To-Do List Before Dec 31

Before I get into a pithy 2010 blog post, I'm going to make one last pitch for your help. With a few days left before New Years, I've got a few quick ideas for how to spend your time - friendraising and fundraising for us!

• Give a personal cash donation to Sister Cities International. If you’ve already given, can you give again? Visit www.sister-cities.org/donate. (When it asks, "How'd you hear about us?" mention my blog.)
• Do some post-holiday shopping at Amazon.com by using our Sister Cities International link so we receive a donation back. Visit www.sister-cities.org/marketplace/index.cfm. (Save this link, you can use this link any time during the year for your online shopping needs.)
• Send an email to all your Facebook friends, Twitter followers, and LinkedIn associates asking them to donate to Sister Cities International. Send them to www.sister-cities.org/donate.   
• Ask 2 of your friends who you know would be interested in helping advance world peace. Send them a personal note and ask them to visit www.sister-cities.org/donate. (This actually works, I know it sounds ancient, but it's VERY effective.)
• Check with your employer/company to see if they will match your donation. Visit www.giveto.psu.edu/WaysToGive/MatchingGifts/index.html.

To all of you who have given a contribution to Sister Cities International - thank you.

Honoring Corporate Commitments: Google

Each year Sister Cities International recognizes one company for their commitment to philanthropic investments in the international nonprofit sector. Past honorees include Motorola, AECOM, and CITRIX. This summer we honored Google with Sister Cities International’s Global Corporate Responsibility Award.

Since our conference was abroad, the company was unable to send a representative to attend the event, so I had the chance to visit Google’s headquarters this fall and present the award to Jessica Vaughan, a program manager for Google Grants (pictured above). Below you’ll find our short description of Google's recent philanthropic accomplishments:

Google aspires to use the power of information and technology to address the global challenges of our age. Through Google.org and Google Grants, Google has emerged as a powerful philanthropic force in a number of geographic and programmatic areas where sister cities members are active.

Google contributes funding in areas ranging from renewable energy, to global health, to information access, to small- and medium-sized enterprises. Most recently, Google funded research and programs in wind energy, solar thermal power and geothermal resources. Also, Google has invested in improving early detection, preparedness and response capabilities for global health threats and humanitarian crises in Africa and Asia as well as monitoring, analysis and prediction of the impacts of climate change on ecosystems, food and health in Africa and the Amazon.

In the education arena, Google made grants to improve the quality of education in Tanzania and in India focusing on student learning in primary education and benchmarking students to identify learning gaps. To help advance the private sector in Africa, Google funded business plan competitions and entrepreneurship programs in Ghana and Tanzania as well as provided support to spur job creation and strengthen poverty alleviation programs around the continent.

We hope their giving will inspire other corporations to grow their commitment to international philanthropy.

Use Your Facebook for A Good Cause

Dear Sister Cities Fans & Avid Followers:

This is call to action...for those of you who have Facebook accounts and want to use them foster world peace.

Chase Community Giving has partnered with Facebook to run a campaign to give away $1 million. We need you to vote for Sister Cities International! (Not Chicago Sister Cities International – no offense Chicago – nor other local programs). Click the link below to help us make a run for the money

VOTE NOW!

Looking at Global Education

Live from Doha, Qatar – I’m writing at the intersection of exhaustion and jet lag. It’s not a good place but I can sleep on the plane, right? I’m here attending the first World Innovation Summit on Education (WISE). The event is hosted and underwritten by the Qatar Foundation.

This is a serious meeting of the minds from the education sector – university presidents, national policy makers, NGO leaders, education reformers, multinational funders, community education advocates, open source and techie types, heads of state, corporate executives – more than 1,000 people are in the conversation. The Institute of International Education, one of our sister institutions, is one of the key supporting organizers.

 

The conference has been exploring three major themes: innovation, sustainability, and global education. With breakout sessions looking at inequality, higher education, funding, technology, women's education, e-learning, special needs, global mobility, access, social media, conflict zones, and minority inclusion among other topics.

 

The breadth and depth of the dialogue in and out of sessions has been terrific, but let me start with some facts:

• 115 million children around the world are not attending school
• 776 million adults cannot read or write
• 40% of the population in the Arab world is under 25
• One quarter of the world’s youth lives in the Arab World
• One of every three youth in the Arab World are unemployed
• The E.U. provides .5% (of GDP) budget subvention for education and 40% subvention to agriculture
• The cost of one additional solider stationed in Afghanistan is equal to building 20 new schools in the country
• In developing countries, 90% of working women with an education reinvest their salary in their family, compared to 40% of men who reinvest in their family
• 40% of West Africa and South Africa is illiterate
• Half of all the teachers in Sub-Sahara Africa are untrained or undertrained
• Africa needs 4 million new teachers in the next 5 years to meet demands
• One third of higher education students in South Africa are studying via distance learning
• There are 4 billion active mobile accounts worldwide
• There are 1.5 billion active web accounts worldwide
• 2% of student learning worldwide is happening via mobile technology
• A new study suggests adults will have 10.8 jobs by the age of 42
• Only 2% of U.S. students study abroad

 (Note: Facts are from various sources and speakers throughout the conference.)

 

Since I can't do the conference sessions justice by recasting them in summary, (information and speaker videos are online at the WISE conference website), I'm sharing some of my favorite soundbytes, comments, and opinions:

• Education is a basic human right and there is an education deficit globally.
• Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave. (Arabic saying)
• We need to create knowledge societies.
• It’s no longer a career for life, but a lifetime of careers.
• Nothing is more dangerous than a world view from someone who has had no view of the world.
• We need excellence and equity in education.
• We need to create global competence among our citizens.
• Knowledge transcends time. Knowledge travels.
• We need to change the system. Real reform puts the student front and center not the bus schedule.
• Education is an economic driver.
• Knowledge is the human adventure.
• We have corporate social responsibility, but what we need is intellectual social responsibility.
• An unexamined life is not worth living. (Socrates)
• An educator makes the hard seem easy.
• Technology breaks isolation and brings learning to remote sites.
• Education and innovation will be the currency of the 21st century. (Obama)
• Teachers bring knowledge to life.
• Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire. (Yates)
• Education is the key to building a culture of peace.

