In this issue
Dated: 25
January
2011
MESA Sister Cities Exchange Students warmly welcomed
Go to the following web link www.mesasistercities.com for news of the 2 exchange students from Upper Hutt currently visiting that American city for a month from the 28th December. They are having a wonderful time and have been hugely supported by Sister City NZ member Libby Gosse and her team from Rimutaka Lions Club.
Sister Cities International, is a global network of communities and individuals committed to bridging cultural misunderstanding through people to people exchanges and programs.
In an open commentary space hosted by Sister Cities International for individuals passionate about foriegn affairs, international development, global engagement, and pursuing world peace, we note that on January 20th this year, America through President Obama and China through Presiden Hu reached an agreement that both sides will take positive steps to further increase people-to-people exchanges.
They will encourage the young people in both countries to go to each other’s countries to pursue further education and to learn more about each other. They have also decided to put in place dialogue and exchange mechanisms between different Chinese and American provinces and states focussing on an expansion of cultural exchanges to develop tourism. There are a number of NZ Sister Cities that are developing or have developed similar exchanges. Upper Hutt has tapped into all the resources available to it, and the model Libby Gosse has used is worth considering.
Has anyone measured the impact of these exchanges? I would like to hear from you (Ed.)
The Role of Young People in building international relations
In his Press statement, President Hu affirmed that "the young people hold the future of this relationship. It is extremely important to increase the exchanges between the young people in our two countries(America and China). Through such exchanges, I hope that our friendship can be furthered. And I also hope that they in the future can serve as ambassadors of goodwill for our two countries, and they can make even more positive contribution to the development of a cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit."
Sister City visits bridge cultural gaps.
Christchurch City Council organised its Sister City trip to Sth Korea in 2005 because of the 10 year sister city relationship with Songpa-Gu.
Adrienne and Ron Tinker went on that trip and noted that It was interesting to see the vast difference in prosperity between the two Korea’s at the DMZ. Travelling to the border in the special UN buses was an experience and looking across the border into North Korea, it was a sad sight of scorched earth with nothing growing. Part of the tour was to attend the bi-annual Baekje Cultural Festival and we were looked after very well by the local Songpa City Council members. It was here that the kapa-haka group performed representing New Zealand. This trip helped to promote understanding and friendship between the sister cities and we were invited to a function when Songpa Councillors were visiting Christchurch.
Adrienne and Ron have continued to support Korean cultural events that are held in Christchurch, They say that "the insight gained from our Sister City trip, and our own homestay experience in Korea, has greatly enhanced our cultural understanding."
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Greetings valued member, welcome to the latest edtion
of the Sister Cities Newsletter - we trust that you will find it both entertaining and informative.
From the National Office
New Year greetings to you all and we look forward to working with you all this year as we move to enhance Sister Cities relationships at all levels. Our strategy day comes up on the 8th February here in Wellington and that will provide us with a real opportunity to review where we are going and what we should be doing to get there.
The theme in this newsletter is "Bridging Cultural Gaps" and I particularly note the message from President Hu of China and President Obama (USA) that they promoted last week.
I'm sure that many of you will have noted the singular honour received by our immediate Past President Peter Tennent. On behalf of you all, we congratulate him on being awarded the Companion of The Queen's Service Order in the New Year's Honours list for his services to local body affairs. In his usual deprecating way Peter assured us that the award was not his, but rather belonged to the people of Taranaki, and I quote from the Taranaki Daily News:
"It took a bit of thinking about whether it was appropriate to accept it or not. It is an absolute honour, but this is not about Pete and Rosemary Tennent, it's about Taranaki and the fantastic things we've achieved in the time we were privileged to be mayor and mayoress." During his tenure, he helped to rejuvenate New Plymouth economically, socially, environmentally and culturally and took that energy wider in his capacity as President of Sister Cities NZ and as a vibrant member of many local body committees here in Wellington.
Does the holiday break seem like a distant memory? It certainly has been a wonderful introduction to the new Year weatherwise for those of us on the west coast - perhaps not quite so good for those of you that have had to withstand torrential rain et al? Don't forget to send your contributions through as the year progresses.
