April 28, 2011  

Dear Friends of Sister Cities of Durham (SCD),

This year we celebrate our 25th Anniversary! To keep us going, it's time to join or renew your annual membership for our program year of July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012.

Japan Relief

Recently Japan’s tragedies have shocked the world and reminded us of the importance of pre-established and ongoing international friendships. Just before the Japanese tsunami crisis, Toyama families lost 12 of their college-age children in the Christchurch, New Zealand earthquake.

The Toyama Committee immediately raised funds to help those families in Toyama. For information about this and other Japan relief, please see our website: www.sistercities-durham.org. 

Commitments to Arusha

Every year we fulfill a commitment to 20 AIDS orphans in Arusha, Tanzania: we provide their school uniform for a year! The government requires an official uniform to attend school, so this project is critical to each orphan’s education. Anyone can donate. 

Through Sister Cities International and our Arusha Committee, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is funding a $115,000 grant for a sanitation engineering project in Arusha. You are still welcomed to get involved.

We are so proud of the ongoing efforts of: 

·       Mr. Donald Long, the Director of Durham City Solid Waste Management; 

·       The Friends of Arusha Committee (made of Arusha’s citizens); 

·       The HALO project (hunger relief); 

·       The LINKS, Inc. (the Triangle Park chapter) (the volunteer service organization which has supported us over many years);

·       and Duke University— especially the Literacy Through Photography program at The Duke Center for Documentary Studies, and the Duke Engage program. 

In addition, Sajdah A. Wakil (daughter of an Arusha Committee Co-Chair) founded the HALO project, traveled with Mayor Bell, NCCU, and SCD members to Arusha, and last year wrote the Durham News article, They Call It Obama Rice.  

We applaud all the members, associates, and activities of the Arusha Committee!  

To celebrate Arusha’s 20^th anniversary and SCD’s 25^th anniversary, we are selling special Durham Bulls tickets / SCD fundraising vouchers for this baseball season. Fifty percent of the proceeds will be given to us on “SCD Night”, which is July 7, 2011 at the Durham Bulls game (7– 9:30 p.m.). Please join us at that game on July 7!   

More to Explore!

Each of our Committees maintains unique exchange programs that include all ages. You can participate with the Durham UK Committee’s international choir concerts, or their modern ‘pen pal’ programs in schools—using Skype and other technology.

The Kostroma, Russia Committee hosts exchanges for high school students, librarians, and others. Also, this committee is assisting Durham Rotary International Club to establish a Rotary club in Kostroma. 

Kudos in the Media!

According to the Independent Weekly (March 16, 2011): “For the most sublime tea experience in the Triangle, visit the Durham-Toyama Sister Cities Pavilion at Duke Gardens. Here you’ll find as authentic a Japanese tea as possible this side of the Pacific…”  

RDU Airport Art

Thanks to your support, in February the Triangle Area Sister Cities (TASC) unveiled a captivating, colorful 45-foot mural at the RDU International Terminal! This achievement was the culmination of years of effort by our SCD Director Ms. Ronnie Lily and TASC.  

Through a video on our website, you can see the artist (Ms. Jane Filer) give a tour of the “Friendly Folks” mural. The mural puts the Triangle ‘on the map’ as a vibrant destination, and invites new members, new ideas, and new connections.  

Sincerely,

Dr. Richard Hill

President of Sister Cities of Durham