My deep appreciation to all of the speakers and participants (quoted and unquoted) who I spoke with for their thoughts, opinions, and passion. My less-than-stellar note-taking doesn't allow me to properly attribute each quote, so I apologize. But clearly, they left an impression on me.

 

All this has me thinking…what else can Sister Cities International and our network of 2,000 communities do to flex our muscles of influence on education globally?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

President Obama: Sister Cities Exchanges Are Wonderful

In a town hall meeting today in Shanghai, China, President Obama mentioned the value of more than 200 friendship cities between the U.S. and China. Later in the event, he was asked about the Shanghai-Chicago partnership. His response:

"I was just having lunch before I came here with the Mayor of Shanghai, and he told me that he has had an excellent relationship with the city of Chicago -- my home town -- that he's visited there twice. And I think it's wonderful to have these exchanges between cities."

He continued by talking about the types of exchanges he thinks would be favorable, such as climate change and clean energy. He finished by saying, "..it's a terrific opportunity I think for us to learn from each other."

Citizen Diplomacy is on the move! A great acknowledgement for the sister cities movement.

Read the whole Town Hall Transcript.

And We're Off! Race for World Peace (part 3)

A visual post from our Festival - enjoy the array of photos. I couldn't squeeze in all 12 performances. But we have a little something from the eight cultures/countries represented.

Many thanks to our major sponsors Collective Media, The Hill, and BP, as well as all of our in-kind donors. Without their help our event could not have been a success.

   Our African drummers thundered Pennsylvania Avenue

     Modern Dance

     Traditional Indian Dance

      Ukranian wedding dance

     DJ Undadog with World Beats

    Clowns and Henna tatoo artists

Jugglers and face painters

      Flamenco energy warmed up the audience

   

   By the end of the festival, the Bolivian dancers had us jumping

Medical Supplies to Iraq

Laguna Niguel, CA is not wasting any time connecting with its new sister city in Al Qaim, Iraq. Check out this brief video about the delivery of vital medical supplies.

And We're Off! Race(s) for World Peace (part 2)

While we were busy squaring away our event in during dark morning hours in Washington, DC, our 1st Race for World Peace was busy 'going global.'

Illinois & France's Race Exchange

The Palatine (IL) Sister Cities program hosted it's own mini-walk locally. Members of Palatine Sister Cities braved the cold and the rain to take a an architectural tour in downtown Palatine. The walk, created by Marg Duer, gave historical information about past owners of homes. At the end of the tour, the group enjoyed an inside tour of a home over 100 years old, which took 20+ years to renovate by the current owners. The walk concluded at Palatine’s farmers market, with hot coffee, fresh baguettes and French butter.

Earlier that day, Palatine’s sister city in France (Fontenay-le-Comte) took a walk in their own downtown, where the buildings are much, much older but shared a similar day of cold weather.

With the economy in its present state, it is difficult for Palatine and Fontenay to schedule an exchange, so this sister city partnership opted to “share something together” through the mutual event without being on the same continent.

(Thanks to Sue Minott for her reporting on these events.)

Fort Worth, Texas
(As reported from one of the Fort Worth participants)

It’s very dark, and very cold at 6am in Ft. Worth in October. That was check-in time for Team Texas at our satellite Sister Cities Race for World Peace. The race course wound along the Trinity River in a park in downtown Ft. Worth - we ran by a sign for geese crossing, underneath a beautiful canopy of trees and past a statue of Mark Twain reading in the park – a far cry from the city course in Washington, but that’s the way we roll in Texas!

We had lots of energy (for being as early as it was, and for the lack of caffeine prior to the race) and managed to get the crowd involved, so much so that along the course, and the turn we had runners as well as several of the course marshals chanting “Go Sister Cities! Go World Peace!” It was a great experience, and it was fun to participate, even remotely, with the amazing efforts that took place in Washington DC!

Cluj, Romania
A small but hearty group of citizen diplomats (of all ages!) in the third largest city in Romania took to the streets and mountains in their efforts to spread the word of world peace.

Thank you to each of the local sister cities programs that organized a satellite race/walk in conjunction with Sister Cities International. Bravo!

Add your hometown to our list of host cities for 2010 - email us and we'll tell you how easy it is.


Many thanks to our major sponsors of the event: Collective Media, The Hill, and BP, as well as all of in-kind donors,

And We're Off! 1st Race & Festival for World Peace (part 1)

I'm out of breath and so is the staff. Two weeks ago, we hosted the Sister Cities Leadership meetings in DC and last weekend, the Race. Gladly I can say, both were a rousing success.

Anytime you host a first time event it is - how can one say this politely - a learning experience. The staff "learned" quite a bit about how to navigate the DC city government to get all of the appropriate event permits. We learned how to correctly hold an 8oz cup of water for runners whirling by a water station. We even learned that there are such people as grouchy balloon artists. But most importantly - we had a lot of fun getting to our finish line, which was Race Day.
The festival stage set-up started at the pre-dawn hour of 3am. The Pennsylvania Avenue transformation started. By 7am, the staff had the registration and information tents ready and sponsor banners were lightly flapping in the breeze.
As 9am approached the police appeared en masse, the roads closed, and the course marshalls were in place. With over 500 runners/walkers registered from 17 states and DC, folks hurried to find their place for the start. At this moment, all the open-ended questions I had thought about for nine months ran through my head: would the runners like the course, will people show up for the festival, are the first festival performers here, do we have enough port-a-johns, will the rain hold-off to name a few. As I stood about 50 yards down from the Start Line, it was definitely a thrill to have the participants rush by as the event got underway.
I should note that despite the 90% chance of rain forecast the evening before, we happily enjoyed overcast skies and 65 degree temperatures for the whole event (with the exception of a brief 5-minute shower at the start of the festival.)

Just 15 minutes later, it was all over - sort of. At least for the quickest male athlete, Demesse Tefera was the first winner of the Race for World Peace with a time of 15:10. The top female runner appeared shortly thereafter. Hirut Mandefro took the top female prize with a time of 17:04. Supporting family members and friends created a human channel of cheers and applause that stretched from the Finish Line about 100 yards out.
Over the next hour we encouraged, hooted, and prodded our participants on to the Finish Line. (Official timings.) On to the awards ceremony and the festival!

