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Sister Cities International: Building Vibrant Youth Programs
by Ami Neiberger-Miller
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It all started with a phone call asking his family to host an international student visiting Jacksonville from its “sister city” of Bahia Blanco, Argentina. After a week of watching his children bond with a stranger from another culture, Steve Manis was hooked on sister-city youth programs – for good.
Today, Manis heads up the growing and vibrant Jacksonville Sister City Association, which offers youth programs as part of its six sister-city relationships and participates in the Sister Cities Young Artists Program. His son visited Bahia Blanco as a student, where he enjoyed the community’s hospitality and openness. Instead of practicing his Spanish, the high school senior found that Argentinean students wanted to practice their English on him.
It’s just a tiny example of how relating to each other at the citizen level can benefit international relationship-building, say organizers.
“Young people participating in exchanges often find that they develop academically through understanding another language and culture,” says Elisa O’Keefe, director of the Sister Cities Youth and Education Network. “But they also develop assets like self-reliance and confidence. They become more aware of how their own perspective colors their world view.”
Building understanding between cultures is an important component of sister-city youth programs. “There’s no question it helps people understand each other better,” says Cliff Newton, who’s been involved in Jacksonville’s exchange program with Nantes, France, for four years. “When the French kids come to visit, they discover that the Americans are not nearly as bad as they are portrayed in the French press.”
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Young people can also open doors to understanding another culture through art, music and dance. Sarasota hosted the Sabre dancers in 2004, bringing 16 teens from their sister city of Tel Mond, Israel. The teens performed at the Sarasota debut of a nationally touring art exhibition called “Co-Existence.” They also performed for area youth organizations, schools and community groups.
“Everything American is wonderful to them,” says Alice Cotman, who coordinates the Tel Mond-Sarasota sister-city relationship. “It’s important to get people talking and seeing how we’re not so different at all.”
Envisioning a Peaceful World
To help communities explore and celebrate those connections, Sister Cities International has sponsored the Young Artists program since 1988. The competition encourages artists from around the world to interpret Sister Cities International’s mission of creating a world that promotes peace, respect and mutual understanding.
The competition allows youths to find a creative outlet for a global concept. “Creating art can be an empowering experience for youth,” says Tim Honey, executive director of Sister Cities International, the Washington, D.C.-based headquarters of the growing sister-city movement.
The international office accepts submissions from member communities around the globe. Many U.S. communities invite their international partner to send artwork and to use the contest to highlight youth artwork from their sister city.
This year’s theme is “Connecting Global Villages,” and organizers already are gearing up for a banner year.
“Many sister-city programs use the Young Artists Competition to stimulate global awareness and cultural diversity programs at local schools,” says Erica Smith of Sister Cities International, which oversees the program. “It’s also very enlightening, I think, for our U.S. members to see how their sister-city partners think about world peace. It makes you think about how other cultures envision peace and what that means.”
“Visualizing a peaceful world at an early age helps young people realize that they have a stake in the future and can have a global impact,” adds Honey.
Judges in the Young Artists Competition selected 10 winners from the immense numbers of submissions. Entrants are between the ages of 13 to 18 and represented 19 countries last year.
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Benefiting Communities
Government officials benefit from having citizens who are globally engaged, says Nancy Olson, the senior manager of international relations for the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission. It’s important to have “constituents who are appreciative and aware of the value of creating global friendships,” she adds.
After an exchange program has begun, “that fear of the unknown is less prevalent and we understand other cultures,” says Manis, of the Jacksonville Sister Cities Association, who notes that economic development often occurs as part of a sister-city relationship.
Economic development can be a welcome benefit of a sister-city youth program. “We will often see a sister-city organization begin with a youth program and grow into other areas, such as economic development, art and culture, humanitarian assistance and sustainable development,” says Honey.
Many communities find themselves transformed not only by hosting a group of young people, but also by sending their children abroad.
“In my own family, my teenage son went to Mexico on a sister-city trip to install a water pipeline,” says Honey. “The sister-city program helped my son learn self-responsibility, how communities solve complex problems, and how to appreciate other cultures.”
There’s evidence that participation in exchange programs also can make citizens more aware of international affairs and more tolerant. An evaluation by the U.S. Department of State of an exchange program sponsored by the American Council of Young Political Leaders found that 89 percent of participants gained a greater understanding of international issues. Greater tolerance of other viewpoints and operations was cited by 81 percent of the program’s alumni.
