Sister Cities seeks summer participants

Interested in participating in a student exchange program? Don’t want to devote an entire semester to the experience? Sister Cities International is coordinating volunteers for next year’s program. Established to help foster world relations, Sister Cities works to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation between international communities.

Through the program, Noblesville created a unique alignment with Nova Prata, Brazil, in 1996 and with Cittadella, Italy, when a tri-lateral agreement was formed in 2007.

“This is only the third of such agreements in the past 50 years of Sister Cities’ existence,” state chapter president Henry Cole explained in an interview shortly after the deal was signed.

Last summer, seniors Emily Goggin and Elli Miller (and a handful of other Noblesville students) participated in a youth exchange in which high school-aged children from each city traveled to each other’s homes. Goggin hosted a Brazilian student, and Miller, who recently returned from her trip abroad, hosted an Italian.

Chaperone and organizer Jenny Elliott explained that the duty of each youth ambassador is to represent Noblesville, the state of Indiana, and the United States in a positive light.

“We ask that the ambassadors have a thirst to learn more about other cultures and foreign lands,” she said. Those who host are expected to be available 24/7 to aide their guests, including accompanying them to local attractions. During this summer’s ten-day visit, the group attended trips to surrounding areas to highlight American culture and lifestyle. This included a venture to Holiday World, tours at Lucas Oil Stadium, Victory Field, Butler University, local businesses, and artists’ studios at Bundy Ducks and Strawtown Pottery.

Goggin insists that although the guests were from entirely different parts of the world, an outsider never would have known the difference.

“We knew the same songs, we dressed basically the same, and we liked the same things,” she said.

A couple of the visiting students were even taken to the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince midnight premiere.

“Even though we slept through a lot of it, it was a great experience,” Goggin said.

In the past, the organization has targeted foreign language students for participation because, as Elliott explained, they would have a more intimate understanding of the difficulties one might experience when delving into a new culture. Both Goggin and Miller are former French students. Any Noblesville resident, though, is eligible; he or she need not attend Noblesville High School. This summer, a student from Heritage Christian traveled to Cittadella, and another from Guerin Catholic hosted.

Sister Cities’ main goal is to have the youth of Noblesville form a lasting bond with the students and host families from Cittadella and Nova Prata.

“We’d like the students, and all students, to become active in Noblesville Sister Cities during high school and after college if they return to Noblesville to settle down. If not, we would hope they would become active in [the organization] wherever they settle,” Elliott said. The organization is coordinating an exchange to Nova Prata for next summer, from July 24 to August 3.

Students interested in volunteering may contact Elliott by emailing her at siscity@yahoo.com.