Sister Cities Reception

March 16, 2005

Your Lordship Mayor Bhembe, ladies and gentlemen,

I first want to say how honored I am to be able to be here tonight, to help welcome the Fort Worth, Texas Sister Cities delegation to Swaziland, to officially represent the United States at this event and to be able to introduce welcome Mayor Moncrief to this entire august group.

I want to reiterate my personal pleasure at being able to welcome a group of fellow Texans to Swaziland—there is a critical mass of boots and hats here which has to be a first for this little Kingdom-- and to tell folks here in Swaziland a bit about the Ft Worth SS program you may not know. You may have already figured out that this is good a group of people and that Ft Worth is a great American and Texas city, but what you may not know if that the FW SS program was voted the “Best Overall” SS program in the US last year. They have their act together and I’m glad it’s FW that has partnered with Mbabane.

I am told that the SSP has been around for going on 50 years now and was based on a concept pioneered by President Eisenhower that the SS organization would promote international understanding through individual friendships and this would in turn promote global citizenship and world peace.

We all know about globalization, world trade, and that the world is becoming a smaller place—though after 30 hours on the plane from Texas it may not feel like it—but Americans know especially that after September 11, 2001, this is a mission that assumes even greater importance. The work of diplomacy in Swaziland does not all occur in the office of the Foreign Minister or the King; it also occurs at other levels of exchange: one to one, people to people and with resonance we hope to the highest levels of governments and political leaders.

By this gathering, we are all, I think, fighting our own fight against intolerance and pre-judgments and for friendship, partnership and understanding. Despite any of our differences of origins or dress or any of that, at the end of the day, we are far more alike than we are different. What, for example, are we interested in as Americans or Texans: how about: healthcare, economic development and opportunity, the environment, youth, public safety, cities and communities that work, education and so forth.

And in Swaziland all sounds pretty much the same as their priorities--except I would add the fight against the pandemic of HIV/AIDS under the overall heading of healthcare.

 

 

 

I hope real partnerships and programs grow out of this Sister Cities program. Both sides need the other and both have an infinite well of experience and good will to share with the others.