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Sister Cities International established the Annual Awards Program in 1962 to recognize exceptional sister city programs. A distinguished panel of judges reviews the programs and the winners are honored at the Sister Cities International Annual Conference.
The SCI Annual Awards Program recognizes the work of outstanding sister city programs. These programs demonstrate to other cities how to incorporate exciting and innovative ideas and exchanges into their own sister city program. The table below lists this year's recipients.
WINNERS OF THE 2004 ANNUAL AWARDS PROGRAM
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Great Neck Plaza, New York
The Village of Great Neck Plaza has taken great strides to improve the quality of life for their sister city of Tiberias, Israel. Their many programs include a soup kitchen, summer camp for disadvantaged children, a school lunch program, a pen pal and video exchange with elementary schools and donations to improve medical care for the citizens of Tiberias. Through the sister city partnership, the people of Great Neck Plaza and Tiberias became united in their goal to develop lasting bonds that create a spirit of cooperation, tolerance and mutual understanding. Great Neck Plaza continues to expand their programs in Tiberias and sent a 10-member delegation in August of 2003 to strengthen the connection. One highlight was the development of a video and brochure about their sister city relationship, which became the basis of an Israeli Solidarity Concert during Chanukah.
Best Overall Program: Population 50,000 to 100,000
Kent, Washington
The Kent Sister City Association was very active in art and culture, humanitarian assistance, healthcare, education and youth throughout 2003. Kent continued its successful Youth Ambassador Exchange Programs with both sister cities, Kaibara, Japan and Yangzhou, China. They also initiated an educators' exchange with Castlereagh, Northern Ireland. Kent coordinated the Young Artists Competition with local students and youth from four of its sister cities. A trade delegation from Yangzhou visited Kent to promote business and trade between the two cities. Kent committee members launched a major healthcare initiative to introduce new medical technology for cancer detection, complete with $60,000 of equipment and training, in the regional cancer hospital based in Kherson, Ukraine. Kent signed its newest sister city relationship with El Grullo, Mexico. Kent community members and service organizations joined together in a comprehensive humanitarian program to send funds to complete construction on a hospital, ship textbooks to schools, donate an emergency aid vehicle and provide assistance to service organizations in El Grullo.
Best Overall Program: Population 100,000 to 300,000
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe has strong and ever-growing relationships with all seven of its sister cities: Zhenjiang, China; Beaulieu sur Mer, France; Regensburg, Germany; Carlow, Ireland; Skopje, Macedonia; Timbuktu, Mali; and Lower Hutt, New Zealand. The Tempe Sister City organization set high expectations for themselves in 2003 and worked to meet and exceed their goal of "Bringing the World Together... One Friendship at a Time." Of Tempe's many initiatives, the student exchange program is the heart and soul of their sister city program. In 2003, they provided full funding for 24 high school juniors to travel to their sister cities in France, Ireland, New Zealand and Germany. In additional to strengthening ties through student exchange, Tempe also provided humanitarian assistance to their sister cities in Macedonia and Mali. Through the Wheelchairs for Peace program, Tempe already donated 240 wheelchairs to each city. Tempe is in the process of creating a Global Village Complex that will be a destination for every school child in Arizona. This will stimulate a spirit of international cooperation and tolerance among youth.
Best Overall Program: Population 100,000 to 300,000
Laredo, Texas
The City of Laredo developed its sister city initiatives in arts and culture, business, trade and tourism. The sister city program enjoys tremendous support from the local city government and has very active participation from all fifteen sister cities. Laredo's sister city program grew beyond city-to-city relationships to a multi-partner network with Laredo at its center. In 2003, several municipal departments worked with the Laredo Convention & Visitors Bureau to develop the First Annual Laredo International Festival of Sister Cities, an event showcasing Laredo's sister city network. Billed as the Business, Trade, Tourism, Arts and Culture Expo, the three-day event allowed Laredo's sister cities to present a wide variety of products for sale or sampling, as well as cultural presentations and tourism information. The event further facilitated multi-lateral conversations exploring exchanges and cooperation among the sister city network. The first year of the event was a tremendous success and fostered even greater participation and enthusiasm for the following year.
Best Overall Program: Population 300,000 to 500,000
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach brought all of its sister cities together in 2003 to create the Sister Cities International Music Festival. This ambitious project helped Virginia Beach celebrate its 40th anniversary as a municipality and raised awareness of the sister city vision of international cooperation and solidarity. The event required tremendous cooperation among city officials and sister city committees in Virginia Beach and its sister cities of Moss, Norway; Miyazaki, Japan; and Bangor, North Down, Northern Ireland. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Ode to Joy, was performed by over 300 musicians from the four cities including the Virginia Beach Symphony Orchestra, the Miyazaki City Philharmonic Orchestra, the Miyazaki Furuton Men's Choir, the Moss Chamber Choir and the Bangor Ladies Choir. This extraordinary project engaged a large community support network by involving music organizations, civic organizations, churches, volunteer groups, the school system and city hall in both planning and implementation. It united the Virginia Beach community with all four sister cities to promote the spirit of goodwill, international cooperation, peace and understanding through music.
