providing peer-to-peer learning and hands-on assistance in the area of local economic development. After Portland officials made a visit to Adama in February 2007, a work plan was confirmed to further expand the success of the program in related areas. These expanded activities will include hiring a full time local economic development specialist to work in Adama; publishing a marketing brochure to entice more industrial development to the community as well as a general brochure that features all that the city has to offer; organizing a local economic development conference to attract future investors to Adama and to share best practices from the city of Adama with other Ethiopian regions; and developing small business incubators to take Adama businesses to the next level. Adama is looking forward to continuing its partnership with the city of Portland and to furthering their cooperative activities under the CityLinks program. For more information please visit http://www.icma.org/main/ns_search.asp?nsid=3582&t=0. San Francisco, CA San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom met with Han Zheng, Mayor of Shanghai. At the meeting, Mayor Newsom thanked Mayor Han for his continued support of the San Francisco-Shanghai Sister City relationship and announced the plan to hold a "San Francisco Week" at the Shanghai Expo in 2010. Mayor Newsom also discussed the ChinaSF Initiative and the opening of the San Francisco China Desk in Shanghai. ChinaSF is a public/private partnership that will help connect businesses in China and the San Francisco Bay Area and assist Chinese companies looking to locate or invest in North America. ChinaSF is a comprehensive international business recruitment, expansion, and retention initiative that builds on San Francisco's core strengths for international businesses - a highly desirable urban location, a world-class international airport, an un-paralleled workforce and access to all of the San Francisco Bay Area´s financial and technology resources. "San Francisco is proud of its long-standing relationship with China and its sister city, Shanghai," said Mayor Newsom. "ChinaSF builds on this history of shared cultural and economic ties, and strengthens future economic prosperity through enhanced relationships between San Franciscan and Chinese businesses. We look forward to furthering the spirit of cooperation between our two cities with more public/private partnerships, like ChinaSF, as well as additional cultural, intellectual and economic endeavors." Following his meeting with Mayor Zheng, Mayor Newsom traveled to Shanghai Museum where he signed an agreement between the Shanghai Museum and the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco to develop an historic exhibition about artistic development in the city of Shanghai from 1850 to the present. The exhibition will be presented at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco from February 12 - May 9, 2010. Mayor Newsom also visited the headquarters of the upcoming Expo 2010, where he received a briefing about the Expo and a tour of the demonstration facility. Expo 2010 is the first World Exposition on the theme of city, sustainability and the challenges that face the urban population. San Francisco plans to participate through a "San Francisco Week" at the Expo in May 2010. link to article: http://www.californiachronicle.com/articles/view/81206. |
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