Are they still relevant? Absolutely! Read about Rockford (IL) Sister Cities Peace Garden, which was dedicated on September 21 this year with a peace pole.
(Historical sources: Wikipedia and the World Peace Prayer Society.)
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Symbol of Peace
Someone recently asked me about peace poles. A Peace Pole is a monument that displays the message "May Peace Prevail on Earth,” usually in a different language on each side. The message is referred to as a peace prayer. There are more than 200,000 peace poles on every continent. The Peace Pole Project was started in Japan by The World Peace Prayer Society in 1955, shortly after World War II, by Masahisa Goi.
Are they still relevant? Absolutely! Read about Rockford (IL) Sister Cities Peace Garden, which was dedicated on September 21 this year with a peace pole.
Are they still relevant? Absolutely! Read about Rockford (IL) Sister Cities Peace Garden, which was dedicated on September 21 this year with a peace pole.
Taking Action on the International Day of Peace
As we approach September 21 -- the International Day of Peace, individuals and organizations are working feverishly toward world peace around the world. I came across a nice opinion peace by Kurt Pinette of The Clock in Portsmouth, NH - read the story.
Not sure what you can do for the International Day of Peace? I've got a simple idea - how about a pinwheel? Pinwheels for Peace is a fantastic global project organized that takes a childhood symbol and uses it to remind us of our need to work toward world peace. Do you remember how to make a pinwheel? Read more about the project. Maybe a school in your community is participating in their campaign.
Question of the Day: What will you do to advance world peace on September 21?
Not sure what you can do for the International Day of Peace? I've got a simple idea - how about a pinwheel? Pinwheels for Peace is a fantastic global project organized that takes a childhood symbol and uses it to remind us of our need to work toward world peace. Do you remember how to make a pinwheel? Read more about the project. Maybe a school in your community is participating in their campaign.
Question of the Day: What will you do to advance world peace on September 21?
Breaking the Cycle of Violence - Light at the End of a Dark Tunnel
By Guest Blogger: Erica Sewell, Youth & Education Program Manager for Sister Cities International
We live in a society where acts of violence have become all too common. Watching the evening news has become a never ending horror movie. Person A was murdered and in retaliation Person B was murdered. The cycle of violence has become a tit for tat. When I look at all the violent acts that have been committed one always stands out not because it was unbelievably gruesome but because it offers a glimpse of hope. In October of 2006 Charles Carl Roberts IV walked into an Amish one room school house in Nickel Mine, PA and took the life of ten young girls before taking his own. The killings at the Amish schoolhouse were horrendous and the question of why and how could someone take the lives of these innocent young girls haunted me. What has been surprising (and to many incomprehensible) has been the Amish community’s reaction to the shootings. The Amish community did not speak of retaliation or of suing the Roberts family but rather embraced the widow of the killer by inviting her to the funerals. Even the grandfather of one of the slain girls was urging people to forgive Charles Roberts.
What lessons can the world learn from the Amish community’s act of forgiveness? The Amish community’s reaction was very powerful because their words illustrated how a cycle of violence can be broken by the act of forgiveness. There is Buddhist saying that “words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.” To me this means that words are like a double-edged sword; they can either incite violence or advocate for peace. The Amish community’s reaction to the shootings provides me with hope and proves that acts of revenge are not the only option in the face of adversity or violence. For me that was a very powerful life lesson.
Question of the Day: How else do you think we can stop the cycle of violence?
We live in a society where acts of violence have become all too common. Watching the evening news has become a never ending horror movie. Person A was murdered and in retaliation Person B was murdered. The cycle of violence has become a tit for tat. When I look at all the violent acts that have been committed one always stands out not because it was unbelievably gruesome but because it offers a glimpse of hope. In October of 2006 Charles Carl Roberts IV walked into an Amish one room school house in Nickel Mine, PA and took the life of ten young girls before taking his own. The killings at the Amish schoolhouse were horrendous and the question of why and how could someone take the lives of these innocent young girls haunted me. What has been surprising (and to many incomprehensible) has been the Amish community’s reaction to the shootings. The Amish community did not speak of retaliation or of suing the Roberts family but rather embraced the widow of the killer by inviting her to the funerals. Even the grandfather of one of the slain girls was urging people to forgive Charles Roberts.
What lessons can the world learn from the Amish community’s act of forgiveness? The Amish community’s reaction was very powerful because their words illustrated how a cycle of violence can be broken by the act of forgiveness. There is Buddhist saying that “words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.” To me this means that words are like a double-edged sword; they can either incite violence or advocate for peace. The Amish community’s reaction to the shootings provides me with hope and proves that acts of revenge are not the only option in the face of adversity or violence. For me that was a very powerful life lesson.
Question of the Day: How else do you think we can stop the cycle of violence?
Friday, September 19, 2008
Blog Posts from 2007
Blogs Postings from 2007 - REPOSTED
In an effort to consolidate a couple of different blog sources. I'm reposting all my postings from 2007 in this post. Scroll away!
'Tis the Season - 12/22/07
Sister Cities International welcomes your year-end contribution. Whether you believe we help shape world peace or you are an avid support of the power of exchange to change a young person's view on the world - you can give today.
Why We Do What We Do - 12/17/07
Sister Cities International launched an online video and giving campaign today. This is not just for believers in our movement but we welcome converts as well. Take a look.
Future Partnership & Peace Tours Announced - 11/16/08
With our Egypt trip beginning to fade and give-way to the realities of office life, Sister Cities International is proud to announce to Partnership & Peace travel programs for 2008.
In mid-March we will take a delegation to Israel and Jordan. In November 2008 we will take a group to South Africa. As with our previous tours, the number of people per trip will be limited to ensure the best experience from a travel and program perspective. If you have any interest in either tour, visit our Partnership & Peace travel program webpage.
Exhausted But Home - 11/3/07
The return trip isn't exactly like hopping the shuttle from DC to NYC, but the Cairo-New York City trip provided some time to reflect on the 10-day journey. Anticipating the questions from friends and family about the trip, I've decided on my one piece of advice: experience Egypt. This isn't a country living off its ancient greatness, but a rich, living culture and welcoming people with a heritage that happens to date back to the beginning of civilization.
Shopping: Egyptian-style - 11/2/07
It's not exactly death by shopping, but our delegation got a much needed break this afternoon in anticipation of our return to the States. This group of savvy citizen diplomats descended on the Khan El-Khalili bazaar prepared for some serious haggling with the vendors, craftsmen, and shop owners.
Business Interests - 11/1/07
(Find Cairo - Learn About Business in Egypt)
This afternoon we met with the American Chamber of Commerce Egypt. This session offered participants an insight into the commerce and business trends in Egypt as well as opportunities for investment in Egypt and Egyptian businesses interested in America.
"Wow Moment" on the Mediterranean - 10/31/07
(Find Alexandria - Learn About Alexandria)
We made it north to Alexandria, the birthplace of knowledge and the home of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the city known as the Pearl of the Mediterranean. This morning we soaked in the stunning new Alexandria Library. A facility with ancient legacy, this new building gracefully rises from the edge of the Mediterranean in the shape of a sun. The architectural elements are elegant, utilitarian, and distinct. The building if cleverly connected to the Alexandria University through a bridge of knowledge that starts on campus, moves through the library grounds and ends cantilevered over the sea boulevard with a stunning panoramic view of the Mediterranean and the city coastline. This is Egypt's gift of to the world.
After a tour of the building, we met with one of the librarians for a Q&A that covered everything from collections to educational outreach and financial support. This was followed by a power lunch with presentations by:
• Sahar Hamouda (Deputy Director of the Alexandria & Mediterranean Research Center at the library)
• Mohiba Abdel-Salam (Member of the Alexandria-Baltimore Sister Cities committee)
• Justin Siberell (Director of the U.S. State Department's American Center Alexandria)
• Ambassador Ali Maher (Director, Institute for Peace Studies at the library)
A terrific line up that led our group to engage the speakers in a fruitful Q&A session and some potential partnerships for local sister city programs.
The Smile That Says It All - 10/30/07
(Find Aswan - Learn About Aswan)
During our time in Aswan I was struck by the disposition of its people. Our guide told us to look for the Aswan smile. No matter the job or the situation, the Aswan people are known for the warm hearts, friendly personality, and kind gestures. Even the brief time we spent in Aswan, I witnessed it and felt it from children playfully skipping down the street to shop owners. Aswan is the gem of southern Egypt.
The Next Egyptian Sister City? - 10/30/
(Find Aswan - Learn About Aswan)
Our Nile River cruise concluded this evening with a heartfelt presentation by the Governor of Aswan Samir Youssef outlined the current cultural, business, political situation in Aswan. He took questions from the group that ranged from city infrastructure to his philosophy on citizen diplomacy.
He finished by asking for consideration and assistance in finding a sister city for Aswan. He thinks this partnership would be remarkable for the city and for the U.S.
