Sister Cities

Gxemelaj Urboj - "Sister Cities" Project.

Project Goals

1. Connect with Esperanto groups in other countries.
2. Inform non-Esperanto speakers in your local area about Esperanto.
3. Involve the club in an international project.

Language requirement

Beginner level. Contacts with your local city officials do not require Esperanto. Connections with other Esperanto groups will generally be via email or regular snail-mail, giving a beginner time to use a dictionary, get assistance, etc.

Participation requirement

One or more. This project can be carried out by even one person.

Steps

1. Gather general information.
2. Plan and coordinate with other club members.
3. Contact city officials. important
4. Report to club with findings and plan next steps.
5. Attempt contacts with Esperanto speakers in other countries.
6. Inform local officials regarding contacts and issue news release.
7. Inform E-USA, other local groups, editor of the E-USA newsletter, etc.

Success and Problems

Remember what the goals are.

Suppose you work on the project, contact city officials, but hit roadblocks. Maybe your city has no "sister cities" or maybe the official sister cities have no Esperanto groups. You have still informed some non-Esperantists in your city about Esperanto and have thus fulfilled one of the goals. You can still proceed with connecting with another group even if it is not in a designated Sister City. (Just call it something else so as not to confuse people or rile anybody up.)

Suppose your city is very "official" and supports only projects that are officially ordained by the city. That is, you are not encouraged to participate by the city and are forbidden to use the term "sister city." Use another term. In England they use the term "Twin Towns" according to Paul Gubbins. The translation of Gxemelaj Urboj would be "twin cities."

Ask yourself:

"Are we using Esperanto to try to build bridges across the barriers between countries and cultures?"

"Have we done anything to create or inspire international friendship?"

"Have we informed anybody about Esperanto?"

Gathering Information

When gathering information, it is best to ask directly to your city officials. Yes, you can use the internet and maybe get the same information, but it is crucial that you make connections, inform, and coordinate with the city as much as possible. Give personal attention to city leaders. Do not be afraid to contact the mayor and the city council.

Learn more about the official "Sister City" organizations from using internet searches. One site with information is Sister Cities International.

Be sure to contact and get information from "gxemelaj urboj" initiatives in Esperanto-land.

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