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| Spring Delegation to Tashkent Warmly Received The Seattle-Tashkent Sister City business delegation visited Tashkent May 11 to 17, 1996. It was led by President Jan Drago of the Seattle City Council. This delegation marked the first time since 1989 that an elected city official had visited Tashken t. Our delegation was warmly received by the City of Tashkent, in the traditional spirit of Uzbek hospitality. For the week prior to the delegation's arrival Inga Furlong worked with Tashkent officials to develop the final schedule. Two-year-old Katya Furlong travelled with Inga a week early to assist in preparations. It was like old times for Inga, as she wor ked in Tashkent to prepare for the delegation. On Monday the 12th, we had an official meeting with Mayor Tulyagonov at the Hakimiat (City Hall). This meeting was attended by members of the Seattle delegation, as well as a number of senior officials of the City of Tashkent. Following the meeting at the Mayor's office, we met with the U.S.'s new ambassador to Uzbekistan, Mr. Stanley Escudero, as well as most of his senior staff. The Ambassador explained a little about himself and the current situation in Uzbekistan. He sp oke with us about our delegation, the history of the relationship between Seattle and Tashkent, and offered assistance of the US in our future efforts. Delegation members were particularly impressed that the Ambassador was willing to take "as much time a s we desire[d]" to talk with us. That evening, we were hosted at a sumptuous dinner at the official residence of the Mayor. This building is approximately one and a half years old, and is a fitting official residence, given Tashkent's position as the premier city of Central Asia. The Mayor hosted us for most of the evening until being called away for a meeting with the Prime Minister. Prior to his departure, he presented a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a gift to delegation member Marian Forman. What a way to spend one's birthday ! During the course of the week, we toured a worker owned factory which produces traditional Uzbek arts. We were hosted to a traditional show by their award-winning performance troupe, which reflected the presentation of a bride to her groom's family. On Tuesday (14th), some members of the delegation were taken to Samarkand for a tour of the city. Tashkent provided a brand new Mercedes touring bus for the trip, and also provided a police escort for the entire trip. The 15th was a very busy day. A meeting was held at City Hall with representatives of Tashkent's business community. Information regarding the realities of doing business in Tashkent, including recent changes in laws and practices, was provided to memb ers. As a result of this meeting, one of our delegation members almost immediately sold a number of CDs to one of the Tashkent participants. Also on the 15th, we visited Seattle Peace Park, where we were met by a group from School 91. The group which met us consisted of English language students. The group of students was delighted to spend time talking with Jan Drago about Seattle, and p romised to write letters so that they can establish pen pal relationships with students in Seattle. Another event of this day was Katya's Furlong's birthday. She turned two years old by celebrating at home with her grandmother. Delegation members were invited for the low-key celebration, and Katya enjoyed herself immensely! Photo exhibition opening On the 16th a number of dignitaries attended the opening of Ray Meuse's photo exhibition. Ambassador Escudero was among those who attended. He spoke at the opening and spent time reviewing the show and talking with attendees. Tashkent T.V. interviewe d Ray for a story on the exhibition, and the newspapers prepared articles on the show as well. US Ambassador Stanley Escudero (at the mic) speaks at the opening photo exhibition of Seattle photographer Ray Meuse (far left). Seattle City Council President Jan Drago was also present (right). Over all the trip was a success. Future plans for the Sister City relationship were mainly in regard to exchanges. Tashkent is interested in a broad range of exchanges including, business, cultural, educational, medical and legal. The subject of hav ing a delegation from Tashkent visit Seattle was mentioned. It has been some time since a Tashkent delegation has been in Seattle, and it is time to extend such an invitation. PERDCA Book Delivery Update: Books and Computers Being Made
Available Photo exhibition opening While in Tashkent with the STSCA trade delegation, I had a chance to visit the people at PERDCA and to see the books and computers sent from our recent book drive. PERDCA (Project for Economic Reform and Development in Central Asia) provides e-mail ser vice in Uzbekistan and has distributed thousands of donated books to schools and libraries around the country. In Tashkent (l to r) Mohammed Zekria, Joanne Young, Mohammed Hamed Neda, and Dennis Kovalev in front of books donated by Seattle. Since our first book shipment arrived in 1995, PERDCA has received donations of books, journals and encyclopedias from numerous organizations. The books are stored, sorted, computer registered and slated for distribution in a warehouse donated by the M inistry of Higher Education. The program has been so successful that they recently received funding for two new book warehouse facilities, one in Dushanbe, Tajikistan and one in Ashkabad, Turkmenistan. The 12,000 books sent by Seattle this year are still being stamped and processed into the computer tracking system. Distribution of the texts is expected to begin soon. Once this happens, PERDCA staff says that availability of the materials will be pu blicized via electronic mail, press releases by the US Embassy and Ministry of Higher Education, and by flyers posted in commercial and academic