Day 9 in Ghana

I am very pleased with the way I have been able to adapt to my surroundings in Ghana- that was never my concern. However, I am a person who is very conscientious of my time as well as others' time. As Americans, we are people who value time management because we believe it helps ease some of the simple stressors such as miscommunication and waiting. However, Ghanaian time runs about 30 minutes to an hour later than usual. So if a Ghanaian says, "Let's meet at 9:00am," that gives me time to leisurely get up, prepare a breakfast, and be ready by about 9:30am. Many African Americans joke about such a time existing in the US within their communities as well. A sort of "cultural lateness." However, we still know as Americans that we are "running late." Many times in Ghana this does not exist. And as I predicted, that has become one of my greatest obstacles.
Today has been a good day. I had a brief meeting this morning with Chief about some of the new goals for Sister Cities of Tamale. I can clearly see the intersections between Sister Cities of Louisville and Sister Cities of Tamale, and I am honored to be an effective liaison between the two cities.
Today I ate jollof rice, another one of my favorite dishes in this country. It has a slight kick, which is perfect for me because I can't handle too many spicy foods. Tomorrow, I will go with Mariama (an outstanding cook and overall wonderful woman) to a Ghanaian Baptist Church, which I'm sure will be an experience all in itself. I look forward to it.

Day 8 in Ghana

With today being day 8 in Ghana, it feels as if I have only been here for maybe 2. This is my first time out of the United States, and what a wonderful choice. I have never met such a wonderful culture of people who were naturally kind, appreciative, accommodating, and overall had such "wonderful spirits," as my mother would say. Now that I have discovered internet cafes, I will have more of an opportunity to record the details of my experiences on this blog. At this very moment, I have been to Accra and am now in Tamale. I really like Tamale and its calming environment. The Chief's Palace is full of such a helpful staff and have made sure that my stay has been comfortable so far. The food is excellent, my favorite dishes are Red Red and Jollof Rice. It has taken awhile for me to get used to the heat, my skin is getting browner and browner. :)
I am now aiding the English Master at the Zo Simli-Naa Junior High Girls School, next door to the palace. The English Master has allowed me to lead the lectures in grammar and the next lesson will be speech writing. In my next entry to this blog, I plan on writing much sooner and providing many more details, but overall, I am enjoying my stay here in Ghana and adapting well to my surroundings.

Mayor Fischer meets with Local Extreme Skaters

Late yesterday afternoon, Sister Cities and 7 local Extreme Skaters and BMX riders stopped by Mayor Fischer's office. The group was about to leave for Louisville's Sister City of Perm, Russia for the opening of Russia's first Extreme Park-modelled on non other than Louisville's own extreme park blueprints (handed over several years ago during a visit from Perm's Mayor Shubin). Mayor Fischer wanted to give them an official send off; we were expecting a quick handshake, photo and "do Louisville proud" speach but what we got was entirely different....



Mayor Fischer showed a genuine interest, asking about the local Skate Park, what it needed and what could improve it. The group offered serious suggestions and recommendations and sited several local Skate shops as the unofficial representatives of the local Skate community. Two main concerns - shade and graphitti stood out (along with a lack of recycling bins) and the group had several great suggestions to tackle these issues.





Local politics may not have been a talking point down at the skate park but Mayor Fischer may have just changed that. Listening to constituents is something most good polititians try to do but showing a genuine interest and engaging individuals on the things that matter most to them is priceless and yesterday Mayor Fischer showed this group that they matter. At least to me, it seemed as though they left Metro Hall with perhaps a different view of our new Mayor than when they walked in 45 minutes earlier. Who knows, maybe we can look to the skate park for one of our future city leaders!

Middle School Debate Tournament

When Sister Cities of Louisville heard about the Middle School Debate League it was a no-brainer to become a part of it. The idea is to have students use the power of reasoning and debate instead of violent means to settle issues. The Sister Cities mission of using citizen diplomacy to promote peace and end conflict falls right alongside this. Sister Cities of Louisville, as one of the sponsors of the debate will, in the near future, host an International debate between schools in the Louisville Middle School Student Debate League and schools in Leeds, England.