Many thanks to our major sponsors of the event: Collective Media, The Hill, and BP, as well as all of in-kind donors,

(Stay tuned to this space for a series of perspectives on the race, our festival, and the four virtual races that happened in the U.S. abroad.)

Here It Is: Race & Festival for World Peace

Finally the Race & Festival is upon us. We've got about 500 folks who have registered to run/walk in the morning. (We are currently haggling with the weather genie to hold off the rain.) It'll be a terrific event to celebrate UN Day.

The Festival is ready to roll. We've got artists from India, China, Bolivia and much more. Check out the event map and Festival's artist line up. The whole event is emceed by Pamela Sorensen of Pamela's Punch fame. Figure out your day - here is the schedule:

9am Race Begins
9:30am Festival Begins
10am Awards Ceremony
10:45am Festival Resumes
2pm Festival Concludes

Swing by - we are two blocks from the GWU metro on Pennsylvania at 21st street.

Case Closed: Booker Cashes in on O'Brien

Newark Mayor Cory Booker closed the books on his feud with the Tonight Show's Conan O'Brien last Friday. You can watch the segment and read about O'Brien's donation to a Newark nonprofit as a symbol of lasting peace between the two figures. It was fun while it lasted.

City of Newark vs. Conan

Well, this Friday we'll get resolution to the on-going feud between The Tonight Show's Conan O'Brien and Newark (NJ) mayor Cory Booker. You may recall Booker invoked "the brotherhood" of the sister cities network (so to speak) when O'Brien banned Booker from the Burbank airport and Booker retaliated by banning him from the Newark airport, New Jersey, and ultimately, all of Newark's sister cities.

Mayor Booker appears this Friday on The Tonight Show, so tune-in to NBC for the resolution of this diplomatic crisis.

Sec. Sec. Clinton to Conan & Cory: Give Diplomacy a Chance

Our chief diplomat, Sec. Hillary Clinton, chimed in this evening on the The Tonight Show's Conan O'Brien/Cory Booker feud. It may not be the Dayton Peace Accords, but it feels like the end is near. Brokered peace is possible. Extend that olive branch, Conan.

Booker to Conan: Give Peace a Chance

The discussions between Conan O'Brien & Cory Booker (Mayor of Newark, NJ) continues. Bad video, but really Conan, can't we just get along?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVZKETJ4i_o&NR=1

Conan O'Brien - You've Got Trouble!

NBC's Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien is known for taking on 'important issues' over his career, but he may have stepped a bit too far this time. Conan has been taking on the city of Newark, NJ and Newark Mayor Cory Booker has a few things to say about that and he's invoked the sister cities network. Enjoy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZSSBUWJm0o&feature=player_embedded

Conan, you've got some problems now. You think New Jersey mayors roll together? You wanna be banned from 2,000 sister cities around the globe? Watch yourself.

You're Gonna Need Your Sneakers

I'm inviting blog followers, your friends, your relatives, your neighbors, and all Sister City members to join us on October 24, 2009 for the first-ever Sister Cities International Race & Festival for World Peace. Hosted on UN Day, we'll be hosting this 5K Run/Walk in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, DC. The event is followed by our World Cultures Festival which is free and open to the public. There will be prize giveaways, kids/family activities, food, music, dance, DJs, and tents to explore cultures and countries from around the globe. Sign up for the Race before October 10 and get the best registration rate.

We have concurrent races happening in Fort Worth, TX and Dixon, IL as well as locations in France and Romania.

Aren't DC-based? No problem - register for the Race on our site, we'll send you the event t-shirt, and you can get some friends together to walk that same morning and be part of this inaugural international event.

Got questions? Check us out at http://www.raceforworldpeace.org/. See you on the 24th!

Making a Difference in Morocco

From time to time, it's rewarding to see a person or organization recognized for their tireless work. Last week, NBC featured the Chicago-Casablanca sister city program in their 'Making a Difference' segment. The sister city hero mentioned in the story, Boubker Mazoz, is a former board member of Sister Cities International. Take a look.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#33026968

It's obvious that Boubker has contributed a great deal with youth locally, but he also remained committed to a global experience with his efforts to bring Moroccan students to our annual Youth Leadership Conference in the U.S. year after year. Bravo Boubker!

7 Cities Launch Sister Cities Africa Program

Do you get that feeling every now and again that you are experiencing something special? Watching a news or sporting event? (Think Phelps in the Olympics.) Attending a speech or even in a meeting? (Think Reagan: "Tear Down This Wall.") I've got that feeling.

Last week, we formally launched our Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded program, Africa Urban Poverty Alleviation Program, with seven U.S. cities being selected to work in sanitation, health, and water issues with their African Sister City. This is going to be a historic program for Sister Cities International. Congratulations to:

--Boulder, Colorado and Kisumu, Kenya
--Corvallis, Oregon and Gondar, Ethiopia
--Fort Worth, Texas and Mbabane, Swaziland
--Grand Rapids, Michigan and Ga East/West Districts, Ghana
--Lansing, Michigan and Akuapem South Municipality, Ghana
--Louisville, Kentucky and Tamale, Ghana
--State of Maryland and Bong & Maryland Counties, Liberia

The program will bring municipal leaders from these communities together to identify and address issues that will improve conditions on the ground. But, this isn’t a government-to-government program. It includes citizen involvement, citizen support, and citizen leadership from the private sector, NGOs, schools, and community-based organizations to provide sustained technical assistance and community development strategies.

I've got that feeling. This is going to be a program where citizen diplomacy thrives.

Hosting History in Belfast

As the first Sister Cities International Conference hosted outside of the United States, history was made. Events like these take many partners some seen and some invisible to the average participant. Below you can enjoy one of our leadership voices from Northern Ireland - Alan Chambers. He recently finished his sixth and final year on the Sister Cities International board. He served as our leading partner on the ground for everything from volunteer recruitment to media relations. Asked him to give us a perspective as a ciziten of Northern Ireland and what our conference meant to him and the community.

