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Changchun, China
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Pachuca Mexico
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August 11, 2008: Youth Leadership Program (YLP) returns from their Cultural Exchange Program in Hanam City, South Korea.
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September 3, 2008: Monthly meeting at City Hall - 11:30 a.m.
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Pachuca, Mexico
City Liaison, Misty Wilson Borkowski
We are delighted to welcome Pachuca as the newest Sister City to Little Rock. Recently, a team of Sister City delegates visited Pachuca.
On April 26, 2007, the Cities of Little Rock and Pachuca officially became Sister Cities.
In 2006, the Mayor of Pachuca de Soto invited the Little Rock Sister Cities Commission to visit the city in hopes of establishing a new sister city relationship. Therefore, in December, 2006, three members of the Little Rock Sister Cities Commission (Commissioners Sherman Banks, Misty Wilson Borkowski, and Rafael Bravo) and one representative from Aristotle, Inc. (Mark Wilson) visited Pachuca de Soto. The group, accompanied by Andres Chao, the new Mexican Consul General located in Little Rock, had an extremely positive experience during their visit. The group met with the state and local economic and tourism agencies, chambers of commerce, police department officials, university officials, business leaders, and state and local government officials.
Pachuca de Soto is reputed to be the cradle of Mexican soccer. Workers from Cornwall, England, who came to work in Pachuca's silver mines, brought the game with them. Pachuca has a population of more than 300,000 people. The city is the capital of the State of Hidalgo, and is located 94 kilometers from Mexico City. Pachuca's nickname is "la bella airosa" or "the windy city" for its year around strong northeasterly winds. In the main plaza is the Reloj Monumental (Monumental Clock), modeled after London's Big Ben.
Therefore, the Commission, on behalf of the City of Little Rock, invited a delegation from Pachuca to visit Little Rock in April, 2007. Visiting Little Rock was Pachuca Mayor Omar Fayad, City Board Members Carlos García Sánchez, Cynthia Córdoba Aladro, Oscar Montalvo de Estunis, and Fortino Díaz Cano, and Pachuca Secretary of Economic Development, Jessica Blancas. During their visit the delegation met with city officials, state educational agency, state economic development department, city police agency, city tourism agency, Gibbs Magnet School for International Studies and Foreign Languages, private companies in such as Aristotle, Waste Management, Mountain Valley Spring Water, and Petit Jean Meats. They also visited the Clinton Presidential Library, Clinton School of Public Service, Arkansas Arts Centers, and the Museum of Discovery.
The official sister city signing ceremony was in conjunction with the official opening of the Mexican Consul General's Office, located in Little Rock, on April 26, 2007.
As a result of the meeting held with the Pachuca delegation and representatives of the foreign language division of the Arkansas Board of Education, two elementary teachers were invited by the Arkansas Board of Education to travel to Little Rock and participate in the three-week long summer program for teachers statewide. During their stay in Little Rock, the two teachers, María de los Ángeles Lugo Hidalgo and Alejandra Aguilar Martínez, played an instrumental role in working with the committee revising the foreign language curriculum to be used statewide.
In October, 2007, Little Rock city liaison, Misty Wilson Borkowski, and Pachuca city liaison, Jessica Blancas, attended the International Association of US/Mexico Sister Cities Conference held in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico.
Most recently, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) forwarded a proposed student-exchange program agreement to the Universidad Autónoma de Estado de Hidalgo (UAEH). UAEH has agreed to the program and has invited a UALR delegation to Pachuca for the official signing of the agreement. Details are being worked out for a summer delegation to travel to Pachuca.