Best Overall Program: Population Greater than 500,000
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth continued to have very active relationships with all six of its existing sister cities: Trier, Germany; Budapest, Hungary; Bandung, Indonesia; Reggio Emilia, Italy; Nagaoka, Japan; and Toluca, Mexico. Fort Worth Sister Cities International worked on a wide variety of new and continuing programs, incorporating cultural and educational exchanges, international leadership, sports and municipal development. Fort Worth's unique and comprehensive sister city programs reaffirmed their dedication to meaningful exchanges for all ages and their commitment to work toward a more integrated and peaceful world. New projects in 2003 included: the selection of Fort Worth's first African sister city, Mbabane, Swaziland; the initiation of the Global Alumni Program focusing on young adult involvement; an emergency preparedness exchange with Bandung, Indonesia; and the creation and shipment of a $10,000 bronze longhorn sculpture to the Trier Garden Show in Trier, Germany. Ongoing programs such as the International Leadership Academy and numerous international cultural exchanges with Fort Worth's sister cities continued to be an integral and successful part of 2003 programming.
Innovation Award for Arts & Culture
Tacoma, Washington
The Tacoma-Pierce County Sister Cities Council established its first "International Film and Food Festival" in 2003. The eight-week long festival involved eight out of ten of Tacoma's sister cities, introducing the local community to their arts and cultures through film and food. The festival also served to promote community awareness of Tacoma's sister cities, to generate funds for individual sister city committees and to bring unity among the sister city committees through a large joint effort project. Each week a film from the country of a particular sister city was featured. They served authentic cuisine from that country, and the respective sister city committee developed a special pre-show program. Programs included a Chinese dragon performance, a Cuban music trio, a Philippine youth performance, a Japanese play, Korean dancers and more. The entire series was an incredible success with sell-out crowds each week. With overwhelming community support, the Tacoma-Pierce County Sister Cites Council has plans to make the International Film and Food Festival an annual event.
Innovation Award for Economic Development
Louisville, Kentucky (Tri-City Partnership)
Sister Cities of Louisville worked with Sister Cities of Indianapolis and Sister Cities of Cincinnati as part of a tri-city partnership to promote U.S.-German economic development in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. The three cities worked with their respective visitors bureaus and their German sister cities to promote tourism in the tri-state region. The Louisville-Mainz Committee, the Cincinnati-Munich Committee and Indianapolis-Cologne Committee jointly participated in the Cologne Tourism Convention in November 2003 with over 30,000 attendees. Using the slogan "Heart of America," the three cities developed marketing materials to promote the tri-state region to a German audience. A website, brochure and other materials highlight the area's German heritage, as well as a racing theme featuring the Indianapolis 500, the Kentucky Derby and Cincinnati's river boat races. The three cities developed a five-year plan and are making arrangements for the Cologne Tourism Convention in 2004, the ITB Berlin Travel Conference in 2005 and future joint trade missions to their German sister cities.
Innovation Award for Education
Phoenix, Arizona
The Phoenix Sister Cities Commission (PSCC) has an extremely comprehensive education component integrated into its sister city programming. In 2003, PSCC focused on education through a number of programs including: the Youth Ambassador Exchange Program, the International Young Artists Competition, The Short-Term Teacher Exchange with Hermosillo, Mexico, the Long-Term Teach Abroad Program with Himeji, Japan, the Management Training Program with Chengdu, China and the Global Connections World Technology Conference. Through the Youth Ambassador Exchange Program, 24 students represented Phoenix in seven of its nine sister cities for three weeks. The exchange was reciprocated when 24 international Youth Ambassadors from Phoenix's sister cities joined their counterparts back in Phoenix. As part of a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, PSCC brought 40 teachers from five of its sister cities to attend the Global Connections World Technology Conference in Phoenix in July 2003. The focus of this conference was a unique distance-learning program that uses the internet to develop and sustain linkages between schools in Phoenix and in all nine of its sister cities.
