Sister city monthly new-july 2015 Japan



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SISTER CITY MONTHLY NEW-JULY 2015

Japan

-A busy month for Japan! The Birmingham Quilters guild featured quilts form Hitachi at their show this month.

-Below is the schedule for our group form Kita high school in Hitachi. They will be here for two weeks as part of an English camp! Congrats to Bettina and Samuel Brinkerhoff for all their work on preparing ths.

-Also below is a schedule for two business development executives form Hitachi City who will be here to learn and make business connections!

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9:30-12:00

or

11:00-12:00



Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church (Youth group and could eat with them).

or

First Congressional Church 11:00-12:00









Driver: Samuel Brinkerhoff and other TBA

12:30-2:00

Cater/cook/eat out







2:30-4:30

Civil Rights Museum







5:00-6:00

food







6:30-????

Shopping with Narashino High School students Tokyo/Homewood Walkmart







8:30-10:45

- Birmingham Botanical Gardens

2612 Lane Park Rd









Driver Samuel Brinkerhoff and other TBA

11:00-11:30

Wandering around Crestline Village







11:30-1:00

Food/Cater/Eat Out







1:30-5:30

Class







Teacher: Samuel Brinkerhoff

5:45-7:00

Eat







Driver: Samuel Brinkerhoff and other TBA

7:30-????

Game night with High Schoolers and College Students, even homestay







9:30

or

8:30



Leave Blazerhall







Driver: Samuel Brinkerhoff and other TBA

10:00-4:00

or

10:00-11:30



Splash Adventure Water Park

Bessemer, AL

Or

Alabama Constitutional Village



109 Gates Ave SE, Huntsville, AL 35801








11:45-1:00

Eat out/Cater/cook







1:15-5:00

U.S. Space and Rocket Center

One Tranquility Base, Huntsville, AL 35805









6:45-???

Eat







8:00-12:30

Class







Teacher: Samuel Brinkerhoff

12:45-2:00

Lunch, Cook, Eat Out







Driver: Samuel Brinkerhoff and other TBA

2:15-4:15

Vulcan Park and museum







4:15-5:30

Snack/railroad Park







5:45-???

Zumba in the park







7:00 PM

Birmingham Barons Game







8:30-12:00

Class







Teacher: Samuel Brinkerhoff

12:15

Arlington Antebellum Home and Gardens







Driver Samuel Brinkerhoff and other TBA

2:45-3:30

Sojourns: A fair trade store







3:45-4:30

What is on Second







5:00-6:45

Eat







7:00-8:00

Laser Tagging







8:30-12:30

Class







Teacher: Samuel Brinkerhoff

12:45-1:30

Eat/Cater/Cook







Driver Samuel Brinkerhoff and other TBA

1:30-3:30

Grocery Shopping/neighborhood walmart/ (Possibly Tokyo store)







3:30-5:30

Party Preparations










5:30-???

Dinner for Homestay hosts

Trinity commons Episcipal Student Center












Homestays with families of TBA (Possibilities Melissa Glass, Melissa Paul)

No drivers are needed

9:00

Homestay hosts drop Students off at Blazer Hall










9:30-12:30

Ruffner Mountain







Driver: Samuel Brinkerhoff and other TBA

12:30-1:30

Lunch/cater/eat







2:00-5:30

Class







Teacher: Samuel Brinkerhoff

5:30-6:45

Eat







Driver: Samuel Brinkerhoff and other TBA

6:45-???

Oak Hill Cemetery or Karaoke at UAB







8:30-5:00

Tour of Montevallo University

American Village in Montevallo



Eat at The Tavern







Teacher: Samuel Brinkerhoff







Driver: Samuel Brinkerhoff and other TBA













7:00-???

Movie Night at UAB










8:00-12:30

class







Teacher Samuel Brinkerhoff

12:30-2:00

Eat/Cater/Cook-out







Driver: Samuel Brinkerhoff and other TBA

2:30-4:30

Outlet Shops of Grand River







4:45-6:30

Riverchase Galleria







6:45-???

Tip-top Grill







8:30-12:30

Class







Teacher: Samuel Brinkerhoff

12:30-2:30

Eat/Cater/Cook







Driver Samuel Brinkerhoff and other TBA

2:30-5:30

Birmingham museum of art







5:30-????

eat







6:45-???

