"There are two things in life for which we are never truly prepared: Twins" – Josh Billings –
CO NTE NT WHAT IS TWINNING
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A CONCISE HISTORY
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TWINNED TOWNS
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DISAPPEARING TWINS
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PERSONAL TWINNING
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CONFUCIANISM
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TWINSHIP
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THE FERRYMEN
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CAMDEN & ABU DIS
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THE CAMPAIGN
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TWINNING POSTS
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WHAT IS TWINNING
PARIS 9TH MAY
1950
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
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WHAT IS TWINNING
twinning? ce qui est de jumelage?
WHAT IS
J
ean Bareth, one of the founders of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), gave the definition of twinning as:
"The coming together of two communities seeking, in this way, to take action with a European perspective and with the aim of facing their problems and developing between themselves closer and closer ties of friendship"
of picturesque villages and the largest of the jungles plus grands de la métropole et du béton metropolis and concrete jungles. It gives an opportunity to share problems, exchange views and understand different viewpoints on any issue where there is a shared interest or concern. It can enable young people to get involved with their counterparts from a different country, and to gain self-confidence.
Twinning is not an exact science and there are no written laws to how each relationship should Twinning is the expression of European Le jumelage n’est pas une science exacte et il n’existe pas de L’unité européenne dans les relations étant construit à be managed, but it is important to remember Unity with relationships being built up from lois écrites à la façon dont chaque relation doit être géré partir de racines d’herbe. that it represents a long-term commitment to grass roots. With this, twinning is also one one another not an interim project partnership, of the most popular and visible forms of it must survive any political leadership changes cooperation and liaison’s with thousands or short–term difficulties, but it is vital that of towns & communities declaring their the relationship is regularly reviewed so that partner as you enter their districts. meets the needs of the modern day and most One of the beauties about twinning is that it is importantly it is vital to remember that no wonderfully flexible, there are no boundaries twinning can be successful without the active Une des beautés sur le jumelage est qu’il est to who can take part in it, an affiliation can participation of the citizens of the communities. merveilleusement souple be formed between the smallest & quaintest
UMBERTO SERAFINI A CEMR FOUNDER
EDOUARD HERRIOT A CEMR FOUNDER
1916-2005
1872-1957
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A CONCISE HISTORY
KEIGHLEY, WEST YORKSHIRE FIRST MODERN TWINNING
1920 TWINNED WITH POIX-DU-NORD
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A CONCISE HISTORY
A CONCISE
un bref historique de jumelage
HISTORY OF TWINNING
&
WHERE IT CAME FROM
S
et d’où il vient
ince the end of World War 2 in 1945, a large number of countries, cities and provinces across Europe, vowed that they should never again be torn apart by war. This is where modern day twinning was born. Although it C’est là que moderne de jumelage est né. had been present before the war with the first recorded twinning being between Keighley, West Yorkshire and Poix-du-Nord, France in 1920, it really began to grow and prosper after the war. Most of these initial links were formed between the towns in the countries that, until recently, had been divided by conflict. This helped in the mending and recuperation of Europe. It was on May 9th 1950, that Robert Shuman, then the Prime Minister of France, proposed the creation of an organised Europe as a means comme un moyen de garantir des relations pacifiques of guaranteeing peaceful relations. The next year on 28th January 1951, a congregation of some sixty mayors from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, Switzerland and The Netherlands founded the Council of European Municipalities. Later on it opened itself wider to the regions, taking the name CEMR (Council of European Municipalities & Regions). To this day it is the largest organisation of local and regional government in Europe. Its members consist of over fifty national associations of towns & regions from over forty-one countries representing over 150,000 local and regional authorities. The CEMR works to promote a united Europe that is based on local/regional self government and democracy. To achieve this goal they aspire ils aspirent à façonner l’avenir de l’Europe en to shape the future of Europe by enhancing renforçant la contribution locale
the local contribution, to influence European law and policy, to exchange experience at local and regional level and to cooperate with partners in other parts of the world. One of their fields of activity is through town twinning. The council have always seen Le conseil a toujours vu le jumelage comme un twinning as a vital means of bringing together moyen essentiel de rassembler les citoyens de the citizens of Europe and to help unite it l’Europe et de l’aider à réunir pacifiquement peacefully. In the present day there are nearly 30,00 twinning links set up through out Europe. Twinning is not limited only to the nations within the European Union, as countries such as Norway and Switzerland have always been engaged with the activities. This was beneficial in southern Europe in the 1970’s with the restoration of democracy in Greece, Portugal and Spain as it lead to a range of new twinning partnerships with these countries as they prepared and joined the European Union. Twinning doesn’t just exist in Europe, but it goes globally. There is an abundance of successful links between American and Chinese of formé sur le même concept de nouer des amitiés et de Japanese cities, formed on the same concept promouvoir les liens culturels to build friendships and promote cultural links. As the partnerships have no bound geographically there have been strong and powerful links set up between local authorities in the north, particularly Europe and those in the South like Africa, Latin America and large parts of Asia. These new links aren’t only based on building friendships and understanding but also achieving practical results and long lasting developments.