Celebrating 25 Years of Sister Cities in Egypt - 10/27/07
(Find Luxor - Learn About Luxor)
Our delegation took some time this evening to honor our strongest relationship in Egypt: Baltimore-Luxor. Hosted by the chair of the Luxor sister city committee at his hotel, we enjoyed a light reception with traditional Egyptian music and good friends from Luxor. Sister Cities representatives from Baltimore were on hand for the celebration, including Renee Samuels from the Mayor's office in Baltimore and Abdelwahab Elabd the head of the Baltimore-Alexandria Sister Cities committee.
The Governor of Luxor was to join us at the reception but was delayed in transit from Cairo, but to our surprise he sought our delegation out later in the evening at the grandiose Luxor Temple where he shared is feelings on the sister city relationship and a photo opp.
Good Morning, Moses -10/27/07
Day one on the Nile river cruise portion of the trip ? No less than a half dozen folks shared the same impression this morning as one woke up on the Nile: It's stunningly peaceful and Biblical in vision. Breathtaking.
After absorbing a few days of the enormity of the ancient Egyptian monuments, temples, and tombs, it is a stunning glide down the river. The scope, scale, and impact of the ancient Egyptian people are truly astonishing. History books don't do it justice.
When Do We Rest? - 10/26/07
(Find Cairo - Learn About Cairo)
Whoa - I'm already looking for a moment to catch my breath. We hit the ground yesterday afternoon with a city tour on the way to the hotel from the airport followed by some time to adjust to the time zone (read: nap), then we were off to an event hosted by the American Embassy in Cairo where we met a snapshot of Cairo's educational, business, political, and cultural leaders. Ambassador Riccardone had high praise for the impact citizen exchanges has on their diplomatic work. Much appreciation to Haynes Mahoney (Cultural Attache to the Embassy) who hosted and event at his home.
Today was a step back in time visiting Giza and the pyramids. This is when my lack of ancient history started to shine. This is a good moment to note our Abercrombie & Kent Guides and Egyptologists: Walid El Batouty and Mohamed Osama. We can already tell these guys are pros.
Who Goes to Egypt? - 10/25/07
I thought it might be of interest for blog followers to know who exactly signed up for our trip. In my mind it's a perfect example of sister cities' membership: we have two elected officials, a few business executives, a handful of teachers, and a group of community activists. Read the names and cities represented on this trip.
New York Introduction - 10/24/07
Today the journey began in New York's JFK airport. Jenny Oliver, our Islamic Partnership Initiative Program Manager, and I met 42 fellow travelers for the 2007 Partnership & Peace Tour to Egypt. The agenda is full with highlights including two stops in Cairo as well as visits to Luxor, Aswan, and Alexandria.
I can sense the excitement and curiosity within the group. We have some veteran Partnership & Peace tour participants so they'll help us (and me!) figure our way along side our tour operators partners Abercrombie & Kent.
Our Partnership & Peace Travel Program has three purposes: to educate American community leaders and to drive interest in establishing new sister city partnerships in the destination country, and reinvigorating existing partnerships.
Egypt enjoys five sister city partnerships:
• Cleveland-Alexandria (est. 1977)
• Baltimore-Luxor (est. 1982)
• New York City-Cairo (est. 1982)
• Los Angeles-Giza (est. 1989)
• Baltimore-Alexandria (est. 2004)
We'll be visiting these sites during the trip and others that are seeking sister city partnerships. As a benchmark since the Morocco Partnership & Peace Tour in spring 2006, Morocco has seen five new partnerships created.
We'll see where things lead!
Thank You - 10/13/07
Thank you, Phoenix. I'm just easing into an airplane seat leaving Arizona and reflecting on the past three days. Not only did Phoenix deliver outstanding weather, but the Board of Directors wrapped up a successful fall Leadership Meeting. Over 30 board members, state coordinators, and honorary board members were on hand in Phoenix. The board spent a day and a half in work sessions covering the Strategic Plan, By-Laws, the FY08 Operating Plan and Budget (presented by yours truly) and committee meetings in addition to the official meeting.
One important outcome of the official meeting is the addition of Nancy Huppert and Len Olender to the Honorary Board. Two very committed individuals to Sister Cities International.
Kudos to Paula West and her Phoenix Sister Cities colleagues for hosting a terrific event. Next Stop for the Leadership Meeting: March 28-29, 2008-Washington, DC.
Extraordinary - 9/24/07
Extraordinary. That's the only word that covers our just-announced Partnership & Peace Tour to South Africa and the region. Working closely with Safari Ventures as our tour partner, this trip promises to unforgettable as we visit Cape Town, Johannesburg, and much more... Read the details of the itinerary and register!
Mea Culpa - 9/7/07
Ok, yes, yes I've fallen way behind in my postings by the blog arena standards. My apologies to faithful readers - are any of you still there? After a well-earned vacation to recharge my batteries and the close of the summer, I hope the following posts (which were authored way as far back as July) will whet your appetite and restore your interest in returning to read more this fall.
The Iraqis Are Here - 7/30/07
The Iraqis are here. This is what we're all about. Reaffirming my belief that we are in the life-changing business - here's a firsthand case study.
Sister Cities International is hosting 22 Iraqi high school students in the U.S for for a powerful month-long program. I had just a glimmer of opportunity to intersect with them as they spent the first few days in DC. I want to mention "H." He's one particular student I had to chance to talk more at length with after their formal program ended for the day. (Why "H"?- Well, of course I can't use his real name for safety reasons, but more importantly because it sounds like a good nickname for a Hollywood spy or action hero, doesn't it? I think he'll approve.) "H" encapsulated the curiosity, energy, excitement, intelligence of all the students but I had the chance to be quizzed by him covering all subjects. They have some idea of what they are in for but more impressively I am 'wowed' by their parents and families for taking the risk on their future. From this short conversation with "H', I can tell this: this program will change their lives forever and change the world. I don't know which one(s) will be future political leaders, doctors, educators, diplomats, scientists, but I do know they will help us change the world and their country's future for the better.
After this all-too-short chance to get to know the students, I wanted to pack my bags and follow them for a month to soak in their experience through their eyes. I can tell it's going to be special for them and us.
The Torch Passes - 7/25/07
No conference would be complete without the time-honored passing of the torch with our Board of Directors. This year we recognized a handful of retiring board members: Steve Bienke, Ann Geiger, Jo Moskowitz, Saidi Moussadaq, Kathleen Roche-Tansey, Bill Stafford and Jean van BuskirkWe welcome the return of Mimi Barker, Michael Hyatt, Jason Hibner, Nathaniel Hibner, and the addition of Carlo Capua, Bill Evans, Ron Gossett, Deirdra Nelson, Kay Sargent, Maria del Rosario Velasco, and Paula West.
This is your leadership. Be in touch with them. If you have ideas, questions, concerns you can email or call them at any time. They welcome it.
Catch Your Breath Here Comes Sister Cities - 7/24/07
Whoa, what a conference! Amassing more than 500+ sister city missionaries in one location is a rush.
Saturday marked the end of the 2007 Annual Conference in Fort Lauderdale and my first experience with the membership in one place at one time. South Florida oozed with passion and energy for our cultural understanding mission. Ideas abound and tons of dialogue about our future and the future of the globe.
Highlights for me included: the Friday keynote speak Salman Ahmed (Founder of Junoon. I'm guessing we don't usually have a rock star and movie star speak to our crowd. He was well received for his work bridging the Muslim and western world), sneaking into workshop sessions (I attempted to pop-in to as many sessions as possible, and I heard some fantastic shared stories and experiences - we plan to post some of the notes on our website in the coming months), and the Kansas City beach party warm-up for 2008 (What a terrific evening with the ocean breeze. Did you download the Save-the-Date postcard? If not, go ahead and do so now so you can save $25 on registration.)
I want to offer my sincere appreciation to Nuccia McCormick, an endless source of energy and hope for the volunteer corps in Fort Lauderdale. Thank you Nuccia, on behalf of the membership for all you did for us.
Citizen Diplomacy: 2057 - 6/11/07
The 2007 Annual Conference in Fort Lauderdale is upon us. The office is abuzz with staff interns putting the final touches on what will be a sun-filled gathering centered on our role in creating world peace over the next 50 years. We have a number of events planned to connect or reconnect with peers, workshops to explorethe latest trends in economic development, youth programs, and of course, plenty of time to view your colleagues? best practices. Have you seen the latest schedule?
I want to highlight our two keynote speakers who are sure to get the attendees thinking-our opening plenary Antonia Neubauer, founder and chairperson of READ Global. READ Global is U.S.-based nonprofit organization to improve the world-one country, one village, one individual at a time - using an asset based community development approach with library community centers at the hub. Our other plenary speaker is Salman Ahmad, a Pakistani doctor by training and a rock musician by profession. Ahmad has been featured in two documentaries and toured the U.S. performing and speaking about peace and cultural understanding. You can check out his films on YouTube.
These are two sessions that will be sure to inspire and motivate. After the conference I want your thoughts on Sister Cities See you in Florida!
