Ciudad Hermana/Sister City report

By John Keevert

We are very grateful to the First Unitarian Church grants panel and congregation for approving our request for a $2,000 grant from the Paul Wenger Fund for Peace Through International Understanding.

This will enable us to bring our Nicaraguan program contractor Martha Rojas and long term volunteer Ashley Sullivan back to Rochester this fall to generate enthusiasm for our projects. We intend to set up a number of interviews and meetings for Martha and Ashley with city officials, local schools, civic organizations like Rotary, churches, and possible business connections. If you have venues where it would be appropriate for Martha to speak, please let Pat Corcoran ([email protected]) know.

Ciudad Hermana received this grant in the past, and we were able to bring the El Sauce mayor or our program contractor to Rochester. These trips have resulted in mutual understanding, new donations, medical personnel exchanges, as well as business opportunities and a continuing international connection with SUNY Geneseo.

We and the citizens of El Sauce appreciate the work done by Ashley Sullivan supporting our scholarship and special projects there. Ashley grew up in Hilton, and her mother, Patti Sullivan, recently took on coordination of the Rochester side of the scholarship program.