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TWINNED TOWNS
SWINDOO Swindon, the industrial town in Wiltshire has made news by twinning themselves with the magical wonderland of Disneyland, Florida. The unlikely partnership between the ‘depressing concrete metropolis’ and the Shangri-La of children’s dreams came about by Swindon resident Rebecca Warren making a promotional video that impressed the Disney Bosses. This is a beautiful relationship, which has sprung up, and it a lovely example of what twinning can really do. 5
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N RLANDO Hey y’all, a little place in Ing-ur-land; that’s in ‘ Your-ope’ has managed to get itself in thee press by making itself a sister city with ol’ Walt’s Place over in the sunshine state. This crazy-ass connection between our pink-castled theme park and the town with more concrete than the big apple came because some Swindonian chick called Rebecca Warren though it would be a hoot and a half to make a promotional movie. Anyhow it impressed old Walt’s mates and now we have our very own twin across the pond. Now that’s a treat you just can’t beat. * TWINNING
*please read with an American Accent
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BE ROYSTO Royston, the sleepy, Home Counties commuter town is twinning with the fulcrum of the Libyan revolution. Councillor Gerald Morris, claims ‘that in our own little way we can help these countries become part of the wider international community’. There may be a difference in population, industries and global fame but it is a fantastic way of showing the unlimited boundaries of twinning. 7
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N NGHAZI ﻉﻡ ﺓﻡﺃﻭﺕﻝﺍ ﺓﺩﻝﺏﻝﺍ ﺓﻱﺱﻱﺉﺭﻝﺍ ﺕﺍﻉﻁﺍﻕﻡﻝﺍ ﺏﺍﻙﺭ ،ﺱﺍﻉﻥﻝﺍﻭ ،ﻥﻭﺕﺱﻱﻭﺭ ﻱﻑ ﻩﻥﺃ" ﻱﻉﺩﻱ ،ﺱﻱﺭﻭﻡ ﺩﻝﺍﺭﻱﺝ ﺭﺍﺵﺕﺱﻡ .ﺓﻱﺏﻱﻝﻝﺍ ﺓﺭﻭﺙﻝﻝ ﺯﺍﻙﺕﺭﺍ ﺓﻁﻕﻥ ﻉﻡﺕﺝﻡﻝﺍ ﻥﻡ ﺍءﺯﺝ ﺡﺏﺹﺕ ﻝﻭﺩﻝﺍ ﻩﺫﻩ ﺩﻉﺍﺱﻥ ﻥﺃ ﺍﻥﻥﻙﻡﻱ ﺓﺹﺍﺥﻝﺍ ﺍﻝﻱﻝﻕ ﺍﻥﻕﻱﺭﻁ ﺓﺭﻩﺵﻝﺍﻭ ﻥﺍﻙﺱﻝﺍﻭ ،ﺕﺍﻉﺍﻥﺹﻝﺍ ﻱﻑ ﻑﺍﻝﺕﺥﺍ ﻙﺍﻥﻩ ﻥﻭﻙﻱ ﺩﻕ ".ﻉﺱﻭﺃﻝﺍ ﻱﻝﻭﺩﻝﺍ .ﺓﻡﺃﻭﺕﻝﺍ ﻥﻡ ﺩﻭﺩﺡﻡ ﺭﻱﻍ ﺩﻭﺩﺡ ﺭﺍﻩﻅﺇﻝ ﺓﻉﺉﺍﺭ ﺓﻝﻱﺱﻭ ﻭﻩ ﺍﻡﻥﺇﻭ ﺓﻱﻡﻝﺍﻉﻝﺍ 8
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twinning. èittutto is allintorno around ausnoi gemellaggio.