Norfolk Sets Sail with Power Event - 06/14/07
This past week the Norfolk Sister Cities Association in Virginia hosted a winner economic development symposium. The concept for the Global Symposium was to bring together representatives from all six of their sister cities (in the end, three cities were able to attend the event) to stimulate innovative collaboration. Who else better suited to do this than the local sister city program?
This was a power event, if I've ever seen one. The mayor, numerous city council representatives, and high profile business figures were on hand throughout the events. The opening day (of a multi-day, multi-site event) was packed with informational presentations by leading figures from the community. Higher education, law enforcement, tourism, work force development, and so forth were all line up to participate. And that was just the first day.
If your sister city program is looking to curry favor with your mayor's office, city manager, or city council - this is a terrific model on three fronts:
1. It stirs interest with the economic development folks, business leaders, and your usual community partners who always like to ask, "what have you done for me lately?"
2. It serves as a fantastic opportunity for sister city leaders to bring together all of your partner communities at the same time to discuss our mission for a more peaceful world and how you might work toward a multilateral sister city project or program.
3. It will ignite your volunteer base. Nothing like being on the front of the newspaper or hosting events where all of the leading community figures are engaged with a sister cities program to stir up some energy.
If you are interested in learning more, I suggest contacting Ralph Nahra, the board chair, or Executive Director Pamela McNaught who hosted the event. This is a stellar model for our network to look at. Job well done, Norfolk.
Creative Diversity - Diverse Creativity - 05/17/07
This evening I will participate in a panel discussion hosted to celebrate the upcoming UN-declared 'World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.' The event is hosted by Arts For Global Development, [Art4Development.Net] an international organization based in the Washington area that uses creative programs and projects for social change, and works to empower socially and economically disadvantaged individuals and communities worldwide, particularly children, youth, and women.
The panel, titled Creative Diversity - Diverse Creativity: A Dialogue on Arts, Cultural Exchange, and Social Development will feature speakers from George Mason University, VSA Arts, Women in Film and Video, International Visions Gallery, as well as Sister Cities International. The panelist are asked to focus their presentations on values of artistic and cultural diversity, the importance of individuality/cultural identity, and the role of arts in creating cross-cultural dialogue and building local-global communities. Below you'll find my remarks.
Creative Diversity - Diverse Creativity Panel Remarks
Artomatic - Arlington, VA
5/17/07
Good evening. I am pleased to be a part of this conversation on behalf of Sister Cities International. Sister Cities International is network of communities and individuals whose mission is to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, & cooperation one community and individual at a time.
In my mind we are in the "life-changing experience" business. I'll get to that in a minute.
We work at the municipal level with mayors, city officials, community leaders, and businesses to advance cultural understanding and stimulate economic development. It started in 1956 by then-President Eisenhower with an idea to create a citizen diplomacy network outside of the government's formal diplomatic channels, where "regular U.S. citizens" would meet "regular citizens" in other countries to learn about their culture, history, and way of life to build cross-cultural understanding. We have grown into a global network of more than 2,500 communities in 134 countries in long-term dialogue.
To give you an example here locally, Alexandria, VA is partnered with cities in Scotland, Armenia, France and Sweden. Arlington, VA is matched with towns in Mexico, Germany, France and El Salvador and the list goes on - Washington, DC for example is partnered with 10 cities. Maryland has 14 cities paired with 36 cities globally.
Sister Cities member communities were tying the world together long before the internet or it was cool to talk about how we are all part of a global conversation or global economy.
If you don't know Sister Cities, your traditional concept may be teacher and student exchanges or artist exchanges, but in 2007 sister city programs have stretched the initial concept to include robust economic and sustainable development projects, humanitarian assistance programs, arts and culture, as well as youth and education. Through it all, the arts and cultural exchanges are a bedrock activity for many local programs. Using the arts to move beyond language barriers, economic and social differences or religious stereotypes for that matter is a powerful tool for understanding. Our member communities host performances of artists from their sister city. Those artists may host community forums, teach workshops in schools or other outreach programs, other programs include: city-wide cultural festivals or food festivals. (The culinary arts do count!)
For sister cities the most important element is the people to people exchange. We believe that going to the country, tasting the food, walking the streets, being hosted in someone's home, visiting the historical sites, witnessing the everyday cultural norms is how you best experience, understand and respect other cultures.
This is why we are in the "life-changing experience" business.
A good deal of our arts programming at Sister Cities International focuses on youth. We have testimony from student after student who came to the United States but left the country with a completely different understanding of the depth of American society and in their words the exchange was a "life-changing experience." We feel it is critical to expand the thinking of a younger generation and provide more access to other cultures. Technology is obviously helping breakdown physical barrier of distance, but as we all know, mass media controls the message to us and shapes the message outside of our country.
With this audience, I know I am preaching to the choir - but compare watching a music performance on TV and experiencing a music performance from the 5 row. Look at a Monet at a museum in Paris and looking a postcard of a Monet. The in-person, face-to-face experience captures your mind in a more powerful way that through another medium. I'm not suggesting that film, TV, DVDs, are not important channels for access, shared knowledge and understanding but the tie to sister cities is the people to people exchange.
This summer, along side our annual conference, we will host our 5th annual youth conference and the theme is "Building Peace through the Arts." High school students from around the globe will descend on Ft Lauderdale (not a bad location for a youth conference?) and work with artists in hands-on workshops, perform traditional arts for each other. Most importantly, they build lasting friendships.
Our second signature arts program is the annual Young Artist Showcase, which invites high school-aged students to submit visual artworks into a competition. The winners are placed in an exhibit that tours the country. This is a way for us to share up-and-coming artistic talent from around the world.
Often the arts can communicate and express so much more than words. I can share one personal experience from a trip to Russia I took in high school. Our jazz band had performed at a conservatory in then-Leningrad. Some of the Russian students wanted to perform for us, so they took the stage and started playing. We knew the tune, so we jumped back on stage and joined them. In a series of solos, if you know jazz terms - "trading fours" where each soloists plays for four measures and then the next soloist plays four measures and basically, they try and out-do each other with their solos. So I took a turn on the piano, my counterpart did, then I did and so on. We never spoke a word, but just smiled, laughed, and nudged each other as we played. When we left we thought, wow, hey they can swing in Russia, that's pretty cool. It was one of the most rewarding musical experiences of my life.
In short, the arts have a very important role in the work of Sister Cities International and in cross cultural understanding. I welcome you questions or comments on our work during the Q&A session. Thank you.
Looking forward! - 4/19/07
Just three items to draw your attention to that you won't want to miss.
The Young Artists Showcase deadline is quickly approaching-April 30! Do you know any 13-18 year-old artists who are who are inspired by Sister Cities? If so send them to www.sister-cities.org/sci/sciprograms/yap/index to find out about this year's program.
If you have always wanted to travel to Egypt, we have the trip for you. Visit our Partnership & Peace Tour webpage for details on our October 2007 trip. This isn't the traditional travel abroad trip. We will, of course, see all of the historical sites you would expect, but Sister Cities International has developed a series receptions, visits, and meetings that tie to our mission and makes it a real one-of-a-kind experience. To read more about it, click on the pyramids on our home page.
Do you have youth participating in your sister cities program? Sponsor them for our 2007 Youth Conference in Fort Lauderdale. This gathering runs at the same time as our Annual Conference but is designed for youth (15-19 year olds) and its theme will weave arts, culture and discussion of cross-cultural dialogue with time on the beach. Find out the full details visit our home page and click on the sandy banner!
Waging Peace - 3/30/07
The past three days I participated in the launch one of our new initiatives in Lyon, France, called Waging Peace. Funded by a special grant from the U.S. Department of State, the goal of Waging Peace is to bring together U.S. and French communities to discuss how cities and towns in each country deal with marginalized communities. The communities that participated in the 2-day session were:
• Charlotte, NC & Limoges
• Louisville, KY & Montpellier
• St. Louis, MO & Lyon
• Los Angeles, CA & Bordeaux
The first step for participants was drawing an understanding of each country's political and policy framework, which proved to be a bit vexing at times since there was healthy disagreement on how to describe the current state of affairs. With this baseline information, participants really dove-in on issues, such as immigrant citizens (and non-citizens), minorities, low- and middle-income families, as well as ethnic, gender, and religious communities. The break-out sessions focused on how each community handles intercultural dialogue, education, public safety, and employment with the goal of drawing out the best practices from both sides of the ocean, providing a list of ideas to test, and establishing a new network of friends to help with this work. The next phase of the program allows twinned cities to participate in exchanges and follow up with an action plan of projects that may help foster better integration of marginalized communities.
The Sister Cities staff will be providing more tangible information to all members in the next few weeks about the Lyon meeting as well as regular updates as the program progresses. It is important to me that we find ways to share this type of valuable information with the entire network so the full membership can learn from the lively discussions.
As we start to organize the details of the outcomes, I thought I would start by including my opening remarks to the delegation. This will give you a sense of how I framed the dialogue between countries and among communities.
