By Carolyn Gantner
Sister City Collaboration Committee
According to Mayor Paul Soglin, “Our Sister City partnerships help us establish friendships around the world. With those friendships, we foster relationships and cultural understanding between our city and country and others. During these tumultuous times in our nation and world, this is a wonderful way to express our support for our friends in other countries.”
To showcase these international partnerships, the community is invited to Celebrate Madison’s Sister Cities Saturday, April 14, from 5‒8 pm at Madison College (Truax campus). The evening will include a keynote address, “Creating International Friendships at the Grass Roots Level,” by former Gov. Jim Doyle and Jessica Doyle; welcoming remarks by Mayor Soglin; entertainment by Madison Youth Choirs; informational and photo displays; and a delicious buffet dinner. Representatives from the sister cities have been invited to attend.
The citizens of Madison have been creating international friendships with communities around the world for over 30 years. The Madison Common Council approved our first sister city relationship in 1986 with Arcatao, El Salvador. Since then many more have been formed, including Freiburg, Germany; Vilnius, Lithuania; Camaguey, Cuba; Ainaro, East Timor; Mantova, Italy; Obihiro, Japan; Tepatitlan, Mexico; and our newest sister city of Kanifing, The Gambia, in 2016.
To maintain and coordinate these programs, the common council approved the creation of the Sister City Collaboration Committee (SCCC) in 2008. The SCCC is comprised of a representative from each of the nine sister cities, an at-large community member and an alderperson. Visit cityofmadison.com/sister-cities for more information.
The sister city programs are active in a variety of areas that include human and civil rights, environmental advocacy, cultural and student exchanges, and humanitarian aid, to name a few; and mutual visits have occurred over the years. The value these exchanges represent and the significance of celebrating our differences as well as our shared humanity will be recognized at the April 14 event.
Tickets for Celebrate Madison’s Sister Cities cost $40 and are available at Brown Paper Tickets (https://sccc.brownpapertickets.com/). For additional information, contact Alder Samba Baldeh at district17cityofmadison.com, 501-1424, or Carolyn Gantner at carolyn@merr.com, 244-2909.
