It has been a challenging year in several ways from struggling economies and natural disasters to politics in America and abroad. We began 2012 on the head winds of a presidential election as rising tensions in the Middle East resulted in violence and disruptions to the lives of millions of people. Sister Cities continued its efforts to work toward a more peaceful world and held a concert as part of Daniel Pearl World Music Days last month. It was an amazing evening of dance, song, music and words that brought us all together. This year we also paid tribute to the journalists who died doing their job in 2012 and told the story of Malala Yousafzai the young girl from the Swat Valley in Pakistan who was shot by the Taliban for her education activism for all girls and women. Malala may in fact be one of the youngest journalists in modern times since she was not even 12 years old when she was asked by the highly respected British news organization BBC to write about education and conditions in her homeland. She had to hand write her news and pass it along to a reporter that would scan and email her comments to be posted on a BBC blog. Malala survived her injuries and is now recovering in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the UK. We wish her well. If you go to our website you can find more information on the peace concert and even a cookie recipe. If you are interested in journalism and global affairs check out the Taking It Global web site and hear what others are doing. It may inspire you to share your stories and report on items of interest in your part of the world.
I am happy to say not everything was so challenging this year. Wilmington hosted its first sister city symposium this spring and it was a good start. Many individuals dedicated to expanding global learning opportunities and cross-cultural programs participated in several sessions over 3 days of meetings and special events. The result is new connections were made that have already led to some exciting exchanges between Wilmington and partner cities. Teacher candidates from the University of North Carolina in Wilmington completed another field assignment in San Pedro, Belize during that same time period and we were able to learn about their work via skype at the conference. The exciting news is that teachers from San Pedro will have the opportunity to spend time in North Carolina classrooms to continue their professional development; and a short documentary covering the field assignment in San Pedro has completed production and can be viewed online through the Watson School of Education (UNCW) portal.
A delegation from our sister city in Dandong arrived in May and were able to tour our junior college and port in addition to sharing a meal with some local Chinese American community members and elected officials.
Americans went to the polls and re-elected President Obama for a second term, and the People's Republic of China convened its Congress in Beijing this November completing a reorganization to lead the country going forward.
Barbados will be celebrating its independence this Friday. Wilmington sends its congratulations and our wishes for all your citizens to enjoy the festivities!
Smiles,
Marilyn
Sister Cities Association of Wilmington USA