Guest Blogger: Councillor Alan Chambers, SCI Honorary Board and Chairman of the Belfast Host Committee

It is a great privilege for any community to be chosen to host such an important and prestigious event as the Annual Conference of Sister Cities International. That sense of privilege is enhanced when it also provides the opportunity to be involved in the creation of history by being the first international venue for the conference in 53 years. Belfast and Northern Ireland was very proud to have been selected to be the first international host. Given the growing, and ongoing, peace process the opportunity to host the conference was an important building block for peace.

The concept of going “International” for the Annual Conference was a new idea for the SCI Leadership and the huge family of member communities and partners. It was also something new and a challenge for the Washington DC staff. There had to be a bond of confidence developed between the Host Committee and the SCI staff that were, for the first time ever, organising a huge logistical conference operation on the other side of an ocean.

The idea of Belfast hosting the conference at some time in the future was first discussed when the then President of SCI, Sherman Banks, attended a meeting of Northern Ireland SCI members at a get together hosted in the US Consulate in Belfast in January 2005. If you thought that the First Minister was joking when he told us all at the Stormont reception that he hadn’t spoken to his Deputy First Minister until two years ago it should be noted that the event in the Consulate represented the first occasion when members of all the political parties in Northern Ireland had sat around the same table to discuss issues of mutual interest. This unique gathering was only possible because of the involvement of SCI and its President.

This small example of cross community political cooperation was built on at the 50th Anniversary Conference in Washington DC in July 2006 when we hosted a reception where we announced that the Fall Board meeting would be held in Northern Ireland. The fundraising and organisation of this event created some more cross community bonding.

The Northern Ireland reception in Kansas City in 2008 was the most dramatic example of this political cooperation when the largest ever delegation from our shores, of around fifty people, from all shades of political opinion worked in total cooperation and harmony to promote the conference in Belfast. The Government in Northern Ireland began to take notice of what a shared interest in an organisation like SCI was capable of delivering in terms of cross community cooperation.

Obviously the actual conference totally copper fastened this united approach to promoting Northern Ireland and was a tangible opportunity to demonstrate how far we had all moved forward in our journey to lasting peace.

A personal plus for me in this adventure was to stop taking for granted all that Northern Ireland has to offer its visitors. I have looked at photographs taken by the delegates of places like stately home gardens etc and marvelled at the beauty of these sites. To my shame they might only be 15 miles from my home and I haven’t visited them in years. It also exposed me to the quality and talent of local dancers, singers and musicians and made me proud that these performers, who provided so much enjoyment and entertainment, were my fellow Northern Ireland citizens.

My legacy of the conference is that I have been left with a much broader appreciation of what my small country has to offer both resident and visitor alike. It has also alerted me to the little acts of kindness shown by local people to the delegates and proved to me that the famous Irish hospitality is for real! I am proud of Northern Ireland and its people and I am especially proud of SCI for what it has contributed to peace in this country and that it continues to deliver throughout the world.

The legacy of the conference for Belfast and Northern Ireland can not be measured but it is immense! Sister Cities, and its mission, is now better known here as a result of the conference and will now be associated with something very positive rather than been seen as a weak excuse for travel on the public purse. SCI has been contributing to the healing process in our country since the decision was made to hold the conference in Belfast. The cosmopolitan nature of the conference has encouraged all of us here to concentrate on looking outwards rather than inwards. Domestic friendships that once would have been impossible have been firmly established across the community divide. For all of that we are grateful!

Hosting the conference was a huge responsibility but we thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. Please come back and see us soon fellow SCI peace makers!

Toxic Waste Off Africa, Confidence & Diplomacy

So with a title like this, I must be writing about the our Youth Conference. Right? Of course! I plan to provide space for a few voices to tell you about our conference experience in Northern Ireland, but this first one is from a star intern who joined us over the summer.

Guest Blogger: Sarah Gardiner
Written August 10, 2009

As a college student in Washington, DC studying international relations, a lot of my time is spent learning about conflict: which groups are fighting, who is denied access to resources necessary for their basic needs, how current institutions are are ill-equipped for the many problems facing the world. I spend a lot of time learning about the way things are. It isn’t often that there is space set aside to think about the way things could be and how we could get there.

This summer, I hit the undergrad internship jackpot, and began work as the Young Artist and Authors Showcase intern at Sister Cities International. At the end of July, I had the opportunity to travel with the art I’d spent the summer organizing to Belfast, Northern Ireland. While there, I helped to staff the annual Youth Conference. Exactly 142 youth from the United States, Northern Ireland, Russia, Mexico, and France came together to reflect on the theme, Bridging Differences: Building a Peaceful Future.

The morning the kids were due to arrive; I was true butterflies-in-my-stomach nervous. I’m sure some of it had to due with feeling out of my element as a visitor to a city with a very recent conflict history. A lot of it had to do with the fact that high school students are never an easy group to work with and once you throw in different languages, nationalities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, you just really don’t know how it’s going to work out.

Five whirlwind days later, my boss and I sat exhausted in our make shift office incredulously repeating to each other, “It’s over…” and then, “Everything went … really well.” Pause. “That was just amazing.”

Although a lot of the credit for the success of the conference goes to the talented team of youth workers facilitating the workshops, as well as the hospitality of our host city, the participating youth were what really made it a success.

It’s not often that anyone is given the opportunity to take a few days to truly reflect on who they are and how this fits into a broader context. The participants of this year’s youth conference did not squander this opportunity. They were honest, open, and willing to discuss their differences and identities. Some of the participating youth had traveled extensively, some had never left their home country. However, no one adopted an attitude of superiority. Everyone had something different to bring to the table, and this was respected.

There were several times during the course of the week where I had to take a step back to make sure what I was seeing was really happening: kids getting heated about toxic waste dumping off the horn of Africa, a beat boxer from Craigavon starting a call and response of ‘Sister - Cities!’, and a very enthusiastic conference wide Cupid Shuffle dance off.

At the end of the five days, students went their separate ways with the parting words, “See you in Alberquerque,” the location of next year’s annual and youth conference. In the week since we’ve been back, the Facebook group has been buzzing with youth eager to continue the conversation they started in Northern Ireland.