Innovation Award for Environment
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville and its sister city Tamale, Ghana participated in the Millennium Development Goals City-to-City Challenge Pilot Program in cooperation with Sister Cities International and the World Bank Institute. Louisville and Tamale decided to work together on goal 7, ensure environmental sustainability, and they created a five-year action plan to address surrounding issues. The action plan focuses on sanitation practices and associated health problems, as well as raising awareness of the Millennium Development Goals and sister cities. Sister city committees in both communities put together community partnerships to work on planning and implementation. Partnerships in both communities include sister city members, local officials, women's groups and technical professionals. The dedication of the community partnerships in both communities helped advance the implementation of the action plan. Some highlights of the action plan included a technical visit to Tamale, a high profile conference in Tamale, public television programming in Louisville and sanitation awareness activities such as a "clean neighborhood contest" in Tamale.
Innovation Award for Healthcare
Corvallis, Oregon
Since 1999, Corvallis has worked to improve healthcare in its sister city of Uzhgorod, Ukraine. The Corvallis Sister Cities Association joined with several other local organizations to establish a community-based primary healthcare partnership project. The partnership project mobilized local government, healthcare professionals, educators, the business community and citizens of both Corvallis and Uzhgorod to address a range of adverse health conditions arising in Uzhgorod after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Corvallis-Uzhgorod Primary Healthcare Partnership made a tremendous impact. Numerous accomplishments include the creation of an infrastructure for sustainability through the development of local policies, the improvement of management strategies and the strengthening of health institutions through improved technology and professional training. In 2003, over 100 healthcare professionals from Corvallis volunteered their time, resources and expertise to assist. Donations of medical equipment and supplies have been ongoing throughout the partnership, and at the end of 2003 another four 40-foot containers were being readied for shipment.
Innovation Award for Humanitarian Assistance
West Bend, Wisconsin
Originally partnered as part of the International Resource Cities Program to assist transitional communities with technical assistance and economic development, the City of West Bend continued its connection with Pazardjik, Bulgaria by signing a sister city agreement. During visits, delegates from West Bend witnessed first-hand the tremendous challenge faced by the citizens and organizations in Pazardjik. In 2003, they mobilized a major humanitarian relief effort. Private citizens, school districts, companies and organizations in West Bend and throughout Wisconsin donated materials and money for the cause. The target groups for the donated items were school - age children, the underprivileged and public safety personnel. Humanitarian aid shipments included over 180 computers and related equipment, 17,500 school and library books, 21,898 pounds of clothing, medical supplies, protective equipment for the fire department and uniforms. West Bend was responsible for coordinating shipment preparations, and they worked with Counterpart International to assist with shipment of the materials.
Innovation Award for Municipal Cooperation
Riverside, California
Since 1976, the City of Riverside and Ensenada, Mexico fostered a strong and cooperative sister city relationship. Through exchanges and information sharing over the years, Ensenada city officials became aware of surplus City of Riverside property that could be useful in their community. After an initial request by Ensenada officials, several of Riverside's municipal departments responded and donations of surplus property now date back 20 years. The program started as donations of surplus property and evolved into more meaningful partnerships between Riverside municipal departments and public service agencies with their sister city counterparts. The Riverside Police Department has a long-standing policy that surplus items will go to Ensenada. When the Riverside Fire Department transfers a fire engine or other equipment to their counterparts in Ensenada, it is customary for the sister city fire departments to participate in training exercises. In 2003, equipment given to Ensenada included a rescue squad vehicle and fire truck for the fire department, 100 used uniforms for the police department and 500 new Spanish-language children's books for the public library.
Innovation Award for Public Safety
Fort Worth, Texas
Through the emergency preparedness collaboration, Fort Worth and its sister city of Bandung, Indonesia shared strategies, methodologies and information on several areas of public safety and emergency management. Specific projects addressed flood control, water production, public health and crisis response. In March 2003, a delegation from Bandung traveled to Fort Worth for training sessions on how to handle emergency situations. A delegation of professional engineers, public health officials and disaster-relief experts later traveled from Fort Worth to Indonesia. While in Bandung, they helped conduct an analysis of Bandung's water security systems, assessing the strengths and weaknesses in the event of water supply contamination. The delegation worked with Bandung utility officials to develop an all-hazards emergency preparedness plan to implement in the event of a terrorist attack, bio-terrorist attack or natural disaster. The Fort Worth delegation also provided CPR/First Aid training to a segment of Bandung's Public Health Department to aid in first response during an emergency situation.