The Twinning Oath: line fourteen TWINNING
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abbiamo solo bisogno we just need to know di sapere dove cercare. where to look.
Il giuramento di gemellaggio: linea quattordici 11
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DISAPPEARING TWINS
the very curious inquisitive case of the disappearing twins.
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W
e know that the concept of twinning is a tradition that stems back nearly a century within in England, with such arrangements symbolising the idealistic spirit of reconciliation and connection. How else would you be able to explain the link between Glasgow, Scotland and Havana, Cuba or spot the similarities between the town of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire and the Somalian city of Borama?
Yet British towns are beginning to scrap their twinning arrangements with their continental counterparts. It was in September of 2011 that councillors in Bishop’s Stortford of Hertfordshire voted to end their forty-six year twinning arrangement with Friedberg in Germany and Villiers-sur Marne in France. Bishop’s Stortford’s local councillor, John Wyllie defended the decision by insisting that ‘the practice didn’t die Praxis nicht so viel Bedeutung in der heutigen Gesellschaft have as much relevance in today’s society’. A similar chain of events happened a couple of years before in 2009 where in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, the civic leaders got in contact with the CEMR and asked to break there ties with Luxeuil-les-Bains amid the complaints that their French counterpart ‘had not put any effort into the relationship’. There are stories all around the isles of towns following suit. In Doncaster, the infamous elected mayor Peter Davies announced that he had taken the decision to ditch all five of Doncaster’s twinning links during a scheme to improve
the town’s economy. This move apparently has saved the local council around £4000 a year since the split but they thave continued the partnership informally. Davies made a statement regarding the split saying ‘I don’t think it I’ve had one complaint from a Doncaster resident and there is no evidence that it has made a blind bit of difference to our economy’ The common denominator in all of these split and the rest which have occurred is that the communities within the towns don’t feel as though they have any connection towards their twinned town, so seeing it gone isn’t as big of a deal as it should be. Coventry in the West Midlands, which has a staggering 26 twinning links had a noble beginning in 1944 when they partnered with Volgograd (previously Stalingrad) as one одна война разоренную страну поддержку другим war-ravaged city supporting another and then later Dresden, a more controversial twinning at the time as the blitz was still fresh in the minds of the citizens of both cities, however since then it has slightly ran out of control by collecting so many twins that it practically alienates the whole concept. There are still some kind initiatives in use as a group of
PETER DAVIES THE ‘MARMITE MAYOR’ OF DONCASTER
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Coventry citizens have built a beautiful relationship with Hiroshima and in 2010 the children of Coventry received one thousand perfectly crafted origami cranes from their Japanese peers over 5,000 miles away. Yet these wonderful stories rarely appear as it is only the dignitaries of the towns who appear to gain anything from the relationships as they are able to jet off around the world to their geographical twins and comparatively there are few times that the ordinary people benefit. Journalist Mary Griffin raises a good point regarding the current state of the twinned towns: "These initiatives don’t rely on a document sitting in a town hall, they rely on ordinary people devoting time and effort to nurture an international partnership; and unlike official twinning arrangements, where city leaders are far too British to pull the plug on a dormant twin, each grassroots arrangement will last as long as the citizens of each place believe it to be beneficial. Twinning was born before cheap flights made international travel available to the masses and before the Internet made overseas communication as simple as talking to your next-door neighbour. If town twinning isn’t evolving, isn’t it time we replaced it with something better?"
sē ēn ba zhùrù THOUSAND ORIGAMI CRANES A SYMBOL OF PIECE AND ETERNAL GOOD LUCK
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Wallingford, Oxfordshire. One of the first towns to break it’s twinning arrangements. TWINNING
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Convinced of the necessity of respecting the principle of subsidarity, aďŹƒrming our value of respecting human rights, which we hold as invioble and inalienable 17
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youvindt can fihet nd it urban jungles U inin dethe stedelijke jungle
The Twinning Oath: line seven TWINNING
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enin in the het landelijke hart. and rural heartland.
