11/28/05: Council Members Did The Right Thing By Voting To Save Sister City Program - Diane Farsetta

Council Members Did The Right Thing By Voting To Save Sister City Program

Diane Farsetta Madison-Ainaro Sister-City Alliance
Dear Editor: We were very happy that the recent proposal to abolish Madison's Sister City Program failed. We would like to thank Alds. Konkel, Verveer, Webber, Olson, King, Golden, Benford, Bruer and Rosas for their support.

The amount allocated toward the Sister City Program is very modest - $10,000, of which $8,500 was distributed among nine official sister city organizations in 2005. This $10,000 represents 0.0076 percent of the city's budget - less than eight pennies for every $1,000 of city spending.

However, for small, all-volunteer organizations like the Madison-Ainaro Sister City Alliance, the annual city grants make a difference. They help us educate Madisonians about our work, and help us support partner organizations in Ainaro, a mountain community in the Southeast Asian island nation of East Timor.

East Timor is one of the world's 20 poorest countries, in large part because of a brutal, quarter-century-long military occupation supported by the United States. In rural areas like Ainaro, 80 percent of the population lives on less than one dollar a day. Here, every dollar really does count.

Madison benefits from its sister cities in various ways. Some facilitate university, business or other professional relationships. Some facilitate cultural exchanges, humanitarian assistance or human rights monitoring. All help make Madison a unique, informed, caring community with a positive role in the wider world.

At a time of increasing anti-Americanism, people from across the political spectrum - from Bush administration officials to Fortune 500 CEOs to peace groups - are advocating for increased "citizen diplomacy." Madison is to be commended for its early recognition of the power of sister city relationships and its continued support of this program.