Opening Remarks for Waging Peace Conference
Delivered by Patrick Madden, Executive Director, Sister Cities International
Lyon, France, 3/29/07
"Thank you for those thoughtful words. My special appreciation to the Deputy Mayor of Lyon and his staff here who have worked to make this seminar happen. I need to share my gratitude to Cities Unies FRANCE as our intercontinental partner in all of this as well as Angie Bryan U.S. Consul in Lyon, her Cultural Delegate Alain Beullard, and Brent Beamer from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State who helped fund this event. We appreciate their support of Waging Peace as well as their annual support of Sister Cities International. I want to recognize Sister Cities members who earned their travel miles from Charlotte, Louisville, Los Angeles, and St Louis and the French sister cities' delegations who came from near and far. Also, my personal appreciation to our Board Member, Enda Brennan, who is with us.
None of this would have been possible without the efforts of Sarah Grausz and Lynn Olson from the Sister Cities staff. Thank you both.
Sister Cities is a powerful global network of more than 2,500 community partnerships in 137 countries. We have 700 U.S. communities that are working tirelessly to tie the world together with peace.
The Sister Cities movement was started in the late 1950s as a way to work outside of formal government channels, and President Eisenhower's idea was to bring citizens together directly to learn from each other and to build respect, understanding, and cooperation across nations and cultures. And ultimately, build peace. This Waging Peace seminar is a modern-day edition of this important legacy.
The title expresses a great deal to me - Waging Peace - this is an active verb which challenges us to bring an open and thoughtful energy to the discussion.
As most of you know the United States does not have flawless record of handling minority cultures within our borders. You may be familiar with the words Cherokee, Iroquois, Seminole. These are just a few of the Native American Indian cultures that were practically pushed to extinction in our country's earliest days. Better known is slave. Which became freed, and later colored became black, which eventually became African American. All these terms describe different generational thinking, different levels of cultural acceptance, and all words laced with various levels of prejudice and intolerance. Ultimately, they represent a search and a struggle for a few common words that represent differences...differences as basic as skin color.
Despite being a melting pot of the world, decade after decade throughout American history, citizens grappled with this challenge. America in 2007 is no different. "Immigrant" and "1st generation" populations struggle for a voice and identity in our communities. And, in some cases, it is a struggle for rights, fair treatment, and respect. Some U.S. cities and towns embrace and celebrate these differences. A few of those cities are with us for this seminar. Other communities ignore them. It is the latter environment where misunderstanding and mistrust lead to strife and discrimination.
It is not an easy time to say: we believe people can understand each other, and peace is possible. We live in a world where nations struggle to understand each other, yet here you are - having traveled hundreds or thousands of miles- committed to the advancement of a cross-cultural dialogue.
We have so much to learn from each other. I see this gathering as a jumping off point - not just for the Waging Peace program, but a larger effort among our communities toward finding practical solutions. Let's focus on what's working - and, based on what I heard last night at our event, there is plenty working!
Sister Cities International challenges you to identify the "a-ha" moments and the "oh my" moments. Both will be important for our collective progress. On behalf of Sister Cities International, we are honored to further this dialogue which really speaks to our mission: to foster mutual understanding, one individual and one community at a time. Thank you."
Gathering with Your Leaders - Posted: 3/16/07
This past weekend the staff and I had the pleasure of hosting the spring leadership meeting here in Washington, DC. The Board of Directors led by Mae Fergeson from Ft. Worth, the State Coordinators and the Honorary Board arrived on Thursday evening for a full weekend of training, discussions, and briefings on the state of the sister cities network. What a group of inspired leaders.
After Friday's committee meetings, the Board launched its dialogue in a work study session on Saturday morning where various governance, the conference and fundraising issues were discussed at length, which was followed by the formal board meeting in the afternoon.
A few of the topics include: the legislative initiative (Sister Cities' initial effort to secure direction funding for our exchanges is looking positive), the draft 2006 audit (a good report from our audit firm), the 2007 budget (it is on track as expected), as well as the announcement of the next Partnership & Peace tour to Egypt in late October (watch for more details on our website in two weeks). More details from the meeting can be found in the minutes which will be posted in April.
The highlight of the weekend was the chance to talk one-on-one with so many individuals who have been involved with the sister cities network - some for decades. Learning their personal stories and history gives me great insight into the organization. I noted more than once over the weekend that many national and international nonprofits would be jealous of the organized infrastructure we already have established. This signals, to me, that good things are on the horizon. I'm eager to jump in and roll up my sleeves.
First Impressions - Posted: 3/2/07
I am delighted to launch my tenure as the new Executive Director of Sister Cities International. With personal and professional international experiences that have left a deep impression on my life, I believe I can articulate the powerful impact of our members' work. Over the first two weeks I was able to delve into our programs, become more familiar with staff and spend time on Capitol Hill with other advocates urging Congress to increase funding for the Department of State exchange program.
As an organization with such a storied history, it's an exciting challenge to find a way to add my imprint to our network's next chapter. For the general public, the idea of "going global" entails opening their computer's internet browser, but for members of SCI, the phrase has a deeper meaning involving face-to-face interactions that result in discussions that connect cultures and communities in unforgettable ways.
My hope is to invigorate our sister cities movement by expanding our membership, to provide funding to members for more exchanges, and to build the capacity of SCI to better serve members and the global community-at-large. This blog will serve as a place where I'll use you, the members, as a sounding board for ideas and welcome your input. More importantly, I hope this e-space becomes a vehicle for you to share experiences, best practices, and lessons learned with other members and the broader public.
I'd like to hear your stories! Tell me about your first notable memory with Sister Cities. Send an email with the subject "First Encounter" to the comments email address listed below. Over the next few weeks, I'll share what I'm hearing.
In the meantime, don't hesitate to contact me or the other staff with your ideas, comments, or suggestions on our work. I look forward to meeting many of you in the coming months and in Ft. Lauderdale in July.
Patrick M. Madden
Executive Director
Sister Cities International
In an effort to consolidate a couple of different blog sources. I'm reposting all my postings from 2007 in this post. Scroll away!
'Tis the Season - 12/22/07
Sister Cities International welcomes your year-end contribution. Whether you believe we help shape world peace or you are an avid support of the power of exchange to change a young person's view on the world - you can give today.
Why We Do What We Do - 12/17/07
Sister Cities International launched an online video and giving campaign today. This is not just for believers in our movement but we welcome converts as well. Take a look.
Future Partnership & Peace Tours Announced - 11/16/08
With our Egypt trip beginning to fade and give-way to the realities of office life, Sister Cities International is proud to announce to Partnership & Peace travel programs for 2008.
In mid-March we will take a delegation to Israel and Jordan. In November 2008 we will take a group to South Africa. As with our previous tours, the number of people per trip will be limited to ensure the best experience from a travel and program perspective. If you have any interest in either tour, visit our Partnership & Peace travel program webpage.
Exhausted But Home - 11/3/07
The return trip isn't exactly like hopping the shuttle from DC to NYC, but the Cairo-New York City trip provided some time to reflect on the 10-day journey. Anticipating the questions from friends and family about the trip, I've decided on my one piece of advice: experience Egypt. This isn't a country living off its ancient greatness, but a rich, living culture and welcoming people with a heritage that happens to date back to the beginning of civilization.
Shopping: Egyptian-style - 11/2/07
It's not exactly death by shopping, but our delegation got a much needed break this afternoon in anticipation of our return to the States. This group of savvy citizen diplomats descended on the Khan El-Khalili bazaar prepared for some serious haggling with the vendors, craftsmen, and shop owners.
Business Interests - 11/1/07
(Find Cairo - Learn About Business in Egypt)
This afternoon we met with the American Chamber of Commerce Egypt. This session offered participants an insight into the commerce and business trends in Egypt as well as opportunities for investment in Egypt and Egyptian businesses interested in America.
"Wow Moment" on the Mediterranean - 10/31/07
(Find Alexandria - Learn About Alexandria)
We made it north to Alexandria, the birthplace of knowledge and the home of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the city known as the Pearl of the Mediterranean. This morning we soaked in the stunning new Alexandria Library. A facility with ancient legacy, this new building gracefully rises from the edge of the Mediterranean in the shape of a sun. The architectural elements are elegant, utilitarian, and distinct. The building if cleverly connected to the Alexandria University through a bridge of knowledge that starts on campus, moves through the library grounds and ends cantilevered over the sea boulevard with a stunning panoramic view of the Mediterranean and the city coastline. This is Egypt's gift of to the world.
After a tour of the building, we met with one of the librarians for a Q&A that covered everything from collections to educational outreach and financial support. This was followed by a power lunch with presentations by:
• Sahar Hamouda (Deputy Director of the Alexandria & Mediterranean Research Center at the library)
• Mohiba Abdel-Salam (Member of the Alexandria-Baltimore Sister Cities committee)
• Justin Siberell (Director of the U.S. State Department's American Center Alexandria)
• Ambassador Ali Maher (Director, Institute for Peace Studies at the library)
A terrific line up that led our group to engage the speakers in a fruitful Q&A session and some potential partnerships for local sister city programs.
