Establishing sister city cooperation between your city and a Pakistani one is a way to not only encourage cultural and educational exchanges between citizens of the two cities, but it's also an excellent method of getting Pakistani-Americans to do something concrete for Pakistan.

When a community of any size decides to join with a community in another country for an educational and cooperative relationship, they become "sister cities."

For example, New Haven, Connecticut is a sister-city to Leon, Nicaragua. The two cities have not only benefited from this relationship by learning about each other's cultures, but also through programs that have helped those in need.

One instance is their bicycle program. Teachers in Leon, who earn $60 per month, need an inexpensive way to cover the long distances to rural schools. Since there is no other affordable means of getting to the villages, most of them have to walk. Public transportation, when it is available, means a teacher has to spend about one-third of his or her monthly salary. Bikes are the cheapest way to get the teachers to work so that they can educate Leon's next generation.

The Sister City Project collects bikes in New Haven and ships them to León. The staff of the sister city project in León matches bicycles with the teachers who need them, along with bike maintenance instructions.

This is a very good example of the kind of concrete results that can be achieved through sister city cooperation.

Communities can become sister cities in different ways, one of which is if a group or individual in a community takes the lead and organizes a sister city committee, then requests that their elected leaders form an official partnership.

In the United States, the organization Sister Cities International (SCI) is the official organization that links jurisdictions from the U.S. with communities worldwide. It is through this organization that you can establish the sister-city relationship.

There is a lot of work involved in establishing this relationship, so you cannot work on this project alone. It requires the establishment of a sister city committee in your city that has representation from major players such as representatives of the city's mayor. And this is only the first step.

In addition, you'll have to get the SCI's Membership Application Packet or visit their website's membership section to fill out the online application and join as a dues-paying member.

But don't be daunted by this. If you play by the rules and share the work with others, you will be able to establish this very beneficial relationship.

A sister city, county or state relationship becomes official with the signing of a formal agreement by the top elected officials of the two local jurisdictions, usually during a ceremony in one of the communities, following approval by the local city councils (county commissions or state legislatures).

You should gain encouragement by this piece of information: there is already at least one city in America trying to establish a sister city relationship in Pakistan. That's Riverside, California, whose residents are aiming to become a "sister" to Faisalabad, Pakistan in May 2001. All it took was a few individuals in the Pakistani-American community in Riverside to push for this and, their hard work is paying off. (You can read about their efforts at http://www.pakistanlink.com/community/2001/May/04/04.html).

For all of the information you need to establish a sister city relationship, please go to http://www.sister-cities.org/

Date/Time Last Modified: 6/17/2002 3:48:55 PM

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