Baltimore Sister Cities

May 19 | Egyptian Ambassador Tawfik

Photo of Ambassador Tawfik; event title, date and time; logos of event partners

A Novelist’s Journey Across 20th Century Egypt: An Afternoon with Ambassador Tawfik

Location: Online
Admission: Free
Time: 1pm ET
Event page: calendar.prattlibrary.org/event/writers_live_ambassador_mohamad_tawfik

Join us for an afternoon with Ambassador Mohamad Tawfik as he discusses his work as a diplomat, novelist, and everything in between. 

Ambassador Mohamed Tawfik is a career diplomat and novelist who translates his own works into English.  Ambassador Tawfik was Egypt’s first Ambassador to the U.S after the revolution and took part in numerous negotiations on disarmament, labor, human rights and trade.  Educated at Cairo University and the Université de Paris, Tawfik has written several collections of short stories and three novels in Arabic. In 1997, an English selection of his shorts was published under the title The Day the Moon Fell. His novels form a trilogy, the last two books of which  – Murder in the Tower of Happiness (2007, AUC Press) and Candygirl (2012, AUC Press) – are also available in English. He generally publishes his works of fiction under the name M. M. Tawfik. A member of the Egyptian Writers Union, Pen International, the Geneva Writers Group and ACT Writers of Australia, he has conducted creative writing workshops in person and online. He is literary editor of arabworldbooks.com.

The event is moderated by Karen Leggett Abouraya, Co-Chair, Baltimore Luxor Alexandria Sister City Committee.

Organized by Baltimore-Luxor-Alexandria Sister City Committee (BLASCC) in conjunction with Enoch Free Pratt Library.

Jan-Feb | Building a climate-resilient Maryland together

Building a Climate-Resilient Maryland Together (knowledge-exchange symposium). Photos of cities, towns, and coastal regions in Maryland and Netherlands. List of sessions. Logos of the partner organizations.

A knowledge exchange symposium with experts from Maryland and the Netherlands on urban, rural, and coastal resilience, followed by 1on1 resilience chats in the month of February

Maryland and the Netherlands are working together to proactively implement adaptation strategies, exchange lessons learned and best practices, and look for more opportunities to collaborate on climate resilience. There are 2 activities in January – February:

1) January 26 — Symposium

This event with Dutch and USA experts provided an opportunity to learn about innovative adaptation strategies, exchange your ideas on climate-resilience, and participate in lively group discussions with experts who have helped implement world-renowned and transformational resilience projects.

Features presentations on strategies for Coastal Adaptation, Resilient Cities, and Small Communities and breakout sessions on Nature-Based Solutions, Public-Private Partnerships for Resilience Projects, Citizen Engagement in Hazard Mitigation, Resilience Adaptation Manual for Small Communities, Engineering with Nature, and Port Resilience, led by both Dutch and US experts in the private and public sectors.

This event is designed for: product and service companies involved with environmental and water management technologies; architecture/engineering firms; planners; government agencies, economic development professionals and climate/environmental organizations.

Presentation slides and recordings: www.netherlandswaterpartnership.com/events/building-climate-resilient-maryland-together (Scroll to bottom of page to see videos of some of the slides
Event program: www.netherlandswaterpartnership.com/events/building-climate-resilient-maryland-together

2) February — Matchmaking for Maryland & Netherlands flood resilience experts

Ran out of time during the January 26 symposium to set up meetings with experts from Maryland & Netherlands, or did you miss it? Our matchmaking platform lets professionals arrange 1on1 chats with resilience experts throughout the month of February, providing an opportunity for US and Dutch resilience planners and environmental technology firms to network with each other. You do not need to have attended the Jan 26 symposium to participate in the 1on1 chats.

Register here: resilient-maryland-netherlands.b2match.io

This event is organized by the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP) in partnership with the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), the Maryland Department of Commerce, and the Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee (BRSCC). It is supported by the Partners for Water Programme.

S.O.S – Save Our Sister

— May 29, 2020 —

B.S.C. logo, map of world, Baltimore city seal. Sister cities: Alexandria, Luxor, Changwon, Gbarnga, Kawasaki, Piraeus, Rotterdam, Xiamen

Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc. (BSC) is excited and honored to announce that its member organization, the Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee (BXSCC) has arranged for the shipment of 50,000 surgical masks from Xiamen, China, to the City of Baltimore. BXSCC continues a long tradition of Chinese immigrants coming to the aid of the United States, from those who were critical to the construction of the transcontinental railroad in the 19th century to those who served in America’s wars and to those now helping Baltimore see the other side of this pandemic.

When BXSCC Chair Xin (Cindy) Wang began receiving requests for PPE (personal protective equipment) within Baltimore and from the State of Maryland, she reached out to the Xiamen Foreign Affairs Office as well as possible PPE providers in Xiamen.