The Smile That Says It All - 10/30/07
(Find Aswan - Learn About Aswan)
During our time in Aswan I was struck by the disposition of its people. Our guide told us to look for the Aswan smile. No matter the job or the situation, the Aswan people are known for the warm hearts, friendly personality, and kind gestures. Even the brief time we spent in Aswan, I witnessed it and felt it from children playfully skipping down the street to shop owners. Aswan is the gem of southern Egypt.
The Next Egyptian Sister City? - 10/30/
(Find Aswan - Learn About Aswan)
Our Nile River cruise concluded this evening with a heartfelt presentation by the Governor of Aswan Samir Youssef outlined the current cultural, business, political situation in Aswan. He took questions from the group that ranged from city infrastructure to his philosophy on citizen diplomacy.
He finished by asking for consideration and assistance in finding a sister city for Aswan. He thinks this partnership would be remarkable for the city and for the U.S.
Celebrating 25 Years of Sister Cities in Egypt - 10/27/07
(Find Luxor - Learn About Luxor)
Our delegation took some time this evening to honor our strongest relationship in Egypt: Baltimore-Luxor. Hosted by the chair of the Luxor sister city committee at his hotel, we enjoyed a light reception with traditional Egyptian music and good friends from Luxor. Sister Cities representatives from Baltimore were on hand for the celebration, including Renee Samuels from the Mayor's office in Baltimore and Abdelwahab Elabd the head of the Baltimore-Alexandria Sister Cities committee.
The Governor of Luxor was to join us at the reception but was delayed in transit from Cairo, but to our surprise he sought our delegation out later in the evening at the grandiose Luxor Temple where he shared is feelings on the sister city relationship and a photo opp.
Good Morning, Moses -10/27/07
Day one on the Nile river cruise portion of the trip ? No less than a half dozen folks shared the same impression this morning as one woke up on the Nile: It's stunningly peaceful and Biblical in vision. Breathtaking.
After absorbing a few days of the enormity of the ancient Egyptian monuments, temples, and tombs, it is a stunning glide down the river. The scope, scale, and impact of the ancient Egyptian people are truly astonishing. History books don't do it justice.
When Do We Rest? - 10/26/07
(Find Cairo - Learn About Cairo)
Whoa - I'm already looking for a moment to catch my breath. We hit the ground yesterday afternoon with a city tour on the way to the hotel from the airport followed by some time to adjust to the time zone (read: nap), then we were off to an event hosted by the American Embassy in Cairo where we met a snapshot of Cairo's educational, business, political, and cultural leaders. Ambassador Riccardone had high praise for the impact citizen exchanges has on their diplomatic work. Much appreciation to Haynes Mahoney (Cultural Attache to the Embassy) who hosted and event at his home.
Today was a step back in time visiting Giza and the pyramids. This is when my lack of ancient history started to shine. This is a good moment to note our Abercrombie & Kent Guides and Egyptologists: Walid El Batouty and Mohamed Osama. We can already tell these guys are pros.
Who Goes to Egypt? - 10/25/07
I thought it might be of interest for blog followers to know who exactly signed up for our trip. In my mind it's a perfect example of sister cities' membership: we have two elected officials, a few business executives, a handful of teachers, and a group of community activists. Read the names and cities represented on this trip.
New York Introduction - 10/24/07
Today the journey began in New York's JFK airport. Jenny Oliver, our Islamic Partnership Initiative Program Manager, and I met 42 fellow travelers for the 2007 Partnership & Peace Tour to Egypt. The agenda is full with highlights including two stops in Cairo as well as visits to Luxor, Aswan, and Alexandria.
I can sense the excitement and curiosity within the group. We have some veteran Partnership & Peace tour participants so they'll help us (and me!) figure our way along side our tour operators partners Abercrombie & Kent.
Our Partnership & Peace Travel Program has three purposes: to educate American community leaders and to drive interest in establishing new sister city partnerships in the destination country, and reinvigorating existing partnerships.
Egypt enjoys five sister city partnerships:
• Cleveland-Alexandria (est. 1977)
• Baltimore-Luxor (est. 1982)
• New York City-Cairo (est. 1982)
• Los Angeles-Giza (est. 1989)
• Baltimore-Alexandria (est. 2004)
We'll be visiting these sites during the trip and others that are seeking sister city partnerships. As a benchmark since the Morocco Partnership & Peace Tour in spring 2006, Morocco has seen five new partnerships created.
We'll see where things lead!
Thank You - 10/13/07
Thank you, Phoenix. I'm just easing into an airplane seat leaving Arizona and reflecting on the past three days. Not only did Phoenix deliver outstanding weather, but the Board of Directors wrapped up a successful fall Leadership Meeting. Over 30 board members, state coordinators, and honorary board members were on hand in Phoenix. The board spent a day and a half in work sessions covering the Strategic Plan, By-Laws, the FY08 Operating Plan and Budget (presented by yours truly) and committee meetings in addition to the official meeting.
One important outcome of the official meeting is the addition of Nancy Huppert and Len Olender to the Honorary Board. Two very committed individuals to Sister Cities International.
Kudos to Paula West and her Phoenix Sister Cities colleagues for hosting a terrific event. Next Stop for the Leadership Meeting: March 28-29, 2008-Washington, DC.
Extraordinary - 9/24/07
Extraordinary. That's the only word that covers our just-announced Partnership & Peace Tour to South Africa and the region. Working closely with Safari Ventures as our tour partner, this trip promises to unforgettable as we visit Cape Town, Johannesburg, and much more... Read the details of the itinerary and register!
Mea Culpa - 9/7/07
Ok, yes, yes I've fallen way behind in my postings by the blog arena standards. My apologies to faithful readers - are any of you still there? After a well-earned vacation to recharge my batteries and the close of the summer, I hope the following posts (which were authored way as far back as July) will whet your appetite and restore your interest in returning to read more this fall.
The Iraqis Are Here - 7/30/07
The Iraqis are here. This is what we're all about. Reaffirming my belief that we are in the life-changing business - here's a firsthand case study.
Sister Cities International is hosting 22 Iraqi high school students in the U.S for for a powerful month-long program. I had just a glimmer of opportunity to intersect with them as they spent the first few days in DC. I want to mention "H." He's one particular student I had to chance to talk more at length with after their formal program ended for the day. (Why "H"?- Well, of course I can't use his real name for safety reasons, but more importantly because it sounds like a good nickname for a Hollywood spy or action hero, doesn't it? I think he'll approve.) "H" encapsulated the curiosity, energy, excitement, intelligence of all the students but I had the chance to be quizzed by him covering all subjects. They have some idea of what they are in for but more impressively I am 'wowed' by their parents and families for taking the risk on their future. From this short conversation with "H', I can tell this: this program will change their lives forever and change the world. I don't know which one(s) will be future political leaders, doctors, educators, diplomats, scientists, but I do know they will help us change the world and their country's future for the better.
After this all-too-short chance to get to know the students, I wanted to pack my bags and follow them for a month to soak in their experience through their eyes. I can tell it's going to be special for them and us.
The Torch Passes - 7/25/07
No conference would be complete without the time-honored passing of the torch with our Board of Directors. This year we recognized a handful of retiring board members: Steve Bienke, Ann Geiger, Jo Moskowitz, Saidi Moussadaq, Kathleen Roche-Tansey, Bill Stafford and Jean van BuskirkWe welcome the return of Mimi Barker, Michael Hyatt, Jason Hibner, Nathaniel Hibner, and the addition of Carlo Capua, Bill Evans, Ron Gossett, Deirdra Nelson, Kay Sargent, Maria del Rosario Velasco, and Paula West.
This is your leadership. Be in touch with them. If you have ideas, questions, concerns you can email or call them at any time. They welcome it.
Catch Your Breath Here Comes Sister Cities - 7/24/07
Whoa, what a conference! Amassing more than 500+ sister city missionaries in one location is a rush.
Saturday marked the end of the 2007 Annual Conference in Fort Lauderdale and my first experience with the membership in one place at one time. South Florida oozed with passion and energy for our cultural understanding mission. Ideas abound and tons of dialogue about our future and the future of the globe.
Highlights for me included: the Friday keynote speak Salman Ahmed (Founder of Junoon. I'm guessing we don't usually have a rock star and movie star speak to our crowd. He was well received for his work bridging the Muslim and western world), sneaking into workshop sessions (I attempted to pop-in to as many sessions as possible, and I heard some fantastic shared stories and experiences - we plan to post some of the notes on our website in the coming months), and the Kansas City beach party warm-up for 2008 (What a terrific evening with the ocean breeze. Did you download the Save-the-Date postcard? If not, go ahead and do so now so you can save $25 on registration.)
I want to offer my sincere appreciation to Nuccia McCormick, an endless source of energy and hope for the volunteer corps in Fort Lauderdale. Thank you Nuccia, on behalf of the membership for all you did for us.
