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1st Annual Festival of Nations a Success
Many joined us to meet Durham's international community, with booths representing many international groups, including China, Costa Rica, England, Greece, Guatemala, Japan, Liberia, Mexico, Mongolia, Romania, Russia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Zimbabwe
Performing Groups Were:
Magic of African Rhythm; Crescent Chinese Music Studio; Mindful Bodies; Triangle Japanese Music Club; Chinese Drums & Dragon Dance;
Cane Creek Cloggers
Durham City Council has approved the applications of Celaya, Mexico, and Sibiu, Romania. The final step is for the official signing ceremony.
Watch for details about the signing ceremonies, as they are open to the public.
An official Delegation of 4 members of Sister Cities of Durham will be joined by the Cane Creek Cloggers to represent the Durham area and the state of North Carolina in Kavala, July 18 - 21, 2019.
The Cloggers will be perform with 7 other national ethnic groups, and our Official Delegation will be the hosts for our Booth, sharing information, handicrafts, souvenirs, etc. that represent the Durham area and North Carolina. Our groups will be guests of the Mayor' office, the Cosmopolis International Dance Festival, and the Kavala Tobacco Museum.
The mission of Sister Cities is to promote Peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation world wide -- One Individual, One Community at a time.
The Mayors of the respective cities meet and sign the agreements.
Durham is part of Sister Cities International with over 500 US Cities and over 2,000 International Cities in 150 countries!
Interested in joining one of our City Committees? Contact us at: [email protected]
Our Sister Cities are famous for Mountains and Waterways. They are linked with famous mountains such as Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru, in Tanzania, the Wulingyuan Unesco World Heritage Site near Zhuzhou, the Japanese Southern Alps near Toyama, and with famous waterways such as the Volga River for Kostroma, the North Sea for Durham, England, and the Aegean Sea for Kavala.
Sister Cities International recently celebrated their 60th Anniversary, based on President Eisenhower's goal of "Citizen Diplomacy" with "people to people contacts" around the world at his White House Summit in 1956. Durham started its Sister Cities journey in 1975 with a signing with Durham, England. This was formalized by associating with Sister Cities International in 1989 with Durham, England, Toyama, Japan and Kostroma, Russia.
In 1991 we added Arusha, Tanzania, In 2012 we added Zhuzhou, China, Kavala, Greece in 2017, and Sibiu, Romania and Celaya in 2018.
We also have two Friendship Cities in China --Kunshan, near Shanghai and Xianning in Hubei Province.
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At our Annual Meeting & Awards Ceremony, Oct. 26
We presented the 5th Annual Sister Cities/Mayor's Awards for
"Promoting International Understanding":
Individual: Aaron Copeland, Duke Performances
Individual: Dionne Jiminez, Githens Middle School
Organization: The Bouncing Bulldogs
Previous Recipients, 2014 - 2017:
INDIVIDUALS:
Kathie Davidson, Bill Ingram, Star Sampson, Wendell Tabb,
Lenora Helm Hammonds, Susan Urakami of Toyama, Japan, Shuangyan Duan of Zhuzhou, China,Tatiana Podvetelnikova of Kostroma, Russia, Mayor Bill Bell
ORGANIZATIONS:
Latino Community Credit Union, Durham Children's Choir,
Durham Bulls, Sister Communities of San Ramon, Nicaragua.
Rotary Clubs of Durham, The Rotary Club of Durham, England,
American Dance Festival
Dorothy Borden Annual Volunteer Award is presented to SCD members:
2018: Margaret Harrison, Margaret Neely
July 27 - Aug 7, 2018 was an exciting time for Durham students from 5 area high schools who welcomed 18 students from Russia and England for two weeks of cultural understanding by sharing dances, music, stories, the Durham Bulls, Durham parks, and 6 days at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly.
Kostroma, Russia Delegate Marina Serebryakova, Chief Specialist of the Tourism Department of Kostroma, presents a letter of greetings from the Mayor of Kostroma to Durham Mayor Bill Bell.
Some of our programs:
-- Educational Exchanges with Schools in Toyama, Kostroma, and Zhuzhou.