All this means that this year’s youth conference participants really internalized the principles of citizen diplomacy they were taught. They comprehend that true understanding and respect can’t come through one meeting, but must be continually nurtured. Even though my role in the youth conference was consumed with behind the scenes logistics, I feel like this rubbed off on me too. As a college student, it’s easy to think of my life post-university as when I will begin to truly work toward change. This is a flawed perspective – all of us have the capacity in our daily lives to build new connections.

One of the best conversations I had at the conference occurred with a youth worker from Northern Ireland. We discussed how confidence levels affect various aspects of a youth’s life. Ultimately, lack of confidence inhibits individual ability to dream past immediate reality. The point of citizen diplomacy is to expand individual world views, to widen the sense of what is possible, to enable the tools needed to dream, and, ultimately, to act.

Sleepy August?

Yes, yes...it's been a while I know. There are substantive postings forthcoming. Plenty to write about despite it being the month of vacations. While some of us are sneaking a holiday before the fall, others in our network our rolling up their sleeves for a serious debate about funding.

In the troubled economy, some sister city programs have been faced with defending their 'value' when it comes to local funding over the past year. A number of communities have suffered program cutbacks in the face of municipal budgeteers nipping and tucking city budgets with no true sense of the big picture impact of their penny pinching. I tell local elected officials, you'll be hard pressed to find another city-supported program that gives tax payers the ROI that a sister cities program does. Most of the funding for local sister city programs comes privately (foundations, corporations, individual donations) and in many cases from the personal wallets of the volunteers involved in the program!

A particular battle getting a fair amount of media is Fort Worth, TX. The Fort Worth Sister Cities International program is one of our flagship programs, a perennial award-winning programs with tremendous support locally and impact abroad. This morning, their plight got the attention of well-respected blogger Matt Armstrong, who writes MountainRunner.us. He makes a case for Fort Worth AND our network's broader value to public diplomacy.

Take a read of his post: http://mountainrunner.us/2009/08/sister_cities.html#comments.

What's Hot? Belfast - Next Week.

A week away from the opening of the first Sister Cities International Conference that will be held - internationally! Next week more than 500 adults and youth will descend on Belfast, Northern Ireland for a mix of educational workshops, networking, and social gatherings.

I always look forward to the event because it's where we bring into focus - the hot issues in the Sister Cities network. Here are a few highlights:

• "It's the economy stupid" - well, we didn't name a session quite that bluntly but there will be a sessions on strategies to secure grants in the U.S. and in Europe, as well as a session on 'jump starting' your fundraising program. In these times, it'll be a mix of renewing old tricks and finding new tactics.
  
• You can't read a newspaper or click on an online news outlet without talking about 'green energy.' We've got our own session led by a pro from the U.S. Department of Energy that will feature some of our winning Sister City programs working in sustainable development as well as an audience conversation on how Sister Cities programs are complementing their local government's efforts.
  
• You can't run an effective Sister Cities program without a positive partnership with your mayor/city council. We've lined up a mix of mayors and local elected officials from the U.S. and Europe to give insight on how to navigate a successful relationship with the CEO of your home town.


• In our version of "ripped from the headlines"...a buzzworthy couple of sessions with journalist Alicia Anstead. She'll take on two hot topics in an interview setting: the Muslim story in the U.S. and Europe, and citizen diplomats working in regions of conflict.

It's hard to pick a few sessions over others since the economic development session is chock full of heavy hitters from around the U.S. and youth and adult conferences will connect for an afternoon of interactive discussions on peacebuilding - both will eye-opening for attendees.

If you can't join us in Belfast, watch our updates and reactions on Twitter (new for us!) and this blog. Check out the full conference schedule at www.sister-cities.org/conference.

Zebras and Lions and Jackals – Oh My!

Would you and a friend like to go to Tanzania for $25 to see a couple of thirsty cats? It’s possible.

Sister Cities International has launched its annual travel raffle and this year’s prize is a trip and safari for two to Tanzania. One winning ticket will take two lucky individuals round trip from the U.S. to Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania where you will spend seven days venturing to exciting destinations including Mikumi National Park, Zanzibar, and Saadani National Park.

Cost to you? $25 for one ticket or five tickets for $100. Read the full itinerary and purchase your raffle ticket(s) to experience fascinating destinations, big game, and a coastal wildlife reserve.

Many, many thanks to the Tanzania Tourist Board, South African Airways, and our other in-kind partners that helped make this package so terrific. Visit www.sister-cities.org/raffle today to enter!

One Bed. One Meal. One Lifetime Experience.

One of the fundamental joys, successes, and challenges of running international exchanges is homestays. I won’t get into the details, but being able to provide someone from abroad the chance to live in one’s home and experience a true ‘American’ lifestyle is a vital element of citizen exchanges.

I find it an amazing commitment by those who provide homestays. There is a staggeringly minuscule tax write off for it (the amount of the tax break hasn’t been updated/changed for inflation since 1960s so I wouldn't characterize it as an incentive), but by and large a family hosts an international exchange delegate in their home because they believe in the importance of sharing their lives and to add to the experience. Host a student for a year, a semester of school, a couple of weeks or shorter. There are all types of options through local Sister Cities programs and wide range of educational exchange institutions. Not a shocking revelation, we need more Americans to agree to host an international delegate.

The Council on Standards for International Educational Travel recently launched a PSA campaign to promote homestays – www.hoststudents.org – check it out, pass it along, contact your local exchange organization and tell them you want to volunteer your home for an exchange.

U.S. - Arab Cities Forum – Take Two

I am logging this entry enroute back from Amman, Jordan (circa 6/25) where the 2nd Annual U.S.-Arab Cities Forum has just successfully buttoned up its work. Launched last year by Mayor Daley of Chicago along with the mayors of two of his sister cities – Amman and Casablanca, the convening aspires to bring together chief elected officials and their key city leaders from these two parts of the world to share best practices, common issues, and network.

I was only able to make a small part of the event last year, so I was stunned by the territory of issues the program covered. To name a few, there were presentations or discussions on city planning, transportation, e-government, citizen participation, corruption, youth, arts, and (of course) economic development and tourism.