HISTORY OF THE LEAGUE

The league began two years ago when Dr. Jeff Bile and Sylvia Bruton, both instructors at Spalding University, decided to initiate a pilot debate program targeting the middle schools, where few debate programs currently exist. The two succeeded in obtaining sponsorship by Spalding University's School of Communication and Sister Cities of Louisville in cooperation with Jefferson County Public Schools - Department of Diversity, Equity and Poverty Programs. The first tournament held in 2010 debated the topic: Jefferson County Public Schools should require 75% or more of its students to attend single-sex schools. With the 2011 Championship Tournament the league concludes the second year of its planned two-year pilot. In February 2011, a practice tournament, gave students a chance to practice their skills and test their ideas.

2011 CHAMPIONSHIP. . . and they're off!
It was a neck-and neck race and the winner . . . at the wire, with a photo finish, Noe Middle School!

The Louisville Middle School Student Debate League held its Second Annual Championship tournament Monday May 2nd. Participating schools included: Noe, Crosby, Westport and Nativity Academy of St. Boniface. Participants gathered at 9:00 am to hear Spalding University President Tori Murden-McClure welcome them. Round one of the three-round tournament began at 9:15 am, round three ended at 12:15 pm. Following the third round of debate, participants rushed back to the auditorium where a pizza lunch awaited them.

The awards ceremony began at about 12:30 pm. Two “Debater's Choice” awards were given for the outstanding advocates as chosen by their peers. These awards went to Affirmative debater Taylor Fisher (Crosby Middle School) and Andi Dahmer (Noe Middle School) for the Negative. Noe Middle School, under the tutelage of student teacher Laura Wicke, won the team championship by capturing 19 of 24 possible ballots. Each student participant from the four schools received a medallion. The debaters unanimously recorded that they “got smarter” and had fun. “It was a great day for everyone!” said tournament coordinator Sylvia Bruton. “Bravo to our dedicated teachers and these young leaders of tomorrow.”

WELCOME BY TORI MURDEN MC CLURE
Dr. Melissa Chastain, Chair of the School of Communication introduced President McClure who spoke to the audience about how hard work and staying in school can bring great opportunities. She mentioned that although she held degrees from two prestigious universities, Smith College and Harvard and was the first woman to row alone across the Atlantic; her most rewarding and life-changing experience had been at Spalding University where she earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Writing.

DEBATE TOPIC 2011

Prosecutors should have the power to try those 13 and older as adults for violent crimes was the debate proposition. The debaters had the mission of defending the Affirmative (agree) or Negative (disagree) position and working as a team. This was not an easy topic. It offered both challenges and opportunities for students to gain insights into a subject of interest to this age group. It also encouraged the participants to reflect, research, outline arguments and map out strategies.

PREPARING FOR THE DEBATE

The champion Noe Middle School coach—student teacher, Laura Wicke—expressed thanks to student teacher and assistant coach Ms. Sara Wiley and Mrs. Carr (eighth grade Math teacher) for their generous support. Mrs. Wicke commented: "Our Debate Team had a very enjoyable but competitive experience. We started with an interest meeting and an introduction of the proposed resolution for the debate. During our interest meeting, 40 students discussed and talked about the topic for the debate. Following the initial meeting, students prepared a two minute speech to audition for a spot on the debate team.” Mrs. Wicke and Ms. Wiley judged each student and decided who would be a member of the debate club. A total of 15 students made the cut for the Debate Club. Each student was made aware that only 8 students could go to the tournament and that only 4 students would be picked to compete.

“After the 15 students were chosen, each student chose a side of the debate (affirmative or negative). Together the students worked on forming opinions, discussing the topic, and gathering research. We met twice a week after school until 4:00 for six weeks. At each practice, the students evaluated and revised their speeches and evidence. Also, we watched several videos of debate via the internet. We were fortunate to have two students from Manual High School to critique our debaters. The week before the debate tournament, we held a two part mock debate. All 15 students had the chance to participate in the debate.” Together, Mrs. Wicke, Ms. Wiley, the two Manual students (Tyler Darnell and Jesse Schuler), and Mrs. Carr, made the tough decision of who would go to the debate tournament. “We wanted to pick students who were star debaters, but we also wanted to pick students who showed true potential and could benefit from attending the debate. It was a very tough decision, but all of the students supported their classmates and were very proud of their success. The Debate Club was a very rigorous, exciting, and encouraging experience. We thoroughly enjoyed competing in the debate tournament and the learning experience that led up to it." --Laura Wicke, student teacher, Noe Middle School

INVITATION TO JOIN LOUISVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT DEBATE LEAGUE

The Louisville Middle School Student Debate League began with four schools in 2010, had six schools participate in league activities this year, and plans to increase the number of participating schools each year. For more information about the league you can visit us at http://lmssdl.weebly.com or email Sylvia Bruton at scbruton@gmail.com. To indicate an interest in joining us, you can fill out a contact form at http://lmssdl.weebly.com/contact-lmssdl.html.