centers. I asked if more books were needed, should STSCA decide to do another collection. The answer was an emphatic "yes". Electronic-mail operation at PERDCA (SilkNet) has also grown. A year ago there were long lines of e-mail customers waiting to use two computers. Now there are eight computers at two locations. PERDCA staff report that in Tashkent 1000 people are sign ed up to use their free service on a walk-in basis and 350 more dial up from home. SilkNet has grown to more than 4000 users, including paying customers, sites in Samarkand, Nukus, Bukhara, Kokhand and other C.A. republics. Modem Needed for Pen Pals in Tashkent Volunteers Spruce Up Tashkent Park Statue by Yakov Shapiro On Saturday, April 20th, in preparation for Earth Day, an enthusiastic group of STSCA board members met at Tashkent Park and spent several hours edging grass, cutting back ivy, weeding flower beds and sweeping sidewalks. The results were not only visually rewarding, but appreciated by a number of local people who had come by to use the park on that beautiful spring day. We were asked by a number of park visitors who we were, and why we were doing the cleanup, and we rece ived many pleasant comments and thank yous for caring enough to help beautify the park they regularly enjoy. Peace park sculpture Semurg, meaning "bird of happiness", was created by Tashkent sculptor Yakov Shapiro and installed in the park in 1989. Gary Shwarts, the Seattle Park Dept. Maintenance person, in charge of Tashkent Park maintenance, does a marvelous job. He does have a lot of other territory to attend to other than our park, and our "extra" efforts are always needed and welcomed. All committee chairs, board and regular members, families, students and host families are encouraged to come to the park at anytime, anyday, any season with a few hand tools (rakes, brooms, clippers, and garbage bags) and make your mark on our park! It i s located on Capitol Hill on Boylston Ave., one block west of the QFC on Broadway, and one block south of Roy (south of Cornish College). If you have any questions, call Galen Mohr at 362-1434 or Doris Robertson at 362-5835. Please let us know if you do work so we can record it on our monthly report to Joy Vanderwerff, SPD Volunteer Program and Adopt-A-Park Coordinator. Coordination Among Seattle Sister City Associations Explored The Seattle Sister City Coordinating Council met March 13th to discuss a proposal to the Seattle City Council for improving coordination among the sister city associations. Maxine Von Nostrand attended as a representative of Tashkent. She reported back to the May board meeting that a newly formed "Interim Executive Committee" will be responsible for drafting this proposal. The recommendations for action of this committee, based upon the agreement of those who attended the March meeting, are due to a laissez faire approach to the doubling of these programs over the last decade. The committee composed a memo to Jan Drago lis ting four specific steps to improving the coordination of sister cities in this area. The first objective would be to formally establish a Seattle Sister City Coordinating Council, and then to provide a physical work space for volunteer interns. An increase in funding (from $900 to $2500 per association) would be requested. Setting up an assessment and documentation effort would develop a "more comprehensive 'vision' for the future of Seattle's sister cities and, for securing the resources needed to meet long-term program goals" (as stated in a letter to Drago). This committee plans to meet throughout the summer, and Maxine encouraged any board members to attend. These meetings will take place from 4:30 to 5:30 June 5th, July 10th, and August 7th. Location remains to be announced. Centerless in Seattle? Imagine Seattle as the centerpoint of cultural interaction between Northern America and Central Asia. Recently, a committee of STSCA has been meeting with the purpose of exploring the feasibility of a cultural center. The group's main focus has been to determine the amount of fiscal and community support necessary to sustain such a project, and so far, early indications are hopeful. A Central Asian cultural center would be a fitting legacy of the cold-war citizen diplomacy which brought Seattle and Tashkent together twenty years ago. Bob Ness and Joanne Young have led the way so far in researching the possibilities. Bob expressed h is vision of the center as a place to "utilize existing venues for some kinds of cultural presentations, to cooperate with other international organizations and galleries, and to develop a geographic and 'virtual' center". To date, they have visited a n umber of sites around Seattle and have come up with quite a few promising possibilities. Not only does finding a location for such a center seem feasible, support from the community is growing. Other sister cities have expressed concerted interest in joining us in this venture. North Seattle Community College is advocating this plan and wou ld like to see it as a public education and service center. STSCA's committee is most interested in this center being very multi-faceted. Ideally, it will serve as a hub for organizing such projects as the development of a Central Asian Art collection and the performing arts, resourcing trade and travel services , arts and crafts, and social services for immigrants. Another hope is to set up a World Wide Web site, which would be accessible through such a center. It looks as if such an international community center wouldn't be actuated for another couple of years. Until then a lot of time and energy will be put into planning this much needed center, especially by our own committee since we have really taken th e initiative for this type of cultural center in Seattle.
Last Update: 2 November 2005 Logo courtesy Mamoun Sakkal |
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