The three-day event brought together a broad range of heavy hitters from the Arab world including the mayors of Dubai, Kuwait City, Jeddah, Beruit, Arab Jerusalem, as well as the host city Amman, among others. Our partner from the region, the Arab Towns Organization, was also on hand. The U.S. presence was noticeably light given the economic times with only two mayors being able to make it besides Daley – the Mayor of Okalahoma City and the Mayor of Frisco, TX. The trio held their own just fine carrying the common messages, ideas, and concerns from U.S. cities.

Sister Cities International had the opportunity to network with Arab city leaders looking for U.S. partners and to present its model of private-public partnership with a number of examples of how our citizen program complements city initiatives such as economic development, sustainable development, energy projects, and youth engagement.

These kinds of events just reinforce the basic premise of our organization. Doesn’t matter how big or small the city, the age of the city, or type of local government issues and concerns – we are all the same. The scale of the issue may be different, but just as they knew in 1956 – across the globe, we have more in common than we have different.

Inspired Service Here & Abroad

At a town hall meeting in France last month, President Obama urged the audience to find ways to engage in public service, he said: "The world has so many challenges now. There are so many opportunities. Jump in. Get involved. It does mean sometimes you'll get criticized, and sometimes you'll fail and you'll be disappointed. But you'll have a great adventure, and at some point in your life you'll be able to look back and say, 'I made a difference.'" (Washington Post, 4/4/09)

This struck me as I was in the midst of attending a series of local and regional sister city events and meetings. At each one - something strikes me: Why do you do this?

Of course, volunteerism across many sectors is enjoying a tremendous surge. The call to service is not new. Whether it’s “Ask Not” or it’s the National Service Act signed into law a few weeks ago. Serving our country or community is fundamental to the country’s psyche today as it was the fabric of our nation’s communities at our founding. The same inherit motivation is not found in many (most) places abroad. (Note: this is not to say volunteerism or commitment to service does not exist abroad.)

But, we’ve been doing this for 53 years – that’s a lot of people opening up their homes to host a visitor from abroad, spending their own money to fly to Africa to work on a water project, contributing funds to sponsor a student to study in the U.S., or time to coordinate an exchange of business executives.

Volunteer management, or more specifically how we motivate, activate, recruit, retain, and inspire our local volunteers, is a challenge many organizations wrestle with, but I have developed a great deal of respect for the sister cities citizen diplomat volunteer corps. These folks give more than: a little time, a little money, or a little talent – it’s an inspired vigor for engaging people who usually speak another language, may hold political or religious views that counter your own, or may hold a station in life that completely flummoxes you. This isn’t for the faint of heart or for individuals who live in a monotone life.

So I return to my core question, why do you do this? The answer I receive is simple: to make a difference. “The difference” manifests itself personally through their stories, experiences, and relationships around the world.

LA Party In Style

50 is the new 30? Is that it? In LA, I was part of the Los Angeles Sister Cities 50th Anniversary Kick-Off Fundraiser. It was a rockin’ and rollin’ party that featured Captain Cardiac and the Coronaries (see picture). Hundreds of citizens from all 25 of LA’s sister city committee and a few stars were on hand. The event honored the two oldest LA sister cities: Nagoya, Japan and Eliot, Israel – both 50 years old this year. Later this spring 150 member delegation from Japan will visit LA to celebrate.

It was a great event, to honor the 50th Anniversary. As always, I am energized when I speak to local citizen diplomats about their experiences, their passion, their commitment to our work, and their stories.

Los Angles Sister Cities program doesn’t look a day over 30. It’s LA – would you expect anything else?

Sister Cities = Big Business in LA

Earlier this week I was in LA at the invitation of City Councilman Tom LaBonge, the President and driving force behind the LA sister cities program. As part of my visit, I had the opportunity to speak to the attendees of the Los Angeles Trade Week Kickoff Breakfast. Below you’ll find my remarks on sister cites and economic development:

Good morning. Thank you, Tom for your introduction, energy, and leadership of the LA Sister Cities program. LA is one of our flagship programs.

I also want to acknowledge Stelle Fuers who’s one of this morning’s organizers. She’s been a terrific supporter and voice for the sister cities movement across Southern California. Thank you, Stelle. I’ve seen many of my Sister Cities friends from Bakersfield, Long Beach, and others.

First of all, congratulations Los Angeles! For 50 years your community has been part of this global citizen diplomacy movement. Connecting people across the globe.

In our DC office, we liken sister cities to marriage – two communities are linked forever – In LA, I know anyone married for 50 years is an accomplishment so, we are really recognizing something unique for LA today. Bravo.

Some of you may still be wondering why the World Trade Week is focusing on Sister Cities. I’m not sure how this is possible after Dr. Sample’s terrific remarks. Your perception might be that this is a cultural and educational thing – exchanges between students or music groups. While, yes, this is a big part of our work – over the past 5-10 years, sister cities have not only established successful models in international development and economic development, but U.S. cities have realized that their sister cities program gives them a competitive advantage – making economic development a vital intersection between the business sector, local government, and its citizens.

Whether its promoting tourism, drawing businesses to open up shop LA, expanding your market by taking your goods/services abroad, or building port-to-port relationships – trade and commerce are absolutely a part of sister city network.

In this current economic environment, it’s a time for an outstretched hand and corporations need every leg up. This is where sister cities comes in – we are a connecting point. Don’t try to figure out how to work in India by yourself. Work through LA’s pre-established sister city relationships in Mumbai. You have 25 Sister Cities to draw from in LA and nearly 100 partnerships in the region in every corner of the world.

We are working on 6 continents in 135 countries. Our network is a reflection of where business growth can and will be in the upcoming years – we are seeing more activity and sister cities in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. All areas where U.S. companies are looking for in-roads. All areas of economic potential.

Sister Cities International is a global network connecting the U.S. to the world. I hope you’ll join us in advancing our mission by becoming active in the LA sister cities program with your business. Thank you for the invitation to be a part of your event this morning and, again, congratulations to the LA Sister Cities program on a remarkable 50 years.