Innovation Award for Technology & Communication
Wichita, Kansas
For eleven years, students from Friends University in Wichita and La Salle University in Cancun, Mexico participated in a sister university exchange as an extension of the sister city relationship between the two cities. Objectives of the month-long exchange are to help participants increase language proficiency, cross-cultural understanding and learn more about their respective sister cities. In 2003, a technology component was integrated into the exchange. A new class called Writing for the World Wide Web was designed and incorporated into the curriculum. They created a Study Abroad 2003 Web Site and participants learned how to author web pages and use digital cameras. Students created the welcome area and pages for participant information, daily lesson dairies, personal commentary, photo galleries, schedules of lessons and activities, links to sister city websites and more. This new technology component facilitated communication about the students' experiences to family, friends and teachers back home. The website also served as a resource for prospective students, program sponsors, sister city members and the broader community, ensuring a better understanding of the exchange program and its success.
Innovation Award for Youth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth Sister Cities International developed the Global Alumni Program (GAP) to increase and sustain young adult membership and to create greater continuity between existing youth and adult programs. In 2002, a group of former youth program participants conceived of the program and were very active in both its planning and initiation. With more than 700 young adult alumni of Fort Worth sister city exchanges, Fort Worth Youth International or the International Leadership Academy, GAP offers alumni the opportunity to remain connected to sister city programming. In 2003, GAP put on a successful inaugural reunion with 55 youth alumni in attendance, and GAP was given an ex-officio position on the Fort Worth Sister Cities International Board of Directors. Fort Worth Sister Cities International also created internship opportunities in the office, as well as Associate Delegation Leader positions for future youth exchanges. GAP introduced the concept of hands-on volunteerism exchanges to Fort Worth youth alumni. The first exchange, Hands Abroad Japan Volunteer Exchange, has been planned with Fort Worth's sister city of Nagaoka, Japan.
Award for Disability Advocacy
Benbrook, Texas
The City of Benbrook and Benbrook Sister Cities forged a coalition with VSA arts of Texas to improve disability awareness and cultural understanding through educational outreach programs. Free art workshops for children and families were publicized in the community and were attended. A key component of the project was the Young Artists Competition, with area schools encouraging participation. They conducted their first art exchange with sister city Bled, Slovenia and future art exchanges including their other sister city, Ballymoney, Ireland are planned. The organizers adopted an inclusive approach that empowered disabled youth and their families to fully participate. They established a "circles of friends" with specialized training in adapting art for disabled youth and targeted outreach efforts to include special education teachers. Linked to the "Follow the Dream" program, they sponsored an art contest themed "I AM A STAR" that included sculpture, drawings and paintings. This project demonstrates that life skills for students, artistic creativity and international friendship can flourish alongside each other.
Award for Volunteer of the Year
Dr. Susan Herlin of Louisville, Kentucky
Dr. Susan Herlin, or Chief Zo-Simli-Naa as she is known in Tamale, has dedicated more than twenty years to the sister city mission. She served on the Sister Cities of Louisville Board of Directors as co-chair of the Tamale, Ghana committee since 1984. The sister city relationship between Louisville and Tamale grew tremendously under her leadership. Dr. Herlin's commitment and dedication to Tamale mobilized support and volunteerism in both communities. A special chief-ship was created for Dr. Herlin in 1995, and since then, she makes annual visits to Tamale to perform chiefly duties, work on sister city projects and visit friends. She was instrumental in raising funds and coordinating numerous visits to and from Tamale over the years. In 1999, Dr. Herlin established the Tamale Scholarship and Aid Fund, which currently provides support for 42 high school students in the Tamale area. In 2000, she worked with several community organizations in Louisville to send a large container of medical supplies to Tamale. Most recently, Dr. Herlin mobilized Louisville and Tamale to focus on environmental sustainability and other issues as part of a pilot project focusing on the UN Millennium Development Goals.
Ms. Ruth Hashimoto
Ruth Hashimoto has a long history of citizen diplomacy. Ruth started the Albuquerque sister city program in 1965 and later served on the Board of Directors for Sister Cities International. She has been an active member of the Sister Cities International Honorary Board for many years and a generous supporter of sister city programs. Last November, Ruth celebrated her 90th birthday, but she is still as active as ever. She was born in Seattle, Washington and learned the importance of humanitarian work early in life when a mentor encouraged her to help disadvantaged families. Ruth was confined to a relocation camp during World War II, but rather than discourage her, this experience only served to strengthen her civic spirit. She credits a meeting with Eleanor Roosevelt as an inspiration for volunteering with the United Nations Association. Ruth received many awards including induction into the New Mexico Women's Hall of Fame, and she is a recipient of the Japanese Government's 5th Order of the Precious Crown. Most recently, Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez proclaimed September 28, 2003 as "Ruth Hashimoto Day." Each year, the president of the Board of Directors of Sister Cities International presents the President's Award to an individual or organization that has demonstrated outstanding dedication and service to the sister city mission. This year, President Gray bestows this honor on Ruth Hashimoto.