Sister city monthly new-july 2015 Japan

1. 
   Kenichi Fujiwara
   

①　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.

①　Enterprises especially automotive, medical equipment, in Birmingham City.

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

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!!

• 
  Hotel in Kyiv 8/31-9/2= $450.00
  
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  Hotel Kyiv 9/6-7= $300.00
  
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  Tour s in Kyiv= $300.00
  
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  Local travel= $150.00
  
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  Translator/guide= 900.00( divided by participant)
  
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  Costs in Vinnytsia9/3-6= $300.00
  
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  Travel Insurance= $100.00
  

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

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.

• 
  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
  

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.

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.

• 
  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
  

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.

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

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

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

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