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Game Changer: $7.5M Grant to Sister Cities International

A few weeks ago we announced what I think is a game changer for Sister Cities International – a $7.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. We will launch a major three-year program working in urban African communities. The Sister Cities network will provide city-to-city technical assistance focusing on water, sanitation, and health.

This Gates grant represents the largest grant in the history of Sister Cities International.

Here’s my cut on why this is our game changer: For over five decades our members have made a name for the organization in the cultural understanding business. Starting with countries then known as our “former enemies” (Japan, Germany, etc), U.S. citizens worked to share their community and American culture in far away cities and in turn opened their minds and homes to visitors from abroad to learn about other cultures and traditions. Now, we are in 135 countries on six continents. People-to-people exchanges – it worked then, it works now, and it will continue to work. But over time the citizens realized there was more about the community that they could share beyond a visiting choir or a student group. What about trade and commerce? What about humanitarian assistance? What about our technical expertise? So…quietly for years, U.S. cities have been going well beyond cultural understanding – wells in Timbuktu, a medical clinic in the Congo, solar panels for rural farmers in Tibet. What is more fundamentally important than water, health, and food?

Enter our new program, funded by the Gates Foundation, where we will draw on this experience and scale up our work in Africa and on these types of international development projects in a way that’s only possible with exceptional funding. You thought we did a pretty good job on the cultural understanding stuff – wait until you see what’s next.

Fell Off the Blogwagon

I wish I could say, not much has happened since my last post – quite the opposite. Apologies for the radio silence. Fair warning - I’m re-entering the blogosphere - stay tuned.

A New Partner...the Arab Towns Organization

This evening, we signed the formal partnership with the Arab Towns Organization in the company of 50+ mayors, NGO leaders, officials from around the region, as well some Kuwait and French government officials.

Below you'll find my remarks that preceded the signing ceremony.

"Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be with you today. It is nice to see some familiar faces from when we last met in Chicago last spring. Sister Cities International is honored that the Arab Towns Organization chose the anniversary of its founding, today, as the moment to formally begin our partnership.

When I arrived at Sister Cities International just two years ago, our organization was seeking a partner to work with us in this part of the world. As we did our research, one organization kept coming to the fore – the Arab Towns Organization. The ATO’s goals to foster cooperation and communication among Arab leaders at the local level mirror the work of Sister Cities International. Much like the tree planting effort today, the ATO is to be commended for its Arab Urban Development Institute, its Environment Centre for Arab Towns, and other such efforts, which are examples of ATO’s 42-year commitment to improve the world we live in. On behalf of Sister Cities International, happy anniversary.

Sister Cities International is a global network of cities. Nearly 700 U.S. cities are partnered with 2,300 cities in 135 countries on 6 continents. We have existed for 53 years with a mission to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, & cooperation — one individual, one community at a time.

The sister city partnerships are long-term, city-to-city relationships, some of you know as twinning. The U.S. partnerships are run by the local citizens as volunteers. Our partnerships are successful if the citizens from the business community, education sector, and NGOs - a cross section of the community - work with the mayor and city officials.

A few years ago, Sister Cities International launched the Muslim World Partnership Initiative. This is an effort to increase the number of sister city partnerships in Muslim countries. Last week, we celebrated the 100th sister city partnership in a Muslim country with Houston, TX and Karachi, Pakistan. I was struck by the words of the Karachi mayor who responded to a question from the U.S. media about what really happens between sister cities. He said, “The time for gift giving ends today.” He was looking to Houston for some very specific results: business/trade opportunities, infrastructure investment, and tourism. These are two-way partnerships – both cities and its citizens learn and benefit.

Sister city programs promote the traditional cultural, youth and education exchanges. But more common in our ever-changing world, we see city technical assistance, economic and sustainable development endeavors, and international development projects. In some cases, we see U.S. cities working trilaterally or multilaterally on projects.

I could give you examples from Amman and Abu Dhabi, Baghdad and Beirut, Cairo and Casablanca - all of which have U.S. sister cities. Earlier today, I spoke to the mayor of Dubai who will be signing an agreement with Phoenix, Arizona next month – but there are more opportunities for partnerships.

Allow me to be clear about one message: there is great interest by U.S. citizens and mayors to work with Arab cities.

We are living in a world with unprecedented challenges. The complexity and interconnected nature of these problems will not be solved by one single country. We need each other for our cities to grow, for our education and health systems to improve, and for our technology and business sectors to flourish. In short, we need partnerships among people to be successful.

While our national governments work closely together on some issues, on other policies they will disagree. But the real work can continue happen at the local, municipal level despite any diplomatic differences. I call it, Community Diplomacy. This is where Sister Cities International and the Arab Towns Organization can and will have the most impact. Our organizations will bring people and communities together for common purposes and projects, bridging borders, languages, and oceans.

We are honored to become a partner of the Arab Towns Organization. Time for gift giving is over. I look forward to the real work ahead with each of you to help us make this partnership successful. Thank you.

Sister Cities Goes Green in Kuwait

Reporting from Kuwait City, Kuwait, I am here representing Sister Cities International as part of the founding day anniversary events of the Arab Towns Organization (ATO). Later today, Sister Cities International will formally sign its partnership agreement with the ATO.

Today's events include about 50 people from around the Arab world as well as representatives from the UN and Cites Unies (SCI's counterpart in France). The participants include representatives from the Kuwait government and a wide range of mayors from the ATO's member countries.


After a tour of a refurbished market and community center, we stopped by a local park. The ATO has a deep commitment to environment projects and as part of the day's events (despite a moderate sandysky day) each city and organization in attendance planted a tree in the Peace & Friendship Park. I was pleased to lead the SCI delegation (myself and Noha Georges, our SCI Muslim World Partnership Initiative consultant) to our spot in the park. In addition to my shoveling handiwork, you'll see we were assisted by the local Boy Scout troop. More posts to come from Kuwait.

(Videography courtesy of Noha Georges.)

Landmark Met: 100th Muslim Partnership

On Tuesday, Sister Cities International celebrated its 100th partnership in a Muslim-majority country with the city signing of Houston, Texas with Karachi, Pakistan. Take a listen to NPR’s coverage.