-- School Projects with Art, Photography, and Water Projects.
-- Librarian Exchanges with Kostroma
-- Photo/Art Exchanges -Kostroma, Durham UK
-- Programs with Duke Gardens
-- Kavala programs with Duke Homestead
-- Maternity Clinic and Orphans' Uniforms Projects in Arusha
-- Medical Exchanges with Toyama
-- Toyama-Sister Cities Japanese Pavilion at Duke Gardens
-- Partnering with Durham Library, Durham Tech Community College, Duke Gardens, Duke Homestead Tobacco Museum
The Kostroma, Russia Delegation visited the Sister Cities display at City Hall.
Board of Directors, 2018 - 2019
President: Bob Ashley
Vice Pres: Vita Jones
Secretary: Richard Jaworski
Treasurer: Mark Goodwillie
At Large Members:
Eddie Davis Ann Evans
Rich Jaworski Sue Mathias Guillermo Solares Dick White
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Executive Director: Brady Surles
Chairs of our City Committees:
Arusha: Ronda Pierce, Gwenn Bookman
Durham, UK: Nancy Proia
Kostroma:
Toyama Chris Boyer
Zhuzhou: Mark Goodwillie, Lusia Li
Kavala: Betty Tilley Seddon, Randy Griffin
Become a Member
And consider volunteering for our general activities or to serve on one of our City Committees.
Annual Membership Dues are:
Individual $20
Family $35
Youth $10
Organizations $150
(Businesses, Educational Institutions)
Life Time $300
We appreciate your support!
The Annual Sister Cities & Mayor's Awards for "Promoting International Understanding" were presented at the Annual Meeting, at City Hall.
Durham Mayor Bill Bell (second from left), City Councilman Don Moffitt (far left), and Sister Cities Board member B. C. Dash (far right) presented the awards to representatives of these Rotary Clubs:
-- Rotary Club of Durham
-- North Durham Rotary Club
-- Southwest Durham Rotary Club
-- Sunrise Rotary Club of Durham
-- Rotary Club of Durham, England
The Mayor's Award was also presented to:
-- Star Sampson, Principal, Holt Elementary Language Academy
-- Durham Children's Choir
We appreciate the support of these Organizations:
City of Durham
CoCo Jazz and Arts Center
Durham Technical and Community College -Center for the Global Learner
Duke Office of Regional and Durham Affairs
Duke Homestead and Tobacco Museum
Rotary Club of Durham
Triangle Community Foundation www.trianglecf.org
Contact us at --[email protected] Interested in Volunteering? -- Web master
-- Newsletter Editor-- Being a Host Family***************************
We invite you to make a
tax-deductible Donation using the Donation button to support our programs.
We are a 501(c) 3 non-profit.Or mail a check to:
Sister Cities of Durham
PO Box 767; Durham, NC, 27702You can also pay the Annual Dues with the Donation Button
Coming Events
*February 23 - March 12: Toyama College of Foreign Languages: 6th Annual Visit*3:00 Sat, Apr 6: Southwest Library -- Hear about our recent visit to China.
Travel to our Sister Cities:
Interested in going to Kavala, Greece in 2019?
or Kostroma, Russia?
Let us know.Students:-- Consider Traveling to one of our Sister Cities
Want to be a Host Family?
Students and Adults enjoy
coming to Durham for the Cultural Experience of living with a Durham family
Videos of Sister Cities' Library Programs:
-- available on the web site of the Library.
www.durhamcountylibrary.org(Click Events- Humanities Programs -videos.)
tax-deductible Donation using the Donation button to support our programs.
We are a 501(c) 3 non-profit.
Sister Cities of Durham
PO Box 767; Durham, NC, 27702
Interested in going to Kavala, Greece in 2019?
or Kostroma, Russia?
Let us know.
Students and Adults enjoy
coming to Durham for the Cultural Experience of living with a Durham family
-- available on the web site of the Library.
www.durhamcountylibrary.org
Students from Toyama College of Foreign Languages visit with 4th graders at Central Park School for Children.
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The Arusha City Committee supports orphans for school uniforms and supplies. The students are from elementary school through college.
Related Sites
www.sister-cities.org
