SCI: About Sister Cities - Success Stories

Success Stories from Sister Cities International

Read about a few of our recent local programs, projects, and exchanges. Does your town have a sister city? Search our sister city directory!

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Jalalabad, Afghanistan-San Diego, CA
San Diego, CA-Jalalabad, Afghanistan sister city program partners with the local Rotary Club to enhance each organization's ability to develop and implement programs and activities in Afghanistan. Through the building and equipping of a K-12 school, the San Diego-Jalalabad Sister Cities makes a significant difference in the education of Jalalabad children with proactive outreach and initiatives with Nangarhar University. The San Diego students raised funds for school supplies for their sister school, and the Jalalabad students sent letters in reply. The Nangarhar University activities include partnering the university with San Diego State University, enhancing Nangarhar University's English as a Second Language program, funding a computer lab at the university, and providing 10,000 English dictionaries that have been distributed to faculty and students.

Tempe, AZ-Timbuktu, Mali
The Tempe, AZ-Timbuktu, Mali committee works on a number of humanitarian and development projects in Timbuktu. The committee fundraised to drill seven drinking wells, sent a container of 240 wheelchairs and various medical supplies to Timbuktu, and provided funds for a local Women's Center. The committee also funded two 3-day workshops on female health, nutrition and AIDS and has an ongoing program to provide goats and sheep to needy families in Timbuktu.

Colorado Springs, Colorado-Nuevo Casas Grandes, Mexico
Over the past couple of years, the Colorado springs sister cities program, the Colorado springs fire Department, and a handful of rotary clubs have partnered to fundraise for emergency fire equipment. this partnership initially sent a mini-pumper to their sister city Nuevo Casas Grandes in Mexico. This was the only functioning fire truck for a city of 80,000 for a long time. their continued efforts delivered a second truck and ultimately in 2006, two more fire trucks were acquired and sent. Additionally, the fire department provided equipment, clothing, and training for the Mexican fire fighters last year. The future looks bright as the local sister cities program and partnering groups are now focused on raising the $80,000 to build a second station for the city.

Baltimore-Luxor-Alexandria (Egypt)
The Baltimore-Luxor-Alexandria (Egypt) Sister City Committee (BLASCC) invited Baltimore physicians, nurses and other health care professionals to train and hold seminars with Egyptian health care workers. These Egyptian health care workers were better able to serve their community with the skills and information passed along by their Baltimore counterparts. Luxor International Hospital and neighboring health care centers provide BLASCC with a list of requested specialties and subspecialties on an ongoing basis.

Chicago, IL
Since 1960, the Chicago Sister cities International Program has established official relationships with a total of 26 cities in almost every region of the world, with more on the horizon in 2007 and beyond. The success of Chicago sister cities is achieved through collaboration between the dedicated staff, the appointed citizen leadership, and the extensive global volunteer network of more than 900 individuals. In 2006, the Chicago Sister Cities International Program demonstrated incredible impact by reaching 2,000 school children via its sister schools abroad Program, hosting more than 500 foreign visitors, and completing 126 events attended by 12,500 individuals.

St. Louis, MO-Bogor, Indonesia
The St. Louis, MO-Bogor, Indonesia Sister Cities Committee organized an Indonesian Business Seminar and Market Meeting at the World Trade Center in St. Louis. Attendees had the opportunity to gain deeper insights about the current business climate in Indonesia and participated in meetings to examine the following business sectors: 1> Power Generation; 2> Renewable Resources; 3> Tourism; 4> Information Technology; and, 5> AgriBusiness. Sponsors and partners included: City of St. Louis, Indonesian Consulate General, St. Louis Center for International Relations, St. Louis County and the World Trade Center-Saint Louis.

Louisville, KY-Quito, Ecuador
The sister cities of Louisville and Indiana University Southeast (IUS) co-hosted a delegation of 25 young (11-18 year old) dancers from the Quitumbe school in Quito, Ecuador from August 30-September 10, 2006. While in their communities, the dancers lived with host families and took part in a wide variety of cultural experiences. In exchange, the dancers performed at a 2-day free multicultural festival, organized by the city of Louisville, called Worldfest and boasted a crowd of more than 60,000. They also gave four performances at the Kentucky center for the arts and four performances at the Ogle Center at IUS for a total of over 4,000 school children. While the children were not performing, they visited several schools in the Louisville area to share their culture, language, and dance of Ecuador with local students. The Quitumbe Andean Ballet touched the lives of many people in the Louisville.

Newport News, VA-Neyagawa, Japan
Newport News (VA)-Neyagawa, Japan partnership collaborated to create an innovative year-long academic project. The fifth grade students spent the year comparing the southeast region of the U.S. with the Osaka Prefecture, sharing their findings through web-based teleconferences. In their respective cities, the students have presented at school board meetings, council meetings, church gatherings, and other meetings as a way of sharing their experiences. With financial backing from a range of local citizens, the school raised almost $54,000 to conclude the project with a delegation of 57 students and citizens traveled to Neyagawa.

Anhui, China-Maryland
The Anhui, China-Maryland sister state relationship was founded in 1980 and was the first official sister state relationship under the formalized Maryland sister states program. The state of Maryland was among the first states to establish a relationship with China when international citizen diplomacy opened its doors. During 2006, the subcommittee on education carried out the three significant programs. First, the subcommittee sought to address the lack of reading and study materials for students, teachers, and residents, by committing to support ten rural libraries. This program not only engaged a wide spectrum of Chinese and American volunteers, but also attracted participation from corporations and high education institutions in Maryland.

Second, they gathered Chinese and American higher education leaders for a discussion in china of universities and colleges in society. They were able to identify innovative and creative ways to collaborate on future projects for students and their institutional communities. a follow up forum is planned for 2008 in Maryland. Finally, they assisted Anhui, one of the more rural and poor provinces in china, by supporting a professional development workshop with more than 900 participants to improve local teaching and school administration in elementary and secondary.

Estes Park, CO-Monteverde, Costa Rica
Estes Park Sister Cities Association (EPSCA) was established in 2004. In early 2005, an agreement was signed by Estes Park and Monteverde, Costa Rica establishing a sister city relationship for exchanges in municipal development, education, healthcare, arts, culture, and environment. EPSCA and Monteverde have active programs in books for schools, guided tours to Monteverde, student and teacher exchanges, environmental technical assistance, exchanges in municipal governance, and sustainable community development. Throughout 2006, EPSCA sponsored a student work program, hosted by Monteverde town officials, business owners, and teachers. EPSCA books for schools program has initiated interest within Monteverde for building a new public library. The most difficult part of the new sister cities program has been to build community awareness and participation. a culminating project to this on-going effort was the creation of a 33-minute film, Monteverde, Sister City. The film has been publicly premiered, shown to service organizations, and is regularly seen on local television. The program has received tangible interest from the community following its initial airing.

Kameoka, Japan-Stillwater, OK
The Stillwater Sister Cities Council engaged in a wide range of programs and projects in 2006. Dubbed the Year of Celebration, the activities celebrate 20 years of cultural and educational exchanges between Stillwater and Kameoka, Japan. The year's activities were designed to increase awareness of the value of sister cities to the community and provide opportunities for participation. Activities during the year included welcoming a delegation led by Mayor Masataka Kuriyama for a formal visit and to sign a reaffirmation agreement; hosting educational delegations traveling to both sister cities; forming an annual scholarship for a Kameoka student to attend Oklahoma state university; building the Kameoka room to display Japanese artifacts; organizing a September concert; and, sponsoring two young artist exhibits and receptions. These and other events involved many citizens from business, education, the arts, academia, local government, and the community resulting in a successful year-long celebration.