nPosted on July 13, 2017
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nDid you know that more than 2,000 cities, states, and counties are partnered with cities / etc. in 136 countries around the world? They are called Sister Cities, and the nonprofit group Sister Cities International tries to create and strengthen this program.
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nThis kind of citizen diplomacy program seeks to build global understanding, cooperation, and peace. It’s one of the great ideas that came out of the horrific World Wars.
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nWaaay back in 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed people-to-people citizen diplomacy efforts. One of the things that came out of that was People to People, which started out as a nonprofit student ambassador program. Other student and youth exchanges and travel programs fit into this category as well.
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nIn addition to youth and education programs, Sister Cities concentrates on art and cultural exchange, humanitarian assistance, and economic development. Here are just a few programs:
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Tokyo, Japan, and Washington, D.C., are sister cities. In Washington the National Cherry Blossom Festival honors the city’s ties to Japan and Tokyo.
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Tokyo, Japan, and Washington, D.C., are sister cities. In Washington the National Cherry Blossom Festival honors the city’s ties to Japan and Tokyo.n
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Safe Drinking Water Initiative – cities whose sister cities are in Ethiopia and Nigeria (two of the African countries facing killer droughts) set a goal of distributing hundreds of thousands of water purification packets capable of purifying millions of liters of water.
Safe Drinking Water Initiative – cities whose sister cities are in Ethiopia and Nigeria (two of the African countries facing killer droughts) set a goal of distributing hundreds of thousands of water purification packets capable of purifying millions of liters of water.n
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nKids in Sister Schools exchange videos and webcasts and sometimes run join fund-raising campaigns or start leadership-building projects.
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nI wanted to find out if Los Angeles, California, a big city near me, had any sister cities. And….Gee-willikers! LA has 25 sister cities!!! Everywhere from Athens, Greece, to Auckland, New Zealand, from Jakarta, Indonesia, to Tehran, Iran, and from Vancouver, Canada, to Salvador, Brazil!
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nMy own smaller city of Chino has none that I can find! But loads of smaller cities in California do have sister cities – including nearby Covina (Xalapa, Mexico), Ontario (two cities in Mexico, one in Canada, and one in New Zealand!), and Walnut (Calamba City, Philippines, and Shilin, Taiwan).
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nDoes your town, or nearby towns, have one or more sister cities?
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nAlso on this date:
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nGruntled Workers Day
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nFrench Fries Day
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nStatehood Day in Montenegro
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nObon, or Day of the Souls, in Japan
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nRubik’s Cube inventor Erno Rubik’s birthday
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Plan ahead:
Plan ahead:
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nCheck out my Pinterest boards for:
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nJuly holidays
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nJuly birthdays
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nHistorical anniversaries in July
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nAnd here are my Pinterest boards for:
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nAugust holidays
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nAugust birthdays
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nHistorical anniversaries in August
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