The Tempe Sister City Cowboy Christmas Party will be held on Friday, December 11, 2015 from 6:30 PM to 10:00 PM at Tempe Sister Cities Hackett House in downtown Tempe. Please join us for an incredible night of great food, lively entertainment and fun people! For more information call 480-350-8181. The cost is $30 for members/guests and $35 for non-members.
Trollhättan, Sweden officially becomes Tempe’s 10th Sister City in May 2015. However, there has been a collaboration between Tempe and Trollhättan since we first met in 2008. We have enjoyed and have had successful exchanges of student delegates since 2010, as well as professional delegate exchanges and the very first International Chef to cook at Hackett House was Peter Erikson, Professional Chef and Vice Mayor of Trollhättan, in October 2014.
Where is Trollhättan?
Trollhättan is situated along the Göta River located in southwestern Sweden and is home to approximately 48,000 inhabitants.
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During the two-week multi-city tour headed by Chairman Bill Boerum and President and CEO Mary D. Kane, the delegation met Mayors, municipal leaders, and officials from the U.S. embassy and the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs. The visit focused on strengthening and growing the number of U.S.-India sister city and state partnerships.
In addition to the Chairman and President, the delegation also included SCI Global Envoys Thelma Press and Nancy Huppert and Honorary Board member Kevin Hill.
The delegation also discussed outreach to U.S. cities and establishing new sister city relationships with the Mayor of Jaipur, Hon. Nirmal Nahata. President and CEO Mary D. Kane said, “President Obama’s recent visit to India highlighted the growing strong strategic partnership between our two countries. During my meeting with the U.S. embassy and the Indian Ministry, we discussed the strong economic ties that can occur when cities form sister city partnerships.”
The delegation also visited Goa, Manipal, Nagpur, and Mumbai where they toured local hospitals and universities. A meeting with the All India Institute of Local Self-Government in Nagpur focused on creating strategies to expand U.S.-India subnational ties.
There are currently 21 U.S.-India partnerships in the Sister Cities International network with the most recent pairing being Montgomery County and Hyderabad. Sister Cities International looks forward to growing this network of mutually beneficial partnerships.
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About Sister Cities International
Founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, Sister Cities International serves as the national membership organization for over 525 individual sister cities, counties, and states across the United States with relationships in over 2,000 communities in 140 countries. This sister city network unites tens of thousands of citizen diplomats and volunteers who work tirelessly to promote peace and understanding through programs and projects focusing on arts and culture, youth and education, economic and sustainable development, and humanitarian assistance.
Facebook: Sister Cities International; Twitter: @SisterCitieslnt; Website: www.sistercities.org
MEDIA CONTACT
Megha Swamy
[email protected]
202-347-8637
The Tempe Sister Cities’ Goat & Sheep Fund provides a pair of goats or sheep to a family with the understanding that after the birth of four off-springs, two will be given to another needy family to continue the cycle. Goats and sheep usually produce two to three off-springs a year. The animals provide milk, wool and
eventually meat and leather, as well as fertilizer for small garden plots.
You will receive a Certificate of Appreciation to give to your recipient that will show his/her name, the animal(s) you chose and any name you may wish to give it (them).
Please supply the following information:
world. The classrooms, the technology available to teachers, and the facilities differed greatly from what we have here in Tempe; the students, however, were shockingly similar. As I observed students in Skopje, I found myself frequently thinking that the personalities of my own students, and our classroom dynamic half way around the world was so similar to what I was seeing. The teachers I watched were passionate about their content, and they respected their students. In turn, the students were engaged, and were participating in the learning. It was wonderful to watch.
When I was not observing classrooms, I had an amazing time experiencing life in Skopje, Struga, and Greece. The cities were all gorgeous, and I am missing burek and Macedonian cheese greatly. I cannot wait for Maja to come to Tempe to experience life here. Hopefully, I will be able to show her as wonderful of a time as she showed me.
– Maribeth Sublette, 2014 Educator Exchange, Skopje, Macedonia
Maribeth teaches English, McClintock High School and Brandy teaches English at Corona del Sol High School.
Our Educator Exchange program is dedicated to the development of professional, educational growth and understanding between the educators of Tempe and the educators of Regensburg, Germany, Lower Hutt, New Zealand, and Skopje, Macedonia. Five teachers participated in the summer of 2014: two to Regensburg, two to Skopje and one to Lower Hutt. These are stories shared by one of this year’s educators.
Mr. Woods shared his personal path into the world of politics and city government. He challenged the audience to take a self- inventory of skills, interests, passions, and consider how even at their current age, that each one can be making a difference in their school, their neighborhood, and their community. He invited them to set a goal for the coming year and to begin to make a difference and find a place for “their voice’.
The Councilman responded to questions that broadened the teens’ understanding of current issues in Tempe, different perspectives that are brought forward when working through issues, and the campaign process. Finally, he shared his sincere passion, commitment and enjoyment for the work that he is doing. Incidentally, the students learned that being a city councilman is not his full time job. It is his second full time job!
