http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/rss/1920-Exchange-programs-ideas-travel- The Coalition for Justice worked hard to get San Jose de Bocay, Nicaragua designated a sister city to our town, Blacksburg, VA in the 80's and funded a school as well. Since then, several green empowerment programs have been developed in Bocay including a community micro-hydro project, reforestation programs, construction of a gravity-fed potable water system, sustainable farming techniques, biomass rice dryer, and a computer school. We want to strengthen our ties to Bocay, form an exchange program with the community where groups, including members of town council, can travel to Bocay in order to exchange ideas on sustainability, as well as cultural and educational exchanges. This sounds like a very exciting project! I would love to see you move it into the social entrepreneurship realm by considering how you might make this trip a financially sustained annual venture. For that you have many options. You can try to find a/some sponsor(s). Alternatively many groups have brought back crafts and items after such a trip that they sell to help pay for the next trip. You could easily start to import crafts too which would also increase awareness of Bocay in your town! I was you I would be thinking about some of the needs in Bocay and how you might help them. We have a great example in our town that also has a similar [informal] Sister City in Mexico where most of the Latino population in our town come from. An issue that they had was that they could not get shoes cheaply because they were so remote and a lot of the villages had to walk around bare foot. One of our residents has started collecting good used shoes and worked out a cheap way to ship them to our 'sister city'. There the shoes are sold to the locals cheaply and any profits used to help purchase other necessary amenities for the town. Finally I would approach any college or university in your area to get the students that are interested in civic engagement and social justice issues involved to help with your two questions above. Keep up the good work! Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:11:45 -0600 advice http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/rss/1920-Exchange-programs-ideas-travel-#advice1318 http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/rss/1920-Exchange-programs-ideas-travel-#advice1318 The Coalition for Justice worked hard to get San Jose de Bocay, Nicaragua designated a sister city to our town, Blacksburg, VA in the 80's and funded a school as well. Since then, several green empowerment programs have been developed in Bocay including a community micro-hydro project, reforestation programs, construction of a gravity-fed potable water system, sustainable farming techniques, biomass rice dryer, and a computer school. We want to strengthen our ties to Bocay, form an exchange program with the community where groups, including members of town council, can travel to Bocay in order to exchange ideas on sustainability, as well as cultural and educational exchanges. Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:33:34 -0600 comment http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/rss/1920-Exchange-programs-ideas-travel-#comment6148 http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/rss/1920-Exchange-programs-ideas-travel-#comment6148 The Coalition for Justice formed in the early 1980s and was flourishing. Since then, although still functioning, our membership and funding has diminished. This year, we want to grow the Coalition and be more involved with the community through our Sister City connection. Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:28:44 -0600 challenge http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/rss/1920-Exchange-programs-ideas-travel-#challenge1272 http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/rss/1920-Exchange-programs-ideas-travel-#challenge1272 Most people in the town are not aware of our Sister City and our first challenge is to raise awareness of our sister city, our history with Bocay, and how the town has developed. Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:28:44 -0600 challenge http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/rss/1920-Exchange-programs-ideas-travel-#challenge1271 http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/rss/1920-Exchange-programs-ideas-travel-#challenge1271