Seki-Sui







TBA

Leave for Japan







Driver: Samuel Brinkerhoff and other TBA

JULY 7-10, 2015 VISIT

Hitachi Regional Technical Support Center (Foundation of public interests)

GUESTS

Kenichi Fujiwara

K. Murakami

Springhill Suites Birmingham Downtown At UAB

2024 4TH AVENUE SOUTH BIRMINGHAM 35233


TRANSLATOR

Nicholas Armand

1640 11th Place South, Birmingham AL, 35205

334-201-3895 and my e-mail is daichi93@yahoo.com

CONTACT INFO

Scotty Colson 205-542-8475 rscolso@ci.birmingham.al.us

  1. Kenichi Fujiwara

Coordinator, Hitachi Regional Technical Support Center

E-mail: fujiwara@hits.or.jp

2-20-1 Nishinarusawa-cho, Hitachi-City, Ibaraki Pref. , Japan, 316-0032

Tel. +81

294-25-6121

Fax. +81

294-25-6125

(2) Toru Suzuki, Masayo Karube

Assistant Manager

Cultural Affairs Subsection, Community Relations Section,

Department of Life environment, Hitachi City Hall

1-1-1 Sukegawa-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Pref. ,Japan , 317-8601

Tel. +81

294-24-3111

Fax. +81

294-24-5301

DESCRIPTION OF HITACHI REGIONAL SUPPORT CENTER

http://hits.or.jp/en/index.html

(1) Briefing

 Industrial promotion policy of Birmingham City.

② The outline of enterprises in Birmingham City and the possibility of

economic exchange with small and medium enterprises in Hitachi City.



(2) Business tour

 Enterprises especially automotive, medical equipment, in Birmingham City.



② The Birmingham Business Alliance.

  • May I ask you to reserve the meeting and guide visitors?

SCHEDULE

JULY 7 TUESDAY

Arrive from Atlanta

Atlanta EDT : 14:10 DL1051

Birmingham EAT : 14:09
3:00 Scotty takes guests to hotel

4:00 Scotty takes guests on tour of the city and dinner at Dreamland Barbecue

8:30 Back to hotel

JULY 8 WEDNESDAY

7:30 Pick up guests

8-900 meeting City Hall Ted Von Cannon. Ted was instrumental in recruiting Mercedes and Honda to Birmingham area and now is in charge of Industrial Parks for Jefferson County.

9:15-10:30 travel to Lincoln, Al. Honda Plant-Stephanie Alexander

10:30-12:30 Meeting and tour Honda- We do ask that all visitors wear close toe comfortable shoes and long pants (no skirts/dresses), leave cell phones off/in the car and be prepared to walk for approximately 1.25 hours. Please have your guests bring inside the welcome center a photo id (driver's license/passport, etc.).
12:30 lunch on the road

2:00 Kamtek-Auto Body Parts Supplier- Jason Gibson

1573 Sterilite Dr,

Birmingham, AL 35215
Between Southeastern Cir and Red Wing Ln

4:00 tour Birmingham Botanical Garden- tour Bob Wendorf

http://www.bbgardens.org/index2.php

6:30 Pick up at hotel and go to game-eat at the game Birmingham Barons vs Tennessee Smokies at Regions Field baseball. Will attend with members of Birmingham Sister City Executive Board.

JULY 9 THURSDAY

8:30 Scotty and Nickolas pick up guests at hotel

9-11:30 meetings and tour of Innovation Depot with Director Devon Laney

www.innovationdepot.net

11:45- 1:15 Lunch Meeting with Lisa Cooper and Griffin Lassiter Birmingham Economic Development Division- Summit Club http://www.birminghamal.gov/OED/index.aspx

1:30-3:30 Birmingham Business Alliance-Brian Hilson

http://birminghambusinessalliance.com

4:00-5:00 Tour of Railroad park and its’ story as a catalyst for redeveloping the Mid Town area. http://railroadpark.org/

Cheryl Morgan 205 999 4016

5:30-9:00Dinner Dreamland BBQ /Shopping Free time

JULY 10 FRIDAY

Depart for home

7:00 Scotty picks up guests at hotel

Birmingham EDT : 09:17 DL662

Atlanta EAT : 11:18

Czech Republic

The Birmingham Boys Choir had a wonderful visit to Plzen. Below is an excerpt from their website and wonderful pics of Plzen’s Catherdral which is around 1000 years old.