Sister Cities 30 Years on!
Sister CitiesNZ will be 30 years old this year.
How did it all begin?
Kath Crawshaw from Gisborne has kindly found these notes written by her late husband, as he handed over the Presidency of the organisation in 2006. Brian Crawshaw who was one of Gisborne's longest-serving city councillors, and the former Gisborne City Council's last Mayor died in May 2010. He wrote:
"With initial assistance from Air New Zealand in 1980/81 a Mrs. Marie-Louise Bailey was able travel the country speaking to communities and extolling the benefits of the Sister Cities relationships that President Dwight Eisenhower had founded in 1956 to them . It was the PEOPLE TO PEOPLE concept that could bring peace to the world. She also edited a quarterly newsletter that was distributed by Air New Zealand.
He noted that there had been a long line of Mayors committed to sustaining Sister CitiesNZ as a national organisation, beginning with Sir John Kennedy-Good, Mayor of Lower Hutt. As Mayors, each of these people contributed to the organization with their own special strengths, focuses and expertise. Brian noted that under the leadership of Jeremy Dwyer, Sister Cities went ahead in leaps and bounds. "Jeremy was an outstanding President. His ability, enthusiasm and drive plus boundless energy, even in poor health was incredible. Five years ago, the conference “Capitalising On The Gains” was in a way a tribute to his memory and the many others who worked so hard over tthat period."
As we begin this 30th year of activities in 2011, I ask you to focus on the next 5 years. They will be just as critical, and it will be important for Sister Cities NZ to maintain a fine balance between those early and significant goals and the reality that cities and regions have to capitalise on an economic shift world wide.It is already nudging the balance of power, and New Zealand can't escape it. Councils across the country are already looking at ways that they can leverage their relationships for the good of their communities.
Young people are the face of the future - we must continue to support activities that will help grow New Zealand's position in that global environment while at the same time ensure that young people are encouraged to become exposed to new and different cultures, values and philosophies. That is the challenge for Sister Cities NZ.
“Sister CitiesNZ does not have a “position” on the whaling issue
Sister Cities NZ does not have any position as such on Whaling and I don’t know of any Sister City relationship that has an expressed view on behalf of their organisation. Sister Cities is apolitical and while this issue is a matter of personal conscience, I would also be careful of having your Sister City network tagged with a political viewpoint.
Please note excerpts from a letter from Kath Crawshaw to the editor of the Gisborne Herald, re the letter currently circulating from Gareth Hughes around this issue.
"I wish to inform the public that the Gisborne District Sister Cities organization is totally disassociated from the petition to ‘save the whales’ recently gathered by the Green Party MP.
The Sister Cities concept was established after World War 11 with the aim of promoting goodwill and peace and is based on acceptance of others cultural ideals, not negative targeting - Sister Cities is the wrong arena! Sister Cities is totally apolitical.
Our relationship with our 2 Japanese Sister Cities has brought many benefits to our region, Juken Nissho provides many jobs in Gisborne and the student exchanges benefit many of our High School Students. These could be in jeopardy not to mention the annual photo competition with Gamagori. We are naturally concerned about the offence that will be caused to our Japanese Sister Cities
The politician is welcome to do what he wishes in his own right and I am sure many of our members agree with his concerns re whaling however that is separate from Sister Cities. It is upsetting and of concern that Green MP Gareth Hughes has come to Gisborne and those other cities who have Sister Cities relationships with Japan, and is attempting to use these Sister Cities Relationships as the vehicle to further his save the whales campaign without, it would appear, having a basic knowledge and understanding of the concept and aims of the organization."
Wanganui City to assist in Toowoomba flooding
Two possible ideas that have come through from their Sister City relationship are: 1) offering roading, water, wastewater and storm-water engineering staff to assist with the immediate recovery operation, and 2) offering home-stay holidays in Wanganui for Toowoomba families in weeks to come. Any other ideas that they could consider would be warmly received.
Please contact Malcolm Hunt at Wanganui City: malcolm.hunt@wanganui.govt.nz
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