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| PHOTO: The delegation from COPE Foundation, Mallow, Ireland(seated) met with the Tinley Park Sister Cities Commission(standing) at the Official Reception, October 2003 in Tinley Park, Illinois.
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Tinely Park Hosts Sister City Mallow, Ireland To Benefit Those With Special Needs
The purpose of the Tinley Park Sister Cities Commission is to strengthen the Tinley Park sister
city program through the meaningful involvement of private and public
bodies, thereby encouraging international cultural relationships and increasing
public awareness of the advantages of our international programs. The
Tinley Park Sister City Commission believes "As we come to know and appreciate
other cultures, we will truly know and appreciate our own." We feel that
our "neighborhood" can be as big as we want it to be. The world is changing
fast and we need to be part of a much bigger neighborhood than we have
known before.
The Tinley Park Sister Cities Commission hosted four social services professionals from the COPE Foundation in Mallow, Ireland when they visited in October. Mallow is Tinley Park's Irish "twin town" . The COPE Foundation serves more than 1,600 special needs citizens in Ireland. Cope has a beautiful facility in Mallow that serves 55 clients from the area. They provide job training, computer training, skill building plus social and recreational activities.
The Tinley Park Sister Cities Commission believes this is a wonderful opportunity to connect leaders in both communities. We have a lot to share with our friends in Ireland and a lot to learn. This visit brought together people doing good work for the benefit of others. A group of professionals, headed by members of Community Services Tinley park facility, will visit COPE Foundation fall 2004.
The Sister Cities Commission has a stated goal of involving the special needs
communities in Tinley Park and Mallow in future citizen exchanges. Exchanges
involving special needs citizens will require special knowledge and training
for group leaders. The exchange of professionals sited here will facilitate
this new area of service to our communities.
Submitted by: Randal Tietz, Chairman, Tinley Park Sister Cities Commission
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| PHOTO: HIV/AIDS Education project
urges people to protect themselves against transmission of this dangerous
virus. |
Hanover Park and Ghana, West Africa Launch HIV/AIDS
Awareness Program
Hanover Park, Illinois is one of six Sister Cities communities to have been
awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Education and
Cultural Affairs, for HIV/AIDS projects in their African Sister City counterparts.
Hanover Park and Cape Coast, Ghana in West Africa have shared a Sister Cities
relationship for over a decade, so it had an existing core group of participants
and the interest and support of both municipal governments. Strategies were
laid out in exchange trips in the summer of 2003, with help and advice from
healthcare professionals at the Open Door Clinic, BE-HIV, and Alexian Brothers
Bonaventure House. The project initially targets education and awareness
among junior and senior high school students. The Cape Coast project is
headed by a medical doctor with a background in public health administration,
and includes the assistance of the municipal environmental health officer.
The 3-member project group has visited a variety of schools, and are now
beginning to branch-out to the adult population through churches and social
clubs. The educators teach people about HIV transmission factors and encourage
people to protect themselves, including frank discussions on condom use.
The educators have introduced the idea of "Virgin Clubs" which had received
an enthusiastic response, not only among the students, but adults as well.
Those who join must be HIV negative and promise that they will refrain from
sexual intercourse until they are certain they have established a monogamous
relationship with a faithful partner.
Submitted by: Linda McCance Packham, Chair - Hanover Park Sister Cities Committee