With confirmation from Xiamen that the City could indeed provide masks, Wang began working with Hosea Chew, Director of Administration for the Office of Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young, and the Chinese Embassy. Other Xiamen Sister Cities began receiving smaller PPE shipments and Wang began fielding daily calls about shipment logistics to Baltimore with freight forwarders, lawyers, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and customs officials.

The City of Xiamen is covering the cost of the masks themselves as well as shipment to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. The City of Baltimore is clearing the masks through customs and shipping them from New York to Baltimore. Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc, as the importer of record and a 501c3 nonprofit organization, is exempt from import duties and will be donating the masks to the City of Baltimore.

Twenty-five boxes of surgical masks—551 pounds—arrived in Baltimore on May 28. They will be stored at Baltimore’s Emergency Operation Center and distributed based on requests from hospitals or other institutions in need.

Contact

Tharwat Abouraya, President
Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc.

For more information about Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee (BXSCC), visit their site at bxscc.org.

Photo from the press conference at Baltimore City Hall on May 29, 2020. Left: BXSCC Chair Xin (Cindy) Wang; Ben England from Benjamin L. England & Associates, LLC | FDAImports.com; right: Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young. Photo by Ziling (Jay) Guo.

Other press releases

Baltimore Mayor’s Office press release

Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee press release (PDF)

Video message from Xin (Cindy) Wang, Chair, Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee

Our Message to Baltimore

A message from Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc.
to the City of Baltimore during the COVID-19 pandemic

— May 16, 2020 —

Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc. sends a message of solidarity, compassion and gratitude to the City of Baltimore during our current crisis. We appreciate the diligence and dedication of employees who keep the water flowing, traffic moving, trash collected, buses running and children taught. We appreciate their efforts to serve immigrants, distribute food and provide resources in multiple languages for older adults, parents and businesses. We also extend our deepest thanks to Baltimore’s health care workers, first responders and non-medical staff in hospitals and clinics through the City. You are setting an example and making a difference in all of our lives during these challenging times. Thank you.

PDF version of this message

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:

  1. Joint activities across the sister city committees (00:00)
  2. Changwon, South Korea (00:58)
  3. Gbarnga, Liberia (01:41)
  4. Kawasaki, Japan (02:13)
  5. Luxor & Alexandria, Egypt (03:14)
  6. Odessa, Ukraine (04:03)
  7. Piraeus, Greece (04:28)
  8. Rotterdam, Netherlands (04:58)
  9. Xiamen, China (05:54)
  10. “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.

More info & video

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.

View the anniversary video

Baltimore Sister Cities Holiday Party (Jan 10, 2020)

We held our annual meeting and holiday party at Baltimore City Hall on January 10, 2020. We had fun looking back on a great year of accomplishments with our members and friends!

Baltimore City Hall decorated in purple colors in January 2020
Baltimore City Hall was decorated with purple colors in honor of Baltimore’s football team, the Ravens (Photo: Anthony Quivers)

Baltimore Sister Cities’ executive officers address sister city committee members at the annual members meeting at Baltimore City Hall. (Photo: Vanessa Chen)

After the meeting, we celebrated with a holiday potluck featuring delicious food from around the world. (Photo: Vanessa Chen)

The party included a holiday raffle fundraiser with cultural items donated by our sister city committees. (Photo: Rachel Sengers)

Vice President Chip Graber and other BSC leaders addressed the crowd at the holiday party, talked about the past year’s accomplishments and looked to the future, along with a slideshow of photos from our 2019 activities. (Photo: Anthony Quivers)

Baltimore & Changwon become official sister cities

On November 8, 2019, Changwon (South Korea) and Baltimore (USA) officially become sister cities. Changwon Mayor Huh, Sung-Mu and Baltimore Mayor Bernard C “Jack” Young signed the sister city agreement in a ceremony at Baltimore City Hall. The Changwon Mayor traveled to Baltimore with a large delegation, to sign the agreement.

Video of the signing ceremony:

Dec 3 / EU Delegation visits Maryland

On December 3, 2019, European Union Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis leads a delegation of over 20 EU Member State Ambassadors for a day of engagement with Maryland state and local officials, students, educators, environmental and trade organizations.

Public events include:

Events are free but advance registration is required.

Organized by the Delegation of the European Union to the United States. Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee is helping promote the events.

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Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc. is a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. No goods or services were provided for this gift. Please consult your tax advisor regarding specific questions about your deductions.

 

Web site copyright © 2026 Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc.

logo-baltimoreBaltimore sister city committees operate under the auspices of the City of Baltimore’s Office of the Mayor.

 

Brandon M. Scott, Mayor

 

Previous mayor’s Dec 2015 press release about Baltimore Sister Cities becoming a 501(c)(3).

 

Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc. is a 501c3 organization incorporated in the State of Maryland.
Member of  Sister Cities International, Maryland Nonprofits, World Trade Center Institute, Visit Baltimore, & affiliate of Maryland International Education Consortium.