Today we spent the day in our sister city of Pilsen. We started out the day singing in St. Bartolommeo Cathedral with two school choirs from Pilsen. We love singing with other choirs! We had some wonderful lunch (hamburger and fries! Woohoo!) and then took a guided tour of Pilsen. We saw some very interesting sights and learned a lot about the city. When our tour was finished, we rode the bus to Techmania (a very McWane Center-esque science museum) and got to spend some great time there. We boys love hands-on thingys! After we had our fill of technology (let's face it, we could've stayed there all day long, but they were closing and we had another concert to perform...), we ran back to the hotel to change into our concert black, then went back to the church to sing our concert. We had a full house, and we sounded great! After the concert, we headed back to the hotel, got some dessert (we ate sandwiches at the church before the concert), and headed to bed after another long and exciting day. Tomorrow, we head to Regensburg!!



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Ukraine

We are still planning our trip. Sign up deadline is July 14!

http://www.birminghamsistercities.com/images/flags/americanflag.jpghttp://www.birminghamsistercities.com/images/flags/ukraineflag.jpgWe have some more information and costs per person these are goo d estimates

  • Hotel in Kyiv 8/31-9/2= $450.00

  • Hotel Kyiv 9/6-7= $300.00

  • Tour s in Kyiv= $300.00

  • Local travel= $150.00

  • Translator/guide= 900.00( divided by participant)

  • Costs in Vinnytsia9/3-6= $300.00

  • Travel Insurance= $100.00

Per person for single occupancy hotel (double occupancy available basically at half of single cost)= $1,600.00 +(pro rata portion for guide translator). Payment would be to Birmingham Sister Cities. Flights are not included. If you do spend 8/30-9/8 then your package cost would be pro rated to reflect. If you stay longer you would be responsible for those costs. Most meals are not covered. This cost estimate is at the high end and will probably be as we get closer and know how many people we will have and finalize hotel costs.

Vinnytsia will probably take all costs there such as hotel and most meals. They will provide transport form Kyiv to Vinnytsia.

A quick search of flights shows the following costs.
$950.00-1,200.00 round trip

We will have a deadline of July 7 or 14 for the trip

Please pass this on to any interested folks

China

Birmingham to Beijing is working hard and fundraising to send its’ latest group of youth to continue their language study in China.

 birminghamtobeijing.wordpress.com



Mission Statement: To provide access to critical language study and study abroad opportunities in China for Alabama Title I students.

Background

In July 2012, seven high school students from a Title I school in Birmingham, AL traveled to Beijing, China for engage in a 26 day cultural exchange program with Chinese students. Over the past four years, the Birmingham to Beijing Project has provided critical language instruction in Mandarin Chinese, as well as summer study abroad in China for over 25 students. The program has now expanded to serve all students in Birmingham, as well as launching an online pilot program for students in Selma, AL to study and participate virtually. Students take two-hour classes, twice a week for internationally recognized mastery through the HSK Level 1 and Level 2 tests.



Why Chinese?
The U.S.-China relationship will define the next century. Americans with understanding of Chinese culture and language will have a competitive advantage in seeking career opportunities in the global economy, and students from underserved backgrounds have a unique opportunity to dramatically “level the playing field” with their more affluent peers by developing Mandarin language competency. They’ll be able to generate sustainable change for Birmingham as professionals and leaders, breaking the cycle of generational poverty that restricts so many from achieving self-sufficiency.

Recent Achievements         

  • Doubled enrollment from 2014

  • 80% retention rate (up from 10% retention over the last two years)

  • 100% cumulative mastery for HSK Level 2 Mandarin Exam

  • 95% cumulative mastery for HSK Level 1 Mandarin Exam

  • Developed and launched online curriculum program for pilot program in Selma, AL

  • 100% college acceptance and attendance rate

  • 2015 Gates Millennium Scholar

Strategy for Growth

Looking forward to sustainability and growth in the future, we have built a fantastic long-term partnership with Birmingham Sister Cities Commission to help maintain longevity in our organization, as well as bringing in stakeholders from the Birmingham community. We have also maintained a partnership with the Corps Member Education Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) organization that assists current and former Teach for America teachers expand out of classroom opportunities for students from low-income backgrounds.



