Annual Report & Plan
Baltimore Sister Cities Annual Accomplishments Report for 2020 (PDF, 2mb)
Baltimore Sister Cities Annual Plan for 2021 (PDF, 1mb)
Xiamen Committee Launches Scholarship Program
Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee Remembers Longtime Treasurer Arella Liu with New Scholarship Program
— November 2020 —
In memory of Arella Liu, the long-time Treasurer of the Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee (BXSCC), who passed away in October 2020 after a brief battle with late-stage cancer, the BXSCC will be establishing a scholarship for Baltimore City youth with a strong interest in China. The scholarship is projected to help fund studies of Chinese language and culture, including potential travel with Sister Cities.
Arella was the originator of the BXSCC’s Youth Ambassadors program and despite, per her preference, not being one of the “faces” of the program, was key in executing the program in the background. She also loved foreign travel and bringing the Chinese language and culture into the lives of the citizens of her adopted hometown of Baltimore.
More details about this scholarship program will be announced in 2021 via the BXSCC website.
2019 Year in Review: Baltimore Sister Cities
At the turn of each year, we take stock of our accomplishments in the past year and make plans for the coming year. Our slideshow gives you a taste of what our 100+ volunteers achieved in 2019.
Annual Report & Plan
Baltimore Sister Cities Annual Accomplishments Report for 2019 (PDF, 3mb)
Baltimore Sister Cities Annual Plan for 2020 (PDF, 1.4mb)
2019 Photo Slideshow
Check out our slideshow with highlights from Baltimore Sister Cities activities and events in 2019!
Slideshow includes:
- Joint activities across the sister city committees (00:00)
- Changwon, South Korea (00:58)
- Gbarnga, Liberia (01:41)
- Kawasaki, Japan (02:13)
- Luxor & Alexandria, Egypt (03:14)
- Odessa, Ukraine (04:03)
- Piraeus, Greece (04:28)
- Rotterdam, Netherlands (04:58)
- Xiamen, China (05:54)
- “In Appreciation” section (06:47)
2019 APAHM Video
Highlights from our Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration on May 31, 2019, held at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).
New sister city agreement in 2019
Changwon, South Korea is our newest sister city! In 2019, a mayoral delegation from Changwon traveled to Baltimore to sign the official sister city agreement with Baltimore.
40th year anniversary: Kawasaki and Baltimore Sister Cities
In 2019, Baltimore and Kawasaki celebrated the 40th year anniversary of their sister city relationship. A mayoral-level delegation from Kawasaki visited Baltimore to commemorate the anniversary and renew the sister city agreement. To mark the anniversary, the Baltimore-Kawasaki Sister City Committee created an anniversay “Legacy Video” with stories from its emeritus members about the history of Baltimore-Kawasaki Sister Cities.
[POSTPONED] Mar 28 / Enoch Pratt Library event for kids
The Pratt Library will cancel all public programs until March 31 or until further notice.
Original description of the event:
Imagination Celebration
Location: Enoch Pratt Central Library, 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201
Pratt Library hosts Imagination Celebration (formerly known as the Fairy Tale Festival). This signature event will celebrate creativity and honor diverse voices and experiences within children’s literature and our communities.
Baltimore Sister Cities will have a table at this event with fun activities for kids from the countries of our sister cities around the world!
More info: Event page [event is postponed]
Supported by Baltimore-Changwon Sister City Committee (BCSCC), Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee (BRSCC), and Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee (BXSCC).
July / Alexandria Library Presentations
These events are now over. Here is a recap video of Heba El-Rafey’s July 2019 visit to the Baltimore-Washington region:
The Ancient Alexandria Library – Anew for the 21st Century
Alexandria, Egypt, was a world center of knowledge and learning in the third century BCE, when its ancient library gathered scrolls and scholars from around the world. During these events in July 2019, learn how the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) in the 21st century is dedicated to recapturing the spirit of openness and scholarship of the original library.
Speaker: Heba El-Rafey, Director of Public Relations and International Communications at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA). She oversees the BA Youth Activities Program, engaging young Egyptians and connecting with the International Friends of the BA Network. She is in the Baltimore-Washington area July 22 – 25, 2019 and is speaking at the following events.
EVENTS:
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Time: 10:30am
Location: Diplomatic Center of the State Department in Washington, DC.
Admission: $5 AAFSW members; $10 nonmembers. Advance RSVP required by July 19.
More info and to RSVP: Event page | Baltimore Egypt website
Mary Kane, former executive director of Sister Cities International, will introduce the event.