The evening concluded with the annual election of Youth Group officers. Congratulations to the new officers:
President: TJ L’Heureux
VP: Kristina Nedelkova
Secretary: Aashini Choksi
Finance: Avery Tomasi and Nicole Holly Social: Cole Richwine
Membership: Abby Kennedy and Amberly Ricks Publicity: Rachel Burkholder
Youth group members brought clothing and hygiene products to the meeting. Together with donations from the Tempe Sister Cities Governing Board members, the donations were delivered to the Tempe Union High School Resource Center for teenagers in need. Thank you to those of you who contributed to this clothing and hygiene products drive. In addition, the philanthropy focus for the month of September is on contributing to senior citizens. A small group will be reading poetry to seniors at Almcroft Senior Center and playing Bingo with a group of seniors at Westchester Center. Watch for more youth group news in every issue of the Sister Cities Newsletter – We are making a world of difference, right here in Tempe!
One humid morning in France I woke up at 5 am to be driven to the top of Eze Village
to carpool for 3 hours to Port-Cros, an island in the Mediterranean, where Amanda, TJ, Avery, our French siblings and I boarded a boat to get to the island where we would spend the day snorkeling in the gorgeous cerulean water. It was a day I will never forget – the water was freezing, despite the warm air and summer heat, and swarms of purple jellyfish abounded. But we dove into the icy water and saw mountains of seaweed and tons of fish that were so used to humans they would swim right up to you.
Then after our first snorkeling point, we hiked through the trees on the island to the other side, the heat and sun beating down on our sweat-glistening backs, where we came to an even clearer lagoon. We all swam a little ways out to a boat dock and laid out in the afternoon sun before heading back to the boat and driving the long road back to Eze. It was a long and amazing day of sun and swim.
I’ve made life-long friends through this amazing life- changing experience. Thank you, Tempe Sister Cities!
– Maxine de la Houssaye, 2014 Student Delegate to Beaulieu sur Mer
Our annual event honors individuals who have made a substantial difference in people’s lives around the globe through their humanitarian efforts. Three outstanding humanitarians will be honored at the “Making a World of Difference” gala planned at Tempe Center for the Arts on October 9, 2014. This is Tempe Sister Cities’ way of thanking and honoring humanitarians who bring hope and comfort to deserving people worldwide. Everyone is invited!
C. Mead Welles… was traveling in Indonesia when he looked out a window and saw three underfed and exhausted boys. Two were pulling the third boy on a garbage can lid. This boy’s leg was deformed, raw and bleeding, and he could not stand . His knuckles, also bleeding, showed that he had also been pulling himself around. This sad incident propelled Mead to found “A Leg to Stand On” (ALTSO), an organization that provides free prosthetic limbs, orthopedic devices, mobility aids, surgery and care to children in the developing world who have lost limbs or suffer from congenital disabilities. Since 2002 ALTSO has transformed the lives of some 12,000 children in parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America.
Maria Keller… was a little girl who loved to read. When she was eight years old she learned that some children in the world did not have books to read. She vowed she would collect one million books in the next 10 years and distribute them to children in need. She has already collected more than one million books and distributed them to hospitals, shelters and orphanages in America and several countries…and she just turned 14! She is traveling from Minnesota to attend the event and has been invited by Changing Hands bookstore to address children in several schools and to be a keynote speaker at a teacher appreciation event. As we go to press a book drive for children’s books…to be distributed locally…is in the planning stages.
Dr. Mark Henderson…is Associate Dean of the Barrett Honors College and Professor of Engineering at Arizona State University. He is co-founder of several global design initiatives including GlobalResolve, a program that provides design and entrepreneurship opportunities to students by involving them in worldwide technological projects that directly improve the lives of underprivileged people in developing countries, especially in the areas of energy, clean water, and agriculture. In the past year, GlobalResolve has involved over 200 students doing 40 projects in 9 countries including Ghana, Peru, Mexico and Arizona.
Several of Dr. Henderson’s students will showcase their projects making an impact globally. Henderson works closely with the Clinton Global Initiative, and student change agents in Changemaker Central — ASU’s initiative to empower student innovation and activism to solve national and global challenges.
For example: a GlobalResolve student team originated a project to support and educate subsistence farmers in Pumamarca, a small village near Cusco, Peru, (our sister city) about the use of biochar to radically increase crop yields. From this, GAIA, International was born, and its founder, Kathleen Stefanik, participated in this spring’s Clinton Global Initiative University conference and is continuing a partnership with Chelsea Clinton’s organization. Stephen Annor-Wiafe, a MasterCard Scholar from Ghana, has started a venture in his home region to improve palm oil production and increase the market share for small farmers. And Michelle Marco, a change agent from Changemaker Central and president of the GlobalResolve Club, began a continuing project that included a group trip over spring break to build a greenhouse and improve living conditions in an orphanage in Peru.
One of Tempe’s nine sister cities is Regensburg, Germany, at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers in Bavaria. And one of the prides of Regensburg—along with having Tempe, Ariz., for a sister city—is the Regensburger Domspatzen, the boys choir of Regensburg Cathedral.
Tempe Sister Cities is hosting The Regensburger Domspatzen (Regensburg Cathedral Choir). The world-famous boys choir plays a very important role in the cultural life of Regensburg. They have been called the “Singing Ambassadors of the city”. The Domspatzen will be performing Wednesday, April 23, 2014 at the Tempe Center for the Arts.
