October 2007

            The Burlington/ Puerto Cabezas Sister City Program continues its mission of promoting understanding between the people of Vermont and the people of Puerto Cabezas, a town on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua. Our programs focus on issues relevant to both communities, and our strategies involve creating partnerships between like-minded groups and individuals. The funding from the city enables us to keep our ongoing connection meaningful for residents of both communities.

BILWIVISION
            Since 2000 the Sister City Program has supported community video production in the region, offering technical advice and shared costs for equipment for the regional university URACCAN’s community video project, BilwiVision. The BilwiVision staff numbers 11 young people who produce a new hour-long TV show every morning on cable TV. The shows include segments with news, interviews, debates, health, variety, women's issues, and cultural activities, including news summaries in Miskito and English/Creole as well as Spanish.
            This year the board authorized expanded support for other independent videographers documenting life in the region. With no regional newspaper, locally produced TV provides a major source of news and information

OUTREACH           
            We are always looking for ways to expand interest in the program. Recently we produced a new brochure, redesigned the web page, and plan to have a presence at the International Festival at the Fairgrounds in December. Many people contact us through our web site, seeking information about Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast or ordering DVDs. Our web site has been a conduit for connecting people. We promote the making of videos about life in Burlington in Spanish (using students from local Spanish classes) for broadcast on Biliw TV. We have also collaborated with the Vermont Institute on the Caribbean, exploring the possibility of a video exchange between members of the Bilwi video program with students producing videos in the Dominican Republic. Recently a new recruit to the program has offered to open a Facebook site for the sister city program, as a way of connecting with younger people.

HURRICANE FELIX
            On September 4, Hurricane Felix, a class five hurricane, blasted into Nicaragua, ripping the roofs off many houses in Bilwi, and destroying whole communities along the Miskito coast. In the Rio Coco region 100 per cent of the crops (casaba and banana) people survive on were destroyed,
            The sister city Board, in conjunction with Burlington Mayor Kiss, authored a letter requesting help for the residents there. The Burlington finance board authorized matching funds for the first $2500. The response has been excellent. We are in close contact with our sister city group in Bilwi, and together we are determining how best the donations from Burlington might be applied. Suggestions are for reconstruction at the four elementary schools we have supported in the past, repairs for URRACAN, and for helping with transportation cost of bringing supplies to the devastated Miskito communities.

TRAINING in the CONSTRUCTION TRADES
            It continues to be board member Charlie Delaney’s vision to create a training program in Bilwi for young people interested in learning construction skills. The Sister City Board has allocated funds for the printing of a brochure that could be used by Charlie in gathering donations of tools and materials for the project.

EXCHANGES
            Leaders in Bilwi have repeatedly said that an invaluable aspect of our relationship is delegations of Vermonters we send Puerto Cabezas. We feel the same about bringing Nicaraguan’s to Vermont and try to ensure reciprocity in our exchanges. One of the best models to date has been board member David Hutchinson’s 2003 Johnson State College delegation in which classroom work before the trip prepared students to understand the histories and cultures of Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast. This February David will be taking a delegation of students enrolled in the Johnson counseling program. They will be meeting with counselors in the region and observing techniques for dealing with distress in the various cultures there. The trip is open to others who might wish come along.

SUMMARY
            In summary, the Sister City Program acts as an umbrella organization supporting a wide range of people-to-people contacts.   We invite collaboration with existing organizations, and seek new members representing different interests in the community. Burlington residents are always welcome to attend our irregularly scheduled meetings, which take place at board member Jane Kramer’s house, 15 Beech Street. People can contact us through our informative web site, www.uvm.edu/sistercity, and can be included on our email mailings by sending us their email address.

            Sincerely,

                        Dan Higgins, Sister City Program Ad hoc coordinator