Citizen Diplomacy: 2057 - 6/11/07
The 2007 Annual Conference in Fort Lauderdale is upon us. The office is abuzz with staff interns putting the final touches on what will be a sun-filled gathering centered on our role in creating world peace over the next 50 years. We have a number of events planned to connect or reconnect with peers, workshops to explorethe latest trends in economic development, youth programs, and of course, plenty of time to view your colleagues? best practices. Have you seen the latest schedule?
I want to highlight our two keynote speakers who are sure to get the attendees thinking-our opening plenary Antonia Neubauer, founder and chairperson of READ Global. READ Global is U.S.-based nonprofit organization to improve the world-one country, one village, one individual at a time - using an asset based community development approach with library community centers at the hub. Our other plenary speaker is Salman Ahmad, a Pakistani doctor by training and a rock musician by profession. Ahmad has been featured in two documentaries and toured the U.S. performing and speaking about peace and cultural understanding. You can check out his films on YouTube.
These are two sessions that will be sure to inspire and motivate. After the conference I want your thoughts on Sister Cities See you in Florida!
Norfolk Sets Sail with Power Event - 06/14/07
This past week the Norfolk Sister Cities Association in Virginia hosted a winner economic development symposium. The concept for the Global Symposium was to bring together representatives from all six of their sister cities (in the end, three cities were able to attend the event) to stimulate innovative collaboration. Who else better suited to do this than the local sister city program?
This was a power event, if I've ever seen one. The mayor, numerous city council representatives, and high profile business figures were on hand throughout the events. The opening day (of a multi-day, multi-site event) was packed with informational presentations by leading figures from the community. Higher education, law enforcement, tourism, work force development, and so forth were all line up to participate. And that was just the first day.
If your sister city program is looking to curry favor with your mayor's office, city manager, or city council - this is a terrific model on three fronts:
1. It stirs interest with the economic development folks, business leaders, and your usual community partners who always like to ask, "what have you done for me lately?"
2. It serves as a fantastic opportunity for sister city leaders to bring together all of your partner communities at the same time to discuss our mission for a more peaceful world and how you might work toward a multilateral sister city project or program.
3. It will ignite your volunteer base. Nothing like being on the front of the newspaper or hosting events where all of the leading community figures are engaged with a sister cities program to stir up some energy.
If you are interested in learning more, I suggest contacting Ralph Nahra, the board chair, or Executive Director Pamela McNaught who hosted the event. This is a stellar model for our network to look at. Job well done, Norfolk.
Creative Diversity - Diverse Creativity - 05/17/07
This evening I will participate in a panel discussion hosted to celebrate the upcoming UN-declared 'World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.' The event is hosted by Arts For Global Development, [Art4Development.Net] an international organization based in the Washington area that uses creative programs and projects for social change, and works to empower socially and economically disadvantaged individuals and communities worldwide, particularly children, youth, and women.
The panel, titled Creative Diversity - Diverse Creativity: A Dialogue on Arts, Cultural Exchange, and Social Development will feature speakers from George Mason University, VSA Arts, Women in Film and Video, International Visions Gallery, as well as Sister Cities International. The panelist are asked to focus their presentations on values of artistic and cultural diversity, the importance of individuality/cultural identity, and the role of arts in creating cross-cultural dialogue and building local-global communities. Below you'll find my remarks.
Creative Diversity - Diverse Creativity Panel Remarks
Artomatic - Arlington, VA
5/17/07
Good evening. I am pleased to be a part of this conversation on behalf of Sister Cities International. Sister Cities International is network of communities and individuals whose mission is to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, & cooperation one community and individual at a time.
In my mind we are in the "life-changing experience" business. I'll get to that in a minute.
We work at the municipal level with mayors, city officials, community leaders, and businesses to advance cultural understanding and stimulate economic development. It started in 1956 by then-President Eisenhower with an idea to create a citizen diplomacy network outside of the government's formal diplomatic channels, where "regular U.S. citizens" would meet "regular citizens" in other countries to learn about their culture, history, and way of life to build cross-cultural understanding. We have grown into a global network of more than 2,500 communities in 134 countries in long-term dialogue.
To give you an example here locally, Alexandria, VA is partnered with cities in Scotland, Armenia, France and Sweden. Arlington, VA is matched with towns in Mexico, Germany, France and El Salvador and the list goes on - Washington, DC for example is partnered with 10 cities. Maryland has 14 cities paired with 36 cities globally.
Sister Cities member communities were tying the world together long before the internet or it was cool to talk about how we are all part of a global conversation or global economy.
If you don't know Sister Cities, your traditional concept may be teacher and student exchanges or artist exchanges, but in 2007 sister city programs have stretched the initial concept to include robust economic and sustainable development projects, humanitarian assistance programs, arts and culture, as well as youth and education. Through it all, the arts and cultural exchanges are a bedrock activity for many local programs. Using the arts to move beyond language barriers, economic and social differences or religious stereotypes for that matter is a powerful tool for understanding. Our member communities host performances of artists from their sister city. Those artists may host community forums, teach workshops in schools or other outreach programs, other programs include: city-wide cultural festivals or food festivals. (The culinary arts do count!)
For sister cities the most important element is the people to people exchange. We believe that going to the country, tasting the food, walking the streets, being hosted in someone's home, visiting the historical sites, witnessing the everyday cultural norms is how you best experience, understand and respect other cultures.
This is why we are in the "life-changing experience" business.
A good deal of our arts programming at Sister Cities International focuses on youth. We have testimony from student after student who came to the United States but left the country with a completely different understanding of the depth of American society and in their words the exchange was a "life-changing experience." We feel it is critical to expand the thinking of a younger generation and provide more access to other cultures. Technology is obviously helping breakdown physical barrier of distance, but as we all know, mass media controls the message to us and shapes the message outside of our country.
With this audience, I know I am preaching to the choir - but compare watching a music performance on TV and experiencing a music performance from the 5 row. Look at a Monet at a museum in Paris and looking a postcard of a Monet. The in-person, face-to-face experience captures your mind in a more powerful way that through another medium. I'm not suggesting that film, TV, DVDs, are not important channels for access, shared knowledge and understanding but the tie to sister cities is the people to people exchange.
This summer, along side our annual conference, we will host our 5th annual youth conference and the theme is "Building Peace through the Arts." High school students from around the globe will descend on Ft Lauderdale (not a bad location for a youth conference?) and work with artists in hands-on workshops, perform traditional arts for each other. Most importantly, they build lasting friendships.
Our second signature arts program is the annual Young Artist Showcase, which invites high school-aged students to submit visual artworks into a competition. The winners are placed in an exhibit that tours the country. This is a way for us to share up-and-coming artistic talent from around the world.
Often the arts can communicate and express so much more than words. I can share one personal experience from a trip to Russia I took in high school. Our jazz band had performed at a conservatory in then-Leningrad. Some of the Russian students wanted to perform for us, so they took the stage and started playing. We knew the tune, so we jumped back on stage and joined them. In a series of solos, if you know jazz terms - "trading fours" where each soloists plays for four measures and then the next soloist plays four measures and basically, they try and out-do each other with their solos. So I took a turn on the piano, my counterpart did, then I did and so on. We never spoke a word, but just smiled, laughed, and nudged each other as we played. When we left we thought, wow, hey they can swing in Russia, that's pretty cool. It was one of the most rewarding musical experiences of my life.
In short, the arts have a very important role in the work of Sister Cities International and in cross cultural understanding. I welcome you questions or comments on our work during the Q&A session. Thank you.
Looking forward! - 4/19/07
Just three items to draw your attention to that you won't want to miss.
The Young Artists Showcase deadline is quickly approaching-April 30! Do you know any 13-18 year-old artists who are who are inspired by Sister Cities? If so send them to www.sister-cities.org/sci/sciprograms/yap/index to find out about this year's program.
If you have always wanted to travel to Egypt, we have the trip for you. Visit our Partnership & Peace Tour webpage for details on our October 2007 trip. This isn't the traditional travel abroad trip. We will, of course, see all of the historical sites you would expect, but Sister Cities International has developed a series receptions, visits, and meetings that tie to our mission and makes it a real one-of-a-kind experience. To read more about it, click on the pyramids on our home page.
Do you have youth participating in your sister cities program? Sponsor them for our 2007 Youth Conference in Fort Lauderdale. This gathering runs at the same time as our Annual Conference but is designed for youth (15-19 year olds) and its theme will weave arts, culture and discussion of cross-cultural dialogue with time on the beach. Find out the full details visit our home page and click on the sandy banner!