In December 2015, we will be pursuing the opportunity to be one of the first five Confucius Classrooms in Alabama through Hanban. This opportunity will bring a full-time teacher in as well as allow students to gain high school and college credit for these courses. This institutional addition will be a game changer for our program, and will be key to creating sustainable learning outcomes and a Chinese language curriculum that will support hundreds of more Mandarin language learners in our community. If granted this through Hanban, we would seek to expand our program to support students through Level 6- the highest level of mastery- making this the only four-year language program in the Birmingham City Schools district.

Through a Confucius Classroom, we would be able to forge an additional partnerships with Birmingham City Schools. Birmingham City Schools has developed a partnership with the National Academies Foundation (NAF) which trains students for career and college readiness, focused on skill sets in fields like engineering, business, health sciences, and architecture. As our program continues to expand, we hope to continue to build partnerships with large companies that may be able to sponsor shadowing and internships for our students in their junior or senior years, fulfilling this requirement of NAF, while simultaneously giving our students a competitive edge in their fields of interest.

Please support our program through making a donation on our Indiegogo page:

http://igg.me/at/b2b2015/x/1983535

 birminghamtobeijing.wordpress.com

Mission Statement: To provide access to critical language study and study abroad opportunities in China for Alabama Title I students.

Background

In July 2012, seven high school students from a Title I school in Birmingham, AL traveled to Beijing, China for engage in a 26 day cultural exchange program with Chinese students. Over the past four years, the Birmingham to Beijing Project has provided critical language instruction in Mandarin Chinese, as well as summer study abroad in China for over 25 students. The program has now expanded to serve all students in Birmingham, as well as launching an online pilot program for students in Selma, AL to study and participate virtually. Students take two-hour classes, twice a week for internationally recognized mastery through the HSK Level 1 and Level 2 tests.



Why Chinese?
The U.S.-China relationship will define the next century. Americans with understanding of Chinese culture and language will have a competitive advantage in seeking career opportunities in the global economy, and students from underserved backgrounds have a unique opportunity to dramatically “level the playing field” with their more affluent peers by developing Mandarin language competency. They’ll be able to generate sustainable change for Birmingham as professionals and leaders, breaking the cycle of generational poverty that restricts so many from achieving self-sufficiency.

Recent Achievements         

  • Doubled enrollment from 2014

  • 80% retention rate (up from 10% retention over the last two years)

  • 100% cumulative mastery for HSK Level 2 Mandarin Exam

  • 95% cumulative mastery for HSK Level 1 Mandarin Exam

  • Developed and launched online curriculum program for pilot program in Selma, AL

  • 100% college acceptance and attendance rate

  • 2015 Gates Millennium Scholar

Strategy for Growth

Looking forward to sustainability and growth in the future, we have built a fantastic long-term partnership with Birmingham Sister Cities Commission to help maintain longevity in our organization, as well as bringing in stakeholders from the Birmingham community. We have also maintained a partnership with the Corps Member Education Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) organization that assists current and former Teach for America teachers expand out of classroom opportunities for students from low-income backgrounds.



In December 2015, we will be pursuing the opportunity to be one of the first five Confucius Classrooms in Alabama through Hanban. This opportunity will bring a full-time teacher in as well as allow students to gain high school and college credit for these courses. This institutional addition will be a game changer for our program, and will be key to creating sustainable learning outcomes and a Chinese language curriculum that will support hundreds of more Mandarin language learners in our community. If granted this through Hanban, we would seek to expand our program to support students through Level 6- the highest level of mastery- making this the only four-year language program in the Birmingham City Schools district.

Through a Confucius Classroom, we would be able to forge an additional partnerships with Birmingham City Schools. Birmingham City Schools has developed a partnership with the National Academies Foundation (NAF) which trains students for career and college readiness, focused on skill sets in fields like engineering, business, health sciences, and architecture. As our program continues to expand, we hope to continue to build partnerships with large companies that may be able to sponsor shadowing and internships for our students in their junior or senior years, fulfilling this requirement of NAF, while simultaneously giving our students a competitive edge in their fields of interest.

