Mission-driven in Crisis

By Guest Blogger: Michael Hyatt, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Sister Cities International

Getting ready to go for two weeks in South Africa in the middle of the worst financial times since the “Great Depression” is beginning to seem quite challenging. Having looked forward to the Partnership and Peace Tour for over a year, I now wonder about the consequences of being away. However it appears the entire world is affected by this crisis and I’m anxious to see how we handle it.

In Egypt last year I was able to meet local, state and national officials who recognize the need for world peace in settings one can only dream about. On one occasion we visited with the Governor of Aswan over coffee late at night floating on the Nile. Our military backgrounds gave us a common base for our discussions while we talked about the need for peace and their efforts to locate a sister city relationship (One objective achieved: Aswan is now partnered with Sonoma, CA.).

Having been to South Africa before, I’m looking forward to meeting officials and bringing our message to them. Now more than ever, the need for Sister Cities International is evident. Trying times in the world brings the need for unity in order to find the solution. Governments are now working together to bring the markets back to an orderly fashion, yet my sister city friends from Swaziland have contacted me and asked me to bring information, policies and strategies from Fort Worth to help them. I’ll be meeting with the United States Ambassador, local officials and members of the Swaziland Parliament to let them know what we are doing that will ultimately help them.

Times aren’t easy but neither is our mission. I know the efforts we expend on these trips will be repaid many times.

The Unwitting Citizen Diplomat

You’d be stunned at the number of organizations who commit their livelihood to world peace. It’s amazing to me with all these smart people thinking, talking, writing, meeting, strategizing about world peace, you’d think we would have figured it out by now. That said, I’ll leave the big brains to their work and raise one side of peace movement you don’t hear enough about: citizen diplomats.

What’s a citizen diplomat, you ask? (You aren’t alone.) It’s not one thing, it’s many things (this is the problem.) Simply put, it is average citizens who find a way to connect us to the rest of the world and connect the world us. Anyone can qualify. You don’t need to be a Rhodes scholar or a Foreign Service Officer for the State Department. You need to be curious about other people, places, and cultures. Note: I said you don’t need to be an expert–just be open to the journey. So what does that mean – here’s a few ideas of things you can do:

--Surf the internet for global news about countries you’ve never heard of or don’t know where they are (…but don’t do this until you finish reading my blog)
--Volunteer for the German beer festival (or just attend and try the beer!)
--Hold a book club meeting in your house to discuss a book with an international bent
--Speak a foreign language
--Host a foreign exchange student
--Get a passport
--Encourage a college student to study abroad
--Attend a world music concert
--Go to a lecture about a different culture
--Speak at your local elementary school about a country you’ve been to
--Patron a local company owned or run by immigrants
--Take a vacation abroad

This last one is worth an experience...on a recent ride from the airport to my hotel. I was the only passenger in a shuttle van and I had the Chatty Cathy driver. His bio: your very average Midwestern, polite man in his upper 70s. We talked sports, politics, the economy, and vacations (it was a long ride). This man has been a retired police officer for more than 20 years. His voice energized as he told about his favorite vacations, a notable cruise to Alaska was a highlight. I mentioned traveling to Belfast and Northern Ireland if he hadn’t been yet. He paused, glanced at me and proceeded to rattle off an armload of countries he and his wife had visited on vacations—and they weren’t your usual American in Paris moment. The safari in Kenya was memorable, the boat ride in China was fun, and so on and so on. He also told me how be brags about his trips to his friends he meets every morning at McDonalds to yak (his word not mine.)

What a great citizen diplomat he was and he didn’t even know it. I’m not sure why I tagged him as a typical American uninterested in the world. Just another reminder, there is no single profile of these quiet peace workers. We come in all shapes, sizes, colors, educational backgrounds, quirks, and opinions. I can’t think of a better citizen diplomat to send abroad, but the best part: he was having a ball with life. What else can you ask for?

Interested in learning more about citizen diplomacy? Visit our website, www.sister-cities.org or www.uscenterforcitizendiplomacy.org.

Pride in Peace

I spent last week in Belfast, Northern Ireland preparing for the 2009 Sister Cities International Conference. What a place and what a story. With half Irish blood, I thought I had a fairly good understanding of “The Troubles” (as they are so eloquently called there.) Understanding The Troubles and talking to people who experienced The Troubles are two different animals. Ten years after the Good Friday Agreement it is stunning how many symbols of the violence remain in and around Belfast— such as peace walls, murals, and country flags in fronts yards. This surprised me. The outward expression seemed dated based on how wonderful I had heard things were going.

In part, it is important to remember and reflect on where you’ve been as a society and where you want to go. This manifests itself in visual icons fro some. No one was asking another person to give up who they are or their cultural heritage. But, what was striking, was the dialogue around where Northern Ireland is now. Everyone I spoke to perked up when they spoke about the status of the negotiated peace. “That’s behind us… did you see all the construction in downtown Belfast?” “We have changed our school and youth service structure. Before you could grown up, get a job, and live your life without ever meeting someone from the “other side,” I don’t think that exists now.”

As you dig more, of course like any citizen, people have frustrations with the national government. For example, the Executive (the First Minister/Deputy First Minister offices and agencies) hadn’t met in months and it was holding up important funding legislation. I thought to myself, that sounds very familiar.

But what told the story in a more striking fashion was the nonverbal communication – everyone smiled, stood more upright, looked me determinedly in the eyes. There was a sense that they had weathered the storm and the wind was at their back.