Waging Peace - 3/30/07
The past three days I participated in the launch one of our new initiatives in Lyon, France, called Waging Peace. Funded by a special grant from the U.S. Department of State, the goal of Waging Peace is to bring together U.S. and French communities to discuss how cities and towns in each country deal with marginalized communities. The communities that participated in the 2-day session were:
• Charlotte, NC & Limoges
• Louisville, KY & Montpellier
• St. Louis, MO & Lyon
• Los Angeles, CA & Bordeaux
The first step for participants was drawing an understanding of each country's political and policy framework, which proved to be a bit vexing at times since there was healthy disagreement on how to describe the current state of affairs. With this baseline information, participants really dove-in on issues, such as immigrant citizens (and non-citizens), minorities, low- and middle-income families, as well as ethnic, gender, and religious communities. The break-out sessions focused on how each community handles intercultural dialogue, education, public safety, and employment with the goal of drawing out the best practices from both sides of the ocean, providing a list of ideas to test, and establishing a new network of friends to help with this work. The next phase of the program allows twinned cities to participate in exchanges and follow up with an action plan of projects that may help foster better integration of marginalized communities.
The Sister Cities staff will be providing more tangible information to all members in the next few weeks about the Lyon meeting as well as regular updates as the program progresses. It is important to me that we find ways to share this type of valuable information with the entire network so the full membership can learn from the lively discussions.
As we start to organize the details of the outcomes, I thought I would start by including my opening remarks to the delegation. This will give you a sense of how I framed the dialogue between countries and among communities.
Opening Remarks for Waging Peace Conference
Delivered by Patrick Madden, Executive Director, Sister Cities International
Lyon, France, 3/29/07
"Thank you for those thoughtful words. My special appreciation to the Deputy Mayor of Lyon and his staff here who have worked to make this seminar happen. I need to share my gratitude to Cities Unies FRANCE as our intercontinental partner in all of this as well as Angie Bryan U.S. Consul in Lyon, her Cultural Delegate Alain Beullard, and Brent Beamer from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State who helped fund this event. We appreciate their support of Waging Peace as well as their annual support of Sister Cities International. I want to recognize Sister Cities members who earned their travel miles from Charlotte, Louisville, Los Angeles, and St Louis and the French sister cities' delegations who came from near and far. Also, my personal appreciation to our Board Member, Enda Brennan, who is with us.
None of this would have been possible without the efforts of Sarah Grausz and Lynn Olson from the Sister Cities staff. Thank you both.
Sister Cities is a powerful global network of more than 2,500 community partnerships in 137 countries. We have 700 U.S. communities that are working tirelessly to tie the world together with peace.
The Sister Cities movement was started in the late 1950s as a way to work outside of formal government channels, and President Eisenhower's idea was to bring citizens together directly to learn from each other and to build respect, understanding, and cooperation across nations and cultures. And ultimately, build peace. This Waging Peace seminar is a modern-day edition of this important legacy.
The title expresses a great deal to me - Waging Peace - this is an active verb which challenges us to bring an open and thoughtful energy to the discussion.
As most of you know the United States does not have flawless record of handling minority cultures within our borders. You may be familiar with the words Cherokee, Iroquois, Seminole. These are just a few of the Native American Indian cultures that were practically pushed to extinction in our country's earliest days. Better known is slave. Which became freed, and later colored became black, which eventually became African American. All these terms describe different generational thinking, different levels of cultural acceptance, and all words laced with various levels of prejudice and intolerance. Ultimately, they represent a search and a struggle for a few common words that represent differences...differences as basic as skin color.
Despite being a melting pot of the world, decade after decade throughout American history, citizens grappled with this challenge. America in 2007 is no different. "Immigrant" and "1st generation" populations struggle for a voice and identity in our communities. And, in some cases, it is a struggle for rights, fair treatment, and respect. Some U.S. cities and towns embrace and celebrate these differences. A few of those cities are with us for this seminar. Other communities ignore them. It is the latter environment where misunderstanding and mistrust lead to strife and discrimination.
It is not an easy time to say: we believe people can understand each other, and peace is possible. We live in a world where nations struggle to understand each other, yet here you are - having traveled hundreds or thousands of miles- committed to the advancement of a cross-cultural dialogue.
We have so much to learn from each other. I see this gathering as a jumping off point - not just for the Waging Peace program, but a larger effort among our communities toward finding practical solutions. Let's focus on what's working - and, based on what I heard last night at our event, there is plenty working!
Sister Cities International challenges you to identify the "a-ha" moments and the "oh my" moments. Both will be important for our collective progress. On behalf of Sister Cities International, we are honored to further this dialogue which really speaks to our mission: to foster mutual understanding, one individual and one community at a time. Thank you."
Gathering with Your Leaders - Posted: 3/16/07
This past weekend the staff and I had the pleasure of hosting the spring leadership meeting here in Washington, DC. The Board of Directors led by Mae Fergeson from Ft. Worth, the State Coordinators and the Honorary Board arrived on Thursday evening for a full weekend of training, discussions, and briefings on the state of the sister cities network. What a group of inspired leaders.
After Friday's committee meetings, the Board launched its dialogue in a work study session on Saturday morning where various governance, the conference and fundraising issues were discussed at length, which was followed by the formal board meeting in the afternoon.
A few of the topics include: the legislative initiative (Sister Cities' initial effort to secure direction funding for our exchanges is looking positive), the draft 2006 audit (a good report from our audit firm), the 2007 budget (it is on track as expected), as well as the announcement of the next Partnership & Peace tour to Egypt in late October (watch for more details on our website in two weeks). More details from the meeting can be found in the minutes which will be posted in April.
The highlight of the weekend was the chance to talk one-on-one with so many individuals who have been involved with the sister cities network - some for decades. Learning their personal stories and history gives me great insight into the organization. I noted more than once over the weekend that many national and international nonprofits would be jealous of the organized infrastructure we already have established. This signals, to me, that good things are on the horizon. I'm eager to jump in and roll up my sleeves.
First Impressions - Posted: 3/2/07
I am delighted to launch my tenure as the new Executive Director of Sister Cities International. With personal and professional international experiences that have left a deep impression on my life, I believe I can articulate the powerful impact of our members' work. Over the first two weeks I was able to delve into our programs, become more familiar with staff and spend time on Capitol Hill with other advocates urging Congress to increase funding for the Department of State exchange program.
As an organization with such a storied history, it's an exciting challenge to find a way to add my imprint to our network's next chapter. For the general public, the idea of "going global" entails opening their computer's internet browser, but for members of SCI, the phrase has a deeper meaning involving face-to-face interactions that result in discussions that connect cultures and communities in unforgettable ways.
My hope is to invigorate our sister cities movement by expanding our membership, to provide funding to members for more exchanges, and to build the capacity of SCI to better serve members and the global community-at-large. This blog will serve as a place where I'll use you, the members, as a sounding board for ideas and welcome your input. More importantly, I hope this e-space becomes a vehicle for you to share experiences, best practices, and lessons learned with other members and the broader public.
I'd like to hear your stories! Tell me about your first notable memory with Sister Cities. Send an email with the subject "First Encounter" to the comments email address listed below. Over the next few weeks, I'll share what I'm hearing.
In the meantime, don't hesitate to contact me or the other staff with your ideas, comments, or suggestions on our work. I look forward to meeting many of you in the coming months and in Ft. Lauderdale in July.
Patrick M. Madden
Executive Director
Sister Cities International
Picking Partners in Peace
How did Portsmouth, New Hampshire get the sister city of Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland? Why is Denver, Colorado partnered with Baghdad, Iraq? Ningbo, China and Jacksonville, Florida...really? These are the types of questions most folks start with when they see the sister cities directory. How does one city pick another city for sisterhood?
While as an organization we have a number of recommendations for communities to consider before partnering (population, economic drivers, topography, university town, and other common links), at first this wasn't the case - there are some rich stories dating more than 50 years.
Question of the Day: What's the most unusual sister city pairing you can find?
While as an organization we have a number of recommendations for communities to consider before partnering (population, economic drivers, topography, university town, and other common links), at first this wasn't the case - there are some rich stories dating more than 50 years.
- What U.S. city has the most sister cities? Chicago, IL (27)
- What's the largest city in the U.S. with sister cities? New York, NY (Population: 8,000,000+)
- What's the smallest city in the U.S. with sister cities? Gilbert, AR (Population: 32)
- Which country has the most sister city partnerships with the U.S.? Japan (269)
- What continent has the most sister city partnerships with the U.S.? Europe (35% of U.S. partnerships)
Question of the Day: What's the most unusual sister city pairing you can find?
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Putting "Community" in Diplomacy
American Diplomacy has been under the microscope for a few years. There's no need to review the reasons, numerous reports, rhetoric, and legal spats but all for all of the formal diplomatic channels and official statements, one thought keeps returning to me: let's expand our diplomatic corps. I'm not talking about the Department of State's foreign service officer corps who serve our country in largely invisible (but vital) roles - but I'm talking about the citizen diplomat corps. This group has no term limits, no budget oversight by Congress or OMB, no political agenda, no constraints to carefully craft the proper wording at a press conference. What they have is a commitment to promoting cultural understanding and advancing world peace.