Het Twinning Eed: lijn zeven 19
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Overtuigd van de noodzaak van het respecteren van het principe van de subsidiariteit, bevestigen onze waarde van eerbiediging van de mensenrechten, die wij als invioble en onvervreemdbare TWINNING
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PERSONAL TWINNING
If twinning is to survive then it must be willing to adapt & if it is to adapt then we have the perfect evolution.
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W E W O U L D P R O U D LY L I K E T O P R E S E N T T O YO U
* T H E F U T U R E R E A DY T W I N S C H E M E .
T
he beauty of Personal Twinning is that it succeeds where Town Twinning has been unsuccessful. Much of the intolerance with Town-twinning comes from the preconception that ‘ordinary people don’t benefit much from the partnership’; however with Personal-twinning it is the ‘ordinary’ people who benefit, as it is the ‘ordinary’ people who embark on finding their twin. It is a wonderfully flexible tool as a ‘twinship’ can take place between absolutely anyone, regardless of religion, heritage, culture, class or wealth. It gives the opportunity to share issues, exchange views and understand different perspectives from different walks of life.
Whichever grounds seem appropriate to the two individuals involved, a personal twinning can be built; whether it is an occupation, a trade or a shared moment in history. It is a long-term obligation to one another that will stand the test of time, not a one-off venture that ends as quickly as it began. Both parties should be benevolent to one another and have reverence to their history, wisdom and lives and as it is a long lasting connection it has time to flourish, thrive & prosper.
*Personal twinning is the coming together of two individuals with a mutual connection to one another. This bond stretches beyond any governmental, political, economical or historical prejudice with the perspective and aim of them facing their issues & entwining their common traits. TWINNING
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CONFUCIANISM
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CONFUCIANISM
C O N F U C I A NI S M
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here is a system of philosophical & ethical teachings known as Confucianism where social harmony is a central goal. The main principle of Confucianism is ‘ren’; a virtue marking the good feeling that someone experiences when they are being selfless and compassionate, when they are being altruistic. Confucianism beliefs have been characterised as optimistic views of human nature and the confidence in the possibility that ordinary people can become incredible mentors is deeply embedded in Confucian heritage. This system of thinking and focus on mutuality is applicable to Personal Twinning as each individual holds different positions in different relationships in their lives and there may come a time, where a situation will occur when you will be able to share your knowledge with your twin. Your whole relationship could be built on a junior-senior stance where one twin needs guidance from the other or it could be a complementary bond where you both benefit from each other’s logic and life experiences.
Other themes of Confucian thought are: Lǐ, ,translated into English as rituals, customs, rites, etiquette, or morals, refers to any social functions in daily life. Confucius considered education and music as various elements of Lǐ. It was treated as a comprehensive system of norms, guiding the propriety or politeness which colours everyday life. Zhōng, , translated to loyalty. This is particularly relevant for the social class to which most of Confucius’ students belonged, because the only way for an ambitious young scholar to make his way in the Confucian Chinese world was to enter a ruler’s civil service and loyalty was often subverted by the autocratic regimes of China. Jūnzǐ, , is crucial to classical Confucianism. It incites all people to strive for the ideal of a gentleman or perfect man. To Confucius the ideal description of the perfect man is one who combines the qualities of saint, scholar, and a gentleman.
rén PRIMATES GROOMING IS NATURE’S TRUE FORM OF ALTRUISM.