Youth exchange programs also build long-lasting ties. High-school and college-age students traveling to Germany through the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program told researchers that many of them remained in touch with their host families and followed international issues, even 15 years after their initial exchange experience. Thirty-eight percent of the participants had business or professional contact with Germany, 71 percent kept abreast of issues related to their host country, and 60 percent still corresponded with host families.
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Networking Power
Sister Cities International launched a Youth & Education Network in 2004, patterned after its successful Network for Sustainable Development. The move was in response to grass-roots-level interest in youth programs that help communities be internationally engaged.
“The role of youth in the sister-city movement has never been more important,” says Honey. “Our Board of Directors has identified youth programs and youth involvement as one of our highest priorities.” Honey states that the network already has attracted significant interest, with the College of Humanities and Sciences pledging $50,000 over three years to help.
Although many of the network members are involved in international student exchange programs and the Young Artists Competition, they also are seeking new ways to grow their programs. “We’re seeing increased interest in virtual pen pal exchanges and cultural diversity education programs,” says O’Keefe, the Sister Cities Youth and Education Network director.
“Thanks to technology today, some groundbreaking programs are changing the way we think about student exchange and youth programming. It’s a very exciting time to be part of the sister-city movement.”
The growing network already has 26 members, representing 111 sister-city youth programs working in 43 countries. In Florida, Delray Beach and Miami Beach are members. “Network members benefit from special mini-grant opportunities, and have the opportunity to dialogue and learn from other sister-city programs with common interests,” says O’Keefe.
Sister-city organizations with an interest in youth programs often find the movement’s annual conference to be a valuable networking tool. In recent years, youth issues have risen to the forefront on the conference schedule, with a youth leadership conference running concurrently. More than 200 youths from around the globe attended last year’s event in Fort Worth, Texas.
This year’s Youth Leadership Conference will be held July 27-31, 2005, as part of the 2005 Sister Cities International annual conference in Spokane, Wash. Attendees will learn leadership skills and cross-cultural communication strategies. They also will attend peace-building workshops and interact with U.S. and international peers.
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Building Peace
Motives for participating in exchange programs vary, but many embrace the global ramifications of their exchange activities. “I want for youth to know about each other’s countries and make good strong relationships,” says Shungkwon Kim, the coordinator for Jacksonville’s exchange program with Masan, South Korea.
The program brings a dozen students annually to visit sunny Florida and explore American culture. Kim says that teaching youths through the sister-city program has a profound impact not just on young people individually, but on all of us.
“I believe show-and-tell education is the only way we can have global understanding and world peace,” Kim states.
Ami Neiberger-Miller (amiller@sister-cities.org) is the communications director for Sister Cities International. For more information about the Sister Cities Youth & Education Network, visit www.sister-cities.org.
Five Ways To Better Involve Youth in Your Sister-City Program
1. Listen to Youths. Really talk to young people, not just at them. Engage in dialogue with them and invite them to be part of “adult” conversations. Ask for feedback from exchange students traveling outbound from your community. Find out what they value about their experiences and record their stories.
2. Involve Youths In Your Sister-City Organization. Make sure young people receive your program newsletter. Photos in your newsletter showing youth engagement and articles by young people help them feel connected. Communicate in ways young people today understand – use e-mail, the Web and technology to keep in touch with youth.
3. Plan Youth Programs and Define Youth Roles. Define roles and responsibilities for youths within your sister-city organization. Be conscious of youth schedules and transportation issues when setting committee meeting times. Try to include youths in sister-city activities year-round, not just at certain times of year.
4. Involve Youths in Governance and Decision-Making. Form a youth committee that looks holistically at your sister-city youth programs. Think about how the Young Artists Program can build connections with local schools and businesses. Invite youths to join other sister-city committees. As age-appropriate, expect youths to take on the regular roles and responsibilities of other committee members, and communicate your expectations up front.
5. Affirm Your Commitment to Youth Adult Partnership. Conduct a youth-adult partnership training to help young people and adults understand how to relate to each other. Substitute terms such as “teens,” “students,” “young people” or “youth” to replace the word “kids,” and you will send a message to youths that they are welcome.
Excerpted from “Five Ways to Better Involve Youth in Your Sister City Program.” To obtain a copy of this publication, go online to www.sister-cities.org. Click on “Programs,” then on “Youth and Education.”
Reprinted from Quality Cities March/April 2005
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