PRESS RELEASE
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Fort Lauderdale Reaffirms Sisterhood with Medellin, Colombia after 50 Years of Relationship.
50 years later Fort Lauderdale and Medellin reaffirm their Sisterhood With a series of trade, cultural and tourism events. July marked the signing of the agreement to reaffirm the twinning of the cities of Fort Lauderdale and Medellin.
Fort Lauderdale, August 19, 2011 - The City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Medellin, Colombia officially established the renewal of their 50th year partnership with a special reception hosted by Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International on July 16, 2011 at The Broward Center for the Performing Arts .
On this historic occasion, many civic leaders gathered together from both cities including Medellin Mayor, Alonso Salazar Jaramillo, President City Council Nicolas Duque, Broward County Mayor Sue Gunzberger, Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner Bruce Roberts and Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness The community was well represented with the Colombian Consulate, Colombian American Chamber, U.S. Commercial Services, Sister Cities International, US Congress Representative, Fort Lauderdale Chamber and many key business leaders who support the intiatives of prosperity for both cities.
On behalf of Mayor Jack Seiler and the Fort Lauderdale City Commission, Commissioner Bruce Roberts thanked the organizers, Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International, the Riverwalk Arts and Entertainment District, and the Broward Center for the Performing Arts who partnered with the City of Fort Lauderdale and the City of Medellin to coordinate this outstanding commemorative event.
The reception included a Proclamation unifying both cities, an exchange of flags and a presentation to the City of Fort Lauderdale's celebrating their 100th Anniversary.
Since the Sister Cities relationship began in 1961, both Fort Lauderdale and Medellin have grown dramatically. Both cities have become world-class international business centers, as well as international tourist destinations. The City of Medellin has been crowned as the "City of Eternal Spring" and Fort Lauderdale has become known as the "Venice of America" and "Yachting Capital of the World." Medellin is world-renowned for medicine, utility infrastructure in Latin America and its textile and public transportation industry, while Fort Lauderdale has become known around the world for its international trade (gateway to Latin American and the Caribbeans), tourism and its marine industry.
While Fort Lauderdale and Medellin have both grown and changed, the friendship as Sister Cities has endured. This historic celebration reaffirmed the commitment, to pay tribute to the accomplishments both cities have achieved, and to look ahead with optimism to a future filled with promise and opportunity for further successful collaboration between these two great cities.
The alliance with the City of Medellin was the first Sister City relationship established by the City of Fort Lauderdale and as Commissioner Roberts said "We will forever cherish the strong cultural, educational and economic benefits that both cities have gained through this productive, cooperative relationship."
The visit from the Medellin Delegation also acknowledged the close ties between South Florida and Colombia.
About the Sister City Relationship between Fort Lauderdale and Medellin
In 1961, at the Fort Lauderdale City Commissioners Meeting, a resolution designating Medellin, Colombia, as a Sister City to Fort Lauderdale was proposed. One of the first community programs with Medellin focused on education and involved Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International and Nova Southeastern University (NSU). In the early 1970s, Dr. Glen Nimnicht and his wife, Dr. Marta Arango were professors at Nova Southeastern University and were dedicated to establishing a non-profit teacher training facility in Medellin. They were seeking an institution of higher learning that would join them in training teachers in early childhood education in various marginal areas of the poorest countries. In the former president of NSU, Dr. Abraham Fischler, they found a visionary who shared their dream in creating CINDE, the newly created center for international education and development. Groups of teacher were taught in cluster groups in their own countries as well as at Nova seminars. CINDE's local office in Fort Lauderdale continued to operate until the unfortunate spread of drug trafficking. CINDE continued joint endeavors with NSU including a new line of toys for blind children. Clusters were created not only in Colombia but Venezuela, Panama and Ecuador. As the program became more successful, it also became more Colombian and Dr. Nimnicht and his wife moved back to Colombia. Because of his contribution to education, Dr. Nimnicht received the prestigious Kellogg's Award and his work was recognized internationally by Unesco, Unicef and BID (Banco Interamericano de Desarollo). Dr. Arango was named, Antioquena de Oro, for her work in developing masters and doctoral programs. The relationship between Medellin and Fort Lauderdale continues to grow today with the revitalization of different programs initiated by Colombia Country Chair, Claudia Diez and her committee.
About Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International
Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International (GFLSCI) is a non-profit citizen diplomacy network dedicated to creating and strengthening partnerships between Fort Lauderdale and cities around the world in an effort to increase global cooperation on many levels. This passport to the world promotes cultural understanding and humanitarian programming and stimulates economic development.
GFLSCI leads the movement for local community development and volunteer action by motivating and empowering private citizens, municipal officials and business leaders to conduct long-term programs of mutual benefit. To find out more about our organization, please to visit our website by clicking visiting www.gflsci.org |