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TWIN ship
he global community has grown so big and so large over the last half century, from 3 billion in 1960 to 7 billion in 2011, where we are now at the stage where actions taken in one region or nation can directly influence other parts of the world. Yet are we still to realise the vast human potential among the international population? Ba Kin Moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations said ‘Small actions taken by each of us, multiplied across communities can create a better world’. Yet with the advancement in technology and social media are interpersonal relationships beginning to diminish, to the point where we only know the people and not the person. The beauty of a ‘twinship’ is that it overrules any propaganda or prejudice and gets you to know someone on personal terms, building that bond over a mutual interest. We have managed to get ourselves stuck in the paradox that with modern technology making the world smaller, friendship links have become harder to maintain, but we should be able to use this social media to our benefits. We have the internet to help us, the whole world at our fingertips, just the push of a button away and with applications like Skype and Facebook, you don’t have to have coachloads of people travelling around the continents anymore. There are no boundaries to reasons why two people may twin; no such thing as a right or wrong answer, the only thing that is stopping you, is you. If you believe in it, if you want it that much you will be able to achieve it, you just have to be willing to take the chance, have the courage and take the leap. In a world of 7 billion people there are some truly astounding examples of people who have connected with one another through out the globe.
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THE FERRYMEN
500 PASSENGERS & 200 TONNES OF VEHICLES
COLIN WINDOW
fifty seven years of age RIVER MAN
MEMBER OF THE ORDER OF THE WATERMEN
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THE FERRYMEN
MUHAMMED ABDUL LOTEEF
seventy years of age FARMER
10 PASSENGER CAPACITY AT 1 PENNY PER PASSENGER
2 COWS TO RESTART HIS FARM
we are the ferrymen. TWINNING
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THE FERRYMEN
THE INSPIRING TALE দুই অপরিচিত, মহাদেশ OF TWO STRANGERS, সরাইয়া, সঙ্ঘবদ্ধ এর CONTINENTS APART, দীপক তাদের সমানতা UNITED THROUGH মাধ্যমে কাহিনী. THEIR EQUIVALENCE.
people across the river each day to be able to feed his family, luckily there are few bridges on the river so for the 25,000 people who travel everyday between the city and their homes, these sampans are a necessity and a lifeline. Unlike Colin, Mr Loteef hasn’t worked the river all of his life. He was originally a farmer in a small village miles and miles from the city; but due to unpredictable weather conditions it made it difficult for people who lived off the land, so his family and he moved to Dhaka, now living around 3 miles from the river in one of the slums. Unlike on the Thames where Colin was behind the wheel of his huge ferry, each of the sampans must navigate their way through a maze of gravel barges, cargo ships and passenger boats that command the river, and with an average of one or two boats capsizing each day it makes the Buriganga river one of the most dangerous waterways on Earth, especially for the ferrymen.
F
or centuries now there has been a river crossing at Woolwich in the east of London. Fifty-seven year old, father of four, Colin Window is a Bridge Officer on a one thousand tonne ferry which everyday transports passengers and vehicles across the Thames. Window himself classes himself as a ‘river man’ as he has worked on the Thames for the majority of his life, just like his father and his grandfather before him, earning himself a position in an ancient guild that was founded by the parliament in 1555 named The Order of the Watermen. By considering it a matter of family pride দ্বারা বিবেচনা পরিবার গর্ব ব্যাপার যে একটি উইন্ডো that a Window should take up the challenge একটি মাইল নদীর হাজার হাজার কাজ থেকে দূরে of ‘working a river’ thousands of miles away বাড়ির চ্যালেঞ্জ আপ হওয়া উচিত এটি from home he took a 14 hour flight to Dhaka, Bangladesh. After recovering from jet lag and getting used to the incredible 40 degree heat; he met up with fellow ferryman Muhammad Abdul Loteef. The seventy-year-old husband and father of five is the skipper of a ‘Sampan’, a small wooden rowing boat that is able to take up to ten passengers across the Buriganga River. Charging just a penny per passenger, Mr Loteef must take at least a minimum forty