Houston Mayor Bill White and Mayor Syed Mustafa Kamal of Karachi signed the official Memo of Understanding at City Hall. As the largest city in Pakistan, Karachi hopes to focus city-to-city exchanges on business and trade opportunities between the cities, joint learning about how the cities manage terrorism threats, promoting tourism, and sharing cultural understanding programs. Houston, the fourth largest city in the U.S., has more than 80,000 people of Pakistani origin living in Houston and expects a great deal of support for the new relationship.

After 9/11 Sister Cities International's leadership created the Muslim World Partnership Initiative, a program area dedicated to advance long-term partnerships throughout the Muslim World and raise public awareness at the municipal level in the United States.

Karachi represents Houston’s 17th sister city partnership. With the addition of Karachi, Houston’s local program is now distinguished within the sister city network as the U.S. city with the most partnerships in the Muslim World - Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Baku (Azerbaijan), Istanbul (Turkey), and Karachi (Pakistan).

There is a driving interest among U.S. cities to establish partnerships in the Muslim world. There's a gap to bridge and our network sees its role to play, just as we have in the past. There were sister cities in the Soviet Union long before the fall of the Wall (now, we have 80 partnerships in Russia and many more in Eurasia and other former Soviet states). We were in Iraq when Saddam was in power (now, we have 9 partnerships and growing thanks to the PRTs), we have a presence in Cuba, Iran, and so on.

The point being, sister city programs don't shy away from zones of conflict, places where democracy doesn't flourish, and regions where people tend to disagree with America more than they agree. I'm regularly impressed by the "average" citizens in our network who roll up their sleeves and directly engage people from around the world with no political motivation except to work collaboratively on a project, to better understand each other, and ultimately to advance world peace.

So, bravo to Houston for helping us reach 100, but I'm eager for 101 and beyond. Our work continues.

(Photo Credit: NPR's website)

Ideas and Action from Peru & Latin America

I was pleased to speak last week at a conference hosted by Ideas Peru in Lima, Peru. The conference looked at how to move forward with international development projects in Latin America. Participants came from across Latin America as well as Spain and Italy and were represented by mayors, local elected officials, city government officials, heads of NGOs, educators, multilateral funding organizations, and passionate citizens.

Ideas Peru is a new organization that is looking to take pent-up energy of the citizens and move it to action. The presenters offered different models on how to engage local government and hometown communities and how to achieve more accountability of government.

The sister cities model fits into this dialogue quite well. They indicated that national governments haven’t always been the best leader or most efficient engine to make progress on community projects, such as water or infrastructure. But as I explored this more it was also clear that others felt local governments didn’t have the expertise to execute projects so money was wasted and progress languished. In both the panel discussion and my plenary speech, I was able to offer tangible examples of how various constituencies within a community work in a private-public partnership. I found the attendees welcomed the ideas and model (even if I based this solely on the # of business cards I got during the conference expressing an interest in starting a sister city program) but moreover, they were ready for action.

It’ll be interesting to see what shakes out from this event, but I sensed a serious intent of the attendees to roll up their sleeves and get moving.

It's as Basic as Water

When many people think of Sister Cities International, they think cultural exchanges. A choir tour from South Africa or a young person visiting Germany for a few weeks in the summer as their first experience abroad. For 50+ years, we've done a tremendous job reaching our hands out across oceans and borders, navigating language differences to being a dialogue using culture as a means toward common ground. These are very valuable, and often life changing, experiences for the individuals or the delegation on the trip. But more and more local sister city programs are being asked to do more for their sister cities abroad and their communities at home. These activities take the shape of "international development," which is a pretty broad moniker for economic development, sustainable development, work on the MDGs, and so forth. I have to share a terrific example on this front that demonstrates how some sister city programs go well beyond culture to deliver on our mission.

For years local sister city programs have been working on water issues with their sister city partners abroad. Last year, P&G provided Sister Cities International a grant to launch a Safe Drinking Water Initiative in Ethiopia and Nigeria. In short, the program taps six sister cities (3 U.S. with 3 African) to provide temporary clean drinking water and public education programs on the importance and impact of safe drinking water. The immediate clean water is made possible using a product created by P&G, PUR-Purifier of Water. Folks in the U.S. will think of the water purifier instrument you might attach to a faucet, but a related P&G product is a packet when dropped in a turbid water, will clean in 5 minutes. I've seen it, I've taken a drink afterward, and the results are visually stunning and more importantly it instantly creates healthy water.

The image above is not uncommon in Africa. You see citizens coming to the edge of a reservoir to draw water for use at home. This water source is also a community gathering place for children who swim and play in the water and animals. Not only is the water source contaminated, but the jugs and containers which the water is transferred to the home are also contaminated.

The Safe Drinking Water Initiative uses with sister city programs (3 pilot programs in Atlanta, Denver & Kansas City this year) that are already working on a long-term water solutions with their sister city partner. In the case of Denver Sister Cities, in 2002 they developed a comprehensive water plan with their sister city, Axum, Ehtiopia. This was done gratis by Denver Water, the professional organization that manages the Denver water systems and resources. In the interim years the local sister city program has been working on the implementation as funding and people-power were available. A number of professionals and engineers are involved from a range of organizations in the community. When the P&G grant became available, Denver quickly jumped on board as they saw this as a good interim step for Axum to provide clean water immediately and a chance to raise the dialogue in Axum about safe drinking water from a society/cultural stand-point to a health issue.

The sister city programs use many channels to make this successful: the mayor's office, the water/sanitation department, hospitals, health clinics, schools, and community centers. One goal is to find way to instruct children and women on the value of clean water. This strategy will bring about change since children and women are traditionally responsible for collecting and carrying the water to the home.

While we've only reported our first set of progress on the program, it's rewarding to see individuals and communities involved in the issue for years reinvigorated by a program. The best outcome can be seen to the left, as children anxiously await a taste of clean water and what it represents to their future.

Photo Credits: The images accompanying this post are from the Denver Sister Cities program, which is working with its partner, Axum (Ethiopia) to create a long-term water solution for the reservoir. For more details on the Sister Cities International program, visit www.sister-cities.org and click Sustainable Development, under Programs & Services.