Citizen diplomats are ordinary folks of all ages who travel abroad on any type of exchanges (educational, cultural, technical, humanitarian, business, and so forth) and are inspired to participate for the opportunity to experience another culture and society. (Yes, they are just like us...) In turn, citizen diplomats are also on the receiving end of exchanges by hosting visitors from abroad in their homes, allowing them to share American culture and society. (Yes, we're more than TV sitcom re-runs and Hollywood movies.) These episodic exchanges (hosted by members of Sister Cities International and a wide range of other exchange organizations with rich histories) happen by the tens of thousands each year around the globe. Their complementary foreign affairs role is unchallenged by professional diplomats and politicians of all stripes. The tales of cultural and educational exchanges during the Cold War are legendary.
Citizen Diplomacy has its role and it's a powerful one, but I would argue that this format has it limitations being, by nature, short term (a few days to a few years if you are in school) and individual-based experiences. To recalibrate our standing in the world, we need Community Diplomacy. This is a new term (as best I have researched, but I'm sure someone will correct me. I should note that the term "City Diplomacy" is taking root in Europe with the UCLG as a leader in looking at the role of local government in conflict prevention, peace-building, and post-conflict reconstruction, but the role of local government is too narrow.)
Community Diplomacy is what local Sister Cities programs foster: long-term city-to-city relationships that engage all sectors of a community and individuals of all walks of life, including politicians, educators, business executives, government professionals, scientists, nonprofit leaders, students, and so on. For example, one community may provide clean water while the other is providing microenterprise opportunities for artists. As sister cities get to know each other over decades, cultural divides disappear. Short individual experiences become relationship-based group experiences. As the equality between communities and citizens grows, the cultural misperceptions and media bias tend to fade. When all this falls aside, what's left - world peace?
Question of the Day: Can Community Diplomacy make a difference in world views of the U.S.?
Citizen diplomats are ordinary folks of all ages who travel abroad on any type of exchanges (educational, cultural, technical, humanitarian, business, and so forth) and are inspired to participate for the opportunity to experience another culture and society. (Yes, they are just like us...) In turn, citizen diplomats are also on the receiving end of exchanges by hosting visitors from abroad in their homes, allowing them to share American culture and society. (Yes, we're more than TV sitcom re-runs and Hollywood movies.) These episodic exchanges (hosted by members of Sister Cities International and a wide range of other exchange organizations with rich histories) happen by the tens of thousands each year around the globe. Their complementary foreign affairs role is unchallenged by professional diplomats and politicians of all stripes. The tales of cultural and educational exchanges during the Cold War are legendary.
Citizen Diplomacy has its role and it's a powerful one, but I would argue that this format has it limitations being, by nature, short term (a few days to a few years if you are in school) and individual-based experiences. To recalibrate our standing in the world, we need Community Diplomacy. This is a new term (as best I have researched, but I'm sure someone will correct me. I should note that the term "City Diplomacy" is taking root in Europe with the UCLG as a leader in looking at the role of local government in conflict prevention, peace-building, and post-conflict reconstruction, but the role of local government is too narrow.)
Community Diplomacy is what local Sister Cities programs foster: long-term city-to-city relationships that engage all sectors of a community and individuals of all walks of life, including politicians, educators, business executives, government professionals, scientists, nonprofit leaders, students, and so on. For example, one community may provide clean water while the other is providing microenterprise opportunities for artists. As sister cities get to know each other over decades, cultural divides disappear. Short individual experiences become relationship-based group experiences. As the equality between communities and citizens grows, the cultural misperceptions and media bias tend to fade. When all this falls aside, what's left - world peace?
Question of the Day: Can Community Diplomacy make a difference in world views of the U.S.?
Media Bias
There's a lot of talk right now about U.S. media bias. Most are talking about presidential campaigns, but I have a different beef. If you go to Google's news website and click on world news, you'll find some depressing results from all corners of the planet: bombing, attack, state of emergency, terrorism, militant warnings, and so on. This is a common complaint about the U.S. media. Good news is not news. I'm not even going to touch the vacuum of reporting on world events.
But, a quick scan of international news outlets and you find a different story (so to speak). Headlines include: Kenyans complete a climb for peace, UNICEF: child mortality down 27 percent since 1990, Turkish leader in peace mission, among others. There's no lack of bad news mixed in here either, but there is an interesting contrast with the inclusion of a broader range of articles.
It begs the question, if U.S. audiences were exposed to a wider range of "world news" would that help us work toward peace more aggressively? Might be worth a try.
Question of the Day: If U.S. media outlets included 25% more positive news about the rest of the world, would it change thinking of Americans?
But, a quick scan of international news outlets and you find a different story (so to speak). Headlines include: Kenyans complete a climb for peace, UNICEF: child mortality down 27 percent since 1990, Turkish leader in peace mission, among others. There's no lack of bad news mixed in here either, but there is an interesting contrast with the inclusion of a broader range of articles.
It begs the question, if U.S. audiences were exposed to a wider range of "world news" would that help us work toward peace more aggressively? Might be worth a try.
Question of the Day: If U.S. media outlets included 25% more positive news about the rest of the world, would it change thinking of Americans?
Friday, September 12, 2008
The Reality of Perception
Cold War. War of Choice. World War. Gulf War. War on Drugs. Cyber War. War Footing. War of Words. Civil War. War on Terrorism. War of Ideas. Star Wars. We tend to use the word “war” too much.
The perception around the world (broadly) is Americans are war-loving people. Proof can be found on satellite dishes offering sitcom re-runs to the far corners of the earth with options, such as Miami Vice, Cowboy Westerns, and Law & Order or an endless stream of ‘action’ movies as ambassadors of American society.
Obviously, the term “war-loving Americans” can’t be statement further from the truth. But, is perception reality?
Opinion seekers from the Pew Global Attitudes Project have studied American sentiment abroad since 2002. The news and trends aren’t good. A spirit of anti-Americanism around the world still exists and in certain regions, it runs high.
But if you ask Americans (as World Learning and the Aspen Institute did in a January 2008 survey), nearly 9 out of 10 citizens are concerned about the continuing decline in the United States’ reputation overseas. We can’t be too self-interested if we are fretting over how others perceive us. Can we?
How are we addressing this problem? Head on. Track Two diplomacy. Non-kinetic warfare. Soft power. Irregular warfare. PsyOps. Conflict prevention. Multi-track diplomacy. This double-speak will work flawlessly.
If we are so articulate about describing war, let’s be just as clear about what we want in its place: peace.
Question of the Day: What is the best way to combat the negative perception abroad?
The perception around the world (broadly) is Americans are war-loving people. Proof can be found on satellite dishes offering sitcom re-runs to the far corners of the earth with options, such as Miami Vice, Cowboy Westerns, and Law & Order or an endless stream of ‘action’ movies as ambassadors of American society.
Obviously, the term “war-loving Americans” can’t be statement further from the truth. But, is perception reality?
Opinion seekers from the Pew Global Attitudes Project have studied American sentiment abroad since 2002. The news and trends aren’t good. A spirit of anti-Americanism around the world still exists and in certain regions, it runs high.
But if you ask Americans (as World Learning and the Aspen Institute did in a January 2008 survey), nearly 9 out of 10 citizens are concerned about the continuing decline in the United States’ reputation overseas. We can’t be too self-interested if we are fretting over how others perceive us. Can we?
How are we addressing this problem? Head on. Track Two diplomacy. Non-kinetic warfare. Soft power. Irregular warfare. PsyOps. Conflict prevention. Multi-track diplomacy. This double-speak will work flawlessly.
If we are so articulate about describing war, let’s be just as clear about what we want in its place: peace.
Question of the Day: What is the best way to combat the negative perception abroad?
Thursday, September 11, 2008
9/11 and Finding World Peace
Today, September 11, Sister Cities International is launching our Type, Talk & Transform World Peace effort. This is a month of discussion and action by Sister Cities International, our 2,300-community network, and you - citizens of the world. We invite you to use this space to add your voice on how we can achieve world peace together. Additionally, our organization and the local sister city programs will host events, programs, online forums and raise awareness for the urgency for world peace. Watch this site and our website, www.sister-cities.org/worldpeace for daily updates and news.
September 11 has a double meaning for Sister Cities International. It marks the day when we were founded by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956 as a citizen diplomacy organization dedicated to finding world peace and the day that we remember one of the most destructive acts of terrorism in global history. The juxtaposition of these two moments on this day is stunning.
During the course of our month-long effort, we will post ideas and questions about world peace, react to world news (good and bad) and ask to respond. Provide your opinion on world peace - this is your place.
Question of Day: Since 9/11/01, name one world event that gives you hope for peace?
September 11 has a double meaning for Sister Cities International. It marks the day when we were founded by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956 as a citizen diplomacy organization dedicated to finding world peace and the day that we remember one of the most destructive acts of terrorism in global history. The juxtaposition of these two moments on this day is stunning.
During the course of our month-long effort, we will post ideas and questions about world peace, react to world news (good and bad) and ask to respond. Provide your opinion on world peace - this is your place.
Question of Day: Since 9/11/01, name one world event that gives you hope for peace?
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