JUDGES COMMENTS
An impressive number of people from the business and professional community volunteered to serve as judges, they shared the following comments:

"The Middle School Debate Program is always a pleasure to be a part of. Students come well prepared and eager to win and seeing that enthusiasm is priceless. The best debaters are inevitably the ones who listen carefully to their opponents' argument – you could see the cogs turning as they planned their next responses. Sister Cities is proud to be a Sponsor of this great initiative, the skills learned here will serve these students well for the rest of their lives." -- Joanne Lloyd Triplett, Executive Director of Sister Cities of Louisville

"What a great way to start the day -- in the presence of such focused, intelligent, heartwarming middle schoolers. Clearly they had come prepared and eager to speak their truth. I'm still running on the energy they shared. Congratulations to them and to their coaches." -- Roz Heinz, Administrative Manager of River City Housing.

"Thank you for the time you are investing in such a worthy endeavor. I was very impressed by the arguments the children made to support and negate the resolution. I was also impressed by the community support via the quality and number of judges that invested in the event. I am excited about the great foundation I saw for the building of what could grow to be a great asset in the academic development of young people in our community." -- Tony Darnell proud parent of two debaters.

"My experience was wonderful. It is great to see young people, particularly middle schoolers, engaging wholeheartedly in such a worthwhile activity." -- Hunter Davis, Senior McConnell Scholar , University of Louisville

"As a graduating law student, the topic of the debate was an issue that I am familiar with and enjoy discussing. I was amazed with the enthusiasm, energy and level of excellence displayed by the debaters. Not only were they well prepared, but they were able to think critically on their feet and respond to the challenging questions that were asked by their opponents during the debate. I walked away from the competition knowing full well that the future is still BRIGHT for these kids in particular, and society in general. Thanks for allowing me to be a part of this great experience. I enjoyed myself very much!" -- Courtney L. Phelps, Student Attorney -University of Louisville Law Clinic , Black Law Students Association, President U. of L. Chapter

"It was a great pleasure to take part in the development of this fine program. The student participants are eager and wonderfully well-prepared. I have no doubt that the skills acquired and talents honed in this program will greatly serve their academic and professional futures. I feel privileged for being involved."--Michael Zeller, McConnell Scholar class of 2013- University of Louisville .

"It was an amazing experience to see the confidence of the middle-schoolers as they debated each other. I was so impressed that students at this level showed the courage and intellect to argue their points in such a nuanced fashion. The two teams in my second round showed incredible promise as court room attorney’s one day! I look forward to judging again next year." --Nichelle Anthony Specialist, Communications, Media & Arts Ballard, Fern Creek & Pleasure Ridge Park High Schools

Teacher Comment

"It has been an absolute joy to see students accomplish through debate what we as teachers want to see most in the classroom. That is to see students move from dependent learners to self-motivated, independent learners capable of researching to find information to add to what has already been learned, evaluating, synthesizing and transforming it into new ideas and thought processes. Listening as students verbalize the importance of listening to peers as a means of gaining new information and ideas, adopting what is useful and helpful and discarding that which is not. The sheer joy watching students learn the skill and art of learning, developing the ability to communicate ideas, being patient and open to the ideas of others and simply allowing me to fade into the background as a facilitator to keep the conversation moving rather than the source of new ideas. Learning to communicate and disagree in ways that allow everyone to remain intact physically, emotionally, and mentally." --Angela Allen, Assistant Principal Crosby Middle School

Submitted by Sylvia Bruton, Event Coordinator
Photo's by Michael Brohm, Red Square Portraits.