Please support our program through making a donation on our Indiegogo page:

http://igg.me/at/b2b2015/x/1983535



UK/Liverpool

Our fearless leader Mark Jackson will be there on business in July and will no doubt come back with a great report for our Oct. signing with Liverpool. Go Mark!

ITALY

Donna is working hard to revive this program!

Community Insight and Involvement: 

I have been inviting prominent Italian Americans in Birmingham and other interested parties who are familiar with the culture, language, educational institutions and politics in Italy to participate in aiding in the sister city selection process. A “Italy” board is being formed and will include local leaders.  Their input is seen as valuable, and their inclusion important so that they can vigorously support future events.  

Outreach:

An invitation has been issued to the Birmingham Italian American Heritage Society, asking for input from their 250 plus members. The Italy Chair has reached out the Italian Honorary Consul overseeing this region. I am now receiving newsletters from “We the Italians” to better engage with the Italian community, and am receiving press releases from the National Italian American Foundation in Washington D.C. 

Gathering Facts:

I called state officials to gain insight about existing trade agreements.  I discovered that future trade will be concentrated in the automative sector. Finding a city involved in vehicle manufacturing will be an important criteria when selecting the right sister city for us.

Donna Francavilla



~Frankly Speaking Communications, LLC

GHANA

Birmingham Sister City Commission

Ghana Committee

Winneba Report

June, 2015

Gwendolyn Amamoo and Bettina Boateng visited Winneba in June.  We have the following report:



  • Accra experienced heavy flash floods in June. It was reported that more than 500 people were killed across the country.  An explosion, connected to the flooding, at a gas station killed more than 150 people in Accra. Unfortunately, due to this ongoing recovery efforts we were not able to meet with the mayor of Accra and other ambassadors as we have in the past.  I did, however, see the mayor at a work site and was able to briefly speak.

  • In Winneba, our sister city, we met with Chief Ghartey.  He informed us that the library project has resumed. We visited the library site.  

  • We visited Winneba Secondary school and met with the assistant headmaster.  We are in the process of looking into a student exchange with students from Winneba Secondary School and Miles College.  Upon returning to Birmingham, I met with officials at Miles and we have begun working to get at least four students here.

  • Winneba Rafiki Village Orphanage- We met with the associate director of the orphanage.  We took brown baby dolls, trucks, shoes, treats and other toys to the children.  Most of the items were donated by a local club, Les Jeunes Dames, who partnered with the Ghana committee to provide these items.  The children and the staffers were thrilled with our visit.  We have been following a set of triplets for the past two years and as usual it was great seeing our special friends.

  • Winneba- We met with Rev. Oponbrouy  at the church in Winneba.  In the past we have conducted medical missions and workshops at the church and in the community.

  • Winneba- We met with Comfort Boison, a key community servant whose health is failing.  She was our first contact and has been instrumental in rallying community support and involvement when we conducts service projects in Winneba.  Hopefully she is on the mend.

In other positive developments, The Ghana Committee is developing a Sister City Friendship with a little village call Apaaso.  Last year we donated books, toys, school supplies, and other items.  We toured the school and saw other needs such as teacher desks, chairs and a lack of places to secure the donated items.  Dr. Paul Amamoo left and also sent funds to have all 15 teacher desks and chairs replaced.  When we returned this summer, the old equipment had been replaced with new ones.   During our visit last year we noticed a great number of students without shoes or had shoes in deplorable condition.  Our focus this summer was to deliver shoes to the students of the New Senchi school.  We delivered shoes to the students.  We were met by the Queen Mother and two other chiefs, plus a representative from the education council.  The entire community came to greet us and the students from each grade level participated in a program welcoming our group. The students also read from the books that were delivered from the Birmingham area last year.  We are planning to invite the Queen Mother to Birmingham to officially sign the Friendship Papers.


The trip was intense, but very fulfilling.  We have begun the process of making plans for next year.
Thanks,

Gwen Amamoo Chair, Ghana Committee / Bettina Boateng, co-chair




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