Organized by Baltimore-Luxor-Alexandria Sister City Committee and Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide (AAFSW)
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Two events:
At the Library of Congress
Time: 12-1pm
Location: Library of Congress, African and Middle Eastern Reading Room, LJ-229, 2nd Floor, Jefferson Building, in Washington, DC.
Admission: Free
More info: Event page | Baltimore Egypt website
A special presentation of the Library of Congress’ Middle Eastern collections will follow Heba El-Rafey’s talk.
Organized by Friends of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Maryland, Virginia, DC and the Near East Section of the African and Middle Eastern Division of the Library of Congress.
At George Washington University & Textile Museum
Time: 5-7pm
Location: George Washington University & Textile Museum (Foggy Bottom Metro) in Washington, DC.
More info: Baltimore Egypt website
To RSVP: Contact Baltimore-Luxor-Alexandria committee
Hosted by the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the American Research Center in Egypt.
Thursday, July 25, 2019
A Sister City Presentation in Baltimore
Organized by Baltimore-Luxor-Alexandria Sister City Committee in conjunction with Enoch Pratt Free Library and the Walters Art Museum.
Two activities:
6:30-7:30pm – Presentation at Enoch Pratt Library
Location: Central Library (in the African American Department), 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201
Admission: Free
More info: Event page | Baltimore Egypt website
Speaker: Heba El-Rafey, Director of Public Relations and International Communications at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA).
7:45-8:30pm – Highlights of the Egyptian Collection at the Walters Art Museum
After the Enoch Pratt presentation, join us on a tour of the Egyptian Collection at the Walters, together with Heba El-Rafey from Bibliotheca Alexandrina and members of Baltimore-Luxor-Alexandria Sister City Committee. The Walters is located near Enoch Pratt Free Library.
Location: The Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21201
Admission: Free
More info: Event page | Baltimore Egypt website
2018 Year in Review: Baltimore Sister Cities
Check out our slideshow with highlights from Baltimore Sister Cities activities and events in 2018!
And here are photos from our holiday party in January 2019 where we celebrated our 2018 accomplishments.
Baltimore-Rotterdam educational exchange projects – spring 2017
Theatre artist and educator Kathie diStefano from Rotterdam’s Avalanche Arts employs participatory techniques and theatre art to create awareness with youth and seniors about the environment through creative strategies to recycle and make smart consumer decisions. Ms. diStefano is planning to conduct several activities in Baltimore during the 2017 Spring school semester, including:
1. Operation Trash virtual exchange
“Operation Trash” project is designed to educate and connect high school students in Baltimore and the greater Rotterdam area. This virtual exchange project focuses on environmental themes. Improvisational theatre techniques and remote learning techniques will be used to teach sustainability, trash reduction, recycling, and inspire environmental stewardship. Through the use of classroom activities, improvisational theatre techniques, community events, and social media, teenagers in both cities will learn about sustainability, trash reduction, recycling and get inspired to become environment stewards for their communities. The project leverages an existing environmental educational program developed by Avalanche Arts and used in Rotterdam schools.
Project Partners
- Avalanche Arts, an organization based in Rotterdam (Dutch name: “Stichting Lawine”), initiated the Operation Trash Exchange and is designing the program together with the partnering schools.
- Bard High School Early College Baltimore (BHSEC Baltimore)
- Benjamin Franklin High School (BFHS)
- Both of the Baltimore high schools are being partnered with high schools in the Rotterdam region.
- Baltimore artist Bridget Parlato from Full Circuit Studio plans to work with Ms. diStefano on a professional development workshop for Baltimore teachers.
Photos from Avalanche Arts’ “Operation Trash” workshops with students in Rotterdam
Financial support
Financial support has been provided by CSX, MECU Foundation, and the Netherlands chapter of the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF).
More info about the exchange’s sponsors and partners
2. Artist residency at Mann Residential School
Ms diStefano will do an artist residency at this school in spring 2017. She will direct an “Eco News Show” theatre production with the school’s children, leveraging her experience with similar productions that she has executed with students and community residents in Rotterdam. It is a way for children to learn about trash and recycling through comedy and improvisational theatre. The residency involves 2 groups of middle school students; they will write the script, act, and work on sound, lighting, and scene — they will be involved in all aspects of the production.
Mann Residential School is on Sheppard Pratt campus in Towson, a suburb of Baltimore. It is a special school for children with multiple challenges and emotional disabilities.
More information about the ongoing Baltimore-Rotterdam art/education exchange is on the exchange’s website: harbortraces.org