Local Sculptor Joe Autry provides a glimpse into Perm, Russia

My first trip to Perm, Russia..... it was my first trip out of the country.... it was my first ice sculpture competition...to take part in the #1 snow and ice sculpting competition on Russian Federation soil... was a very extaordinary..educational experience. I was participating with international champions in snow and ice sculpting...humbling and highly motivating. Everyone involved with this procees was so kind and generous... hospitaity in Perm was the best i have experienced in my whole life!!! I must say that knowing abit more Russian will help with conversation.....although the interpretors are very well spoken....the artist that work as ice sculptors that i met are masters of this material...i competed against all champions and they taught me so much about the ice andthe ice taught me something about myself...."this is a temporary form and it will change so we must enjoy this form while we have it, love it and make love to it".... The sister cities program is very important for international welfare of the peoples communities on all levels....as an artist ... i have grown triple fold, realizing the extreme importants of the arts and how much richer life becomes when you let it flourish and grow.....and through the sister cities program this has happened with me....to value our expressions and freedoms as artists and citizens of the world.

... not alot of ice sculpting going on here in Louisville.. so upon my returning I have focused my time with stone sculpting with my heart looking to return to ice sculpting this winter to some competitions around the U.S... hopefully to return in two years to Perm....I was embraced with open arms by many Permanians... a piece of my heart remains in Perm!

My Warmest Regards, Joe Autry

From Louisville to Luhvul

Hey there!

I'm Sara, from Milan (Italy) and I have now been living here in the States, precisely in Louisville, for more than 2 months. Why? And, above all, why Louisville? Well, this is a question that I asked myself a lot of times and that a lot of people asked me. And, to be honest, I didn't really have an answer until a couple of months ago.

I won a scholarship at my University in Milan to come and attend the fall semester at Bellarmine University. I was very happy and excited about the idea, but I must admit that the first thing I did was to locate Louisville on the map: ah...Kentucky, I thought...ok, so I am going to be in the middle of nowhere, between field, horses and rural people! Despite my ignorance and stereotypical background, I was still very excited to come. And when people in Italy asked where I would go, I didn't even know how to pronounce the name of the city, so I would just say "Kentucky" and looked at their disappointed expressions!

On August 3 I left Italy with my fiance to come here, but before, we stopped and visited Washington D.C. and Chicago. I loved them and was afraid of being disappointed by the huge difference between those cities and here.

Well, my doubts would be swept away soon: when I finally arrived in Louisville, on August 11, I found myself pleasantly surprised and I immediately felt at home. I discovered a warm, nice and lively city, where everybody always takes the time to stop and say "Hello" to you. While knowing the different part of Louisville and meeting people, I also started to pronounce its name as it deserved to be pronounced!:) My experience at Bellarmine is beyond expectations and the same can be said about my internship. In fact, I wanted to find an internship which could give me the opportunity to transform the theory of my major (Business Communication) into practice, but also to apply my international background. So what could have been better than Sister Cities of Louisville?! Thanks to Bellarmine and to Joanne this has been possible and I am now taking the most of my experience here.

I will surely have something to tell people when I go back to my country and, more important, I now have not one, but a lot of answers to my initial questions. Behind a simple change in pronunciation, a much deeper change has been and is happening in my knowledge about this little part of the world and in myself.

Mainz will be here, I just won’t - On the road back home!

Well, my days in Mainz are really winding down - just a week left before I return home, and I have to say, it is certainly unbelievable how quickly a year has flown by! Well, not a year, two weeks shy to be exact, but that's not the point! Either way, my semester ended about 2 or 3 weeks ago and i am still in the process of collecting all of my grades and taking care of some university affairs. After a heartfelt going away party for a bunch of my friends, as I am the 2nd to last of all my international friends to leave the city (my friends who live here are obviously excluded ), only being outlasted my my friend Megan from Memphis, my friend Lukas and I flew to Ireland for 9 days.

Now, Lukas and I both had a particularly stressful exam period, so we did virtually no planning for our trip - we just bumped into each other at work, as we work in the same office on campus, and decided to go after everything was finished! As we are on a budget, particularly limited, might I add, we had some interesting sleeping arrangements during our stay: a van for 3 days, a farmhouse for a night, and a barn loft for a night - we were woken up by rats in the morning after that night... just so you know what kind of a barn this was. One of the greatest things that you will find studying abroad is that you will make great friends all over the world, and this was the case in Ireland! My friend Julie is Irish, and when I told her that we would be there, she and her friend, Emma, drove down to where we were - Galway - where there was an arts and music festival taking place for the weekend. We traveled around with them for 3 days, and all slept in her conversion van! Now, this van was absolutely perfect for the four of us - except that we had to 'put' one person on the front bench seat each night. Now, I am by no means a tall guy, but the front bench seat was just about 5 inches too short for me, and about the same for Lukas when it was his turn - leaving us very grumpy in the morning, respectively. Either way, we had a great time visiting with them!

Then we were off for more adventures, stopping off for two days with Lukas's brother - who is doing volunteer work this year with adults with mental disabilities on a farm out in the beautiful countryside. Now, the first night we could stay in the extra room in the farmhouse, but the second night a new volunteer arrived, and we were moved to the barn - let me clarify, barn loft used for storage, right about above the pigs... Anyway, mattresses were being stored there, so we pulled a few down and crashed for the night, but hey, it was way better than paying for a hostel!! And I was really great to spend a little time in the countryside! Nonetheless, Ireland was absolutely beautiful - we were hiking copious amount everywhere we could - just on our last day we hiked somewhere around 25 or 30 k. which is no small feat! It was absolutely one of the most beautiful places I have ever had the joy to see!

We returned to Mainz and prepared to drive to the Saarland, a very small German state on the French border, where Lukas's parents were having a Sommerfest (summer festival). The Saarland is known for having a very difficult dialect - a dialect most Germans have a difficult time understanding - I was absolutely lost, to say the least! I was able to recognize some of the traits typical of German dialects from that general part of Germany (i.e. d->t, ch->sch, pf->pp, s->t etc etc etc) which was incredibly helpful, I even picked up a few words and phrases so Lukas could laugh at an American exchange student trying to speak Saarländlisch. I absolutely love hearing different German dialects, and this really made my day! I do have to say, though, that this was one definitely the most difficult dialect I have ever heard and attempted to understand!

After getting back to Mainz I immediately began working as an assistant for the 62nd international German Summer Course here at the university. It is a month long program designed to help people from all over the world learn German! And we have learners of all levels, from not-a-word to German teachers. Every day is something new for me and all of the people with whom I work. On Monday my friend Laura and I are scheduled to hold a Stammtisch (a usually regular meeting for people to get out and discuss the matters of the world over a drink at their regular table) for all of the participants who are interested, getting them out to explore the city of Mainz at a few local places. Last week we worked to move all of the students into their dorms, brought them to their first day of classes, gave them a city tour and tried to help them with all of the other odds and ends that they needed to make this as productive as it could be! I am working for this program, by the way, because one of my bosses from the last two semesters, Frau Küper, is the director of the program, and asked me to be an assistant. Oh yeah, a friend of mine who is doing an internship with an online editorial even wrote an article about us and interviewed a few students, Frau Küper, and myself!

http://mainz.eins.de/articles/849902-lokales-62-internationaler-sommerkurs-an-der-jgu

Otherwise I have been maintaining a relatively high level of stress/business preparing to go back home, i.e. doing all of the thing you have to do before you move out of a country: canceling my health insurance and bank account, moving all of my stuff out, registering with the city, returning all of the (many many many) things I have borrowed over the year, and of course, loads of goodbyes! I will be flying back to the States on the 14th and trying to take care of everything before classes start again - but I have to say, after how stressful this semester has been - like, Russian exams written in German stressful - I am looking forward to being home for a few days of relaxation, though honestly I don't know if I will have any!! After all, I have to move back to Louisville (a BIG thanks to my wonderful sister Corinne for finding me an apartment!), get a cell phone, insurance, and a slew of other banal minutiae that will consume my life for a few weeks haha.

I am, however, very excited that my friend Thorsten will be studying in Louisville next year! And I really hope that he will have as good and rewarding a time as I did!! I can't say how thankful I am for having been given this opportunity to study and live here! Betty and David Jones, Herr and Frau Boel, the Sister Cities Organization, Allie Goatley, Dr. Joy Carew, Virginia Honoso, Dr. Hutcheson, Dr. Pat Condon, my family and EVeRYONE else in Louisville who have helped make this possible, without whom we never could have revived this wonderful exchange program (I am the first UofL student to do it in 5 years)!!! I owe you all my deepest, most heartfelt gratitude! Not to mention all of those in Mainz who have helped make this the most successful year possible: Herr Henkel-von Klass, Frau Küper, Dr. Britta Feyerabend, Frau Ursula Bell-Köhler and her husband, Herr Bell, Frau Karst with the whole Freundschaftskreis Mainz-Louisville, all of my 'path-finders' and everyone else!

I owe you all so much, THANK YOU!

justin