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Colin was stunned by how hard working his Bangladeshi brother is, saying ‘He’s been at it all day, he has had a small break for his prayers and that, but he is still powering back and forth. He’s 70 years old, it unbelievable’ then adding later ‘It was his agility more than anything, he was bending down and in and out and I am standing there, creaking’. With storms becoming more frequent and unpredictable around 2000 people arrive in দুই হাজার লোক শহর থাকার তাদের গ্রাম বাকি আসা the city having left their villages, in search for কাজের জন্য অনুসন্ধান এবং একটি ভাল জীবন work and a better life. Mr Loteef is doing well compared to others though as he is able to
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own his own boat and has a place to stay where many other ferrymen have to rent their sampans and sleep in them too. Mr Loteef explains that there is a saying that ‘If God gave me wings on যদি ঈশ্বর দিয়েছেন আমার অস্ত্র উড়ন্ত my arms, I would go back to my village’, this সম্পর্কে, আমি আমার গ্রামে ফিরে যেতে চাই strengthening the point that the job is just a living for him and not a way of life. He then goes on to tell Colin that even though he owns his own plot of land where he could still grow lentils it would not be enough to support his family financially, He does tell Colin that ‘We could make it work if we had two cows. If I had two cows I would not have to live in the city’. After spending two weeks with Mr Loteef, Colin makes his way back home to London and his Woolwich car ferry, taking with him a whole new experience of how his job is done on the other side of the world. After returning home, Colin went about buying two cows for Mr Loteef, one of them came from Colin himself and the second from his work colleagues who raised the money between themselves. Mr Loteef has now moved out of the city and back to his village.
বুড়িগঙ্গা
BURIGANGA RIVER FACTS THE AVERAGE DEPTH IS 25 FEET BUT REACHES A MAXIMUM OF 58 FEET.
20,000 TONNES OF TOXIC WASTE IS RELEASED INTO THE RIVER EVERY DAY.
CLASSED AS A ‘DEAD RIVER’ AS THERE IS NO LIFE WITHIN THE WATER.
This is beautiful example of how two people, from complete opposite ends of the world are able to bond and connect over a simple similarity. You would never have put the two gentlemen in the same room together yet just through their jobs they were able to connect and open one another’s eyes to how they live, work and operate and yet this is a wonderful example of the sort of grounds on which a ‘twinship’ can be built.
THE LENGTH HAS REDUCED FROM 27KM TO 18KM THROUGH SILTATION.
ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS & FATAL WATERWAYS ON EARTH.
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Considering that history shall continue into the wider world, but that this world will be truly human only in so far as men and women freely in free cities. 31
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there are are no dort sind keine Grenzen boundaries to its range gesetzt sein Angebot
The Twinning Oath: line five. TWINNING
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und keine Grenzen um and no limits to its reach. seine Reichweite.
Das Twinning Oath: line f端nf. 33
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In Anbetracht, dass die Geschichte so in die weite Welt fortsetzen, aber diese Welt wird wirklich Mensch nur insoweit, als M채nner und Frauen frei im freien St채dte. TWINNING
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CAMDEN & ABU DIS
نم عفرو عيجشت ةياكح
The encouraging & uplifting tale of
Camden ﻥﺩﻡﺍﻙﻭ &ﻥ ﺍ ﻭ Abu ﻭDis ﻭﺏﺃﺃ ﺱﻱﺩ
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CAMDEN & ABU DIS
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he question of feasibility may be raised when you are debating whether or not to find your twin, but something you must remember is that the human belief is a very داقتعالا نأ وه ائيش ركذتن نأ بجي نكلو powerful tool; the stubbornness that means if ادج ةيوق ةادأ وه ناسنإلا we want it we will do everything in our ability to go out, get it and claim it as our own.
up with Abu Dis. This large following of people meant that the active link between the two cities has enabled a wide range of ‘bonding activities’ to be arranged like: students and teachers exchanging letters, nurses planning exchanges and youth societies aiming to set up a ‘Camden – Abu Dis’ football match.
A great example of this is the town twinning between Camden and Abu Dis in Palestine. Although this is town twinning the concept is still relatable to Personal Twinning. Here Palestine discovered that there were over 20 ءدب يف ةدئافلا نم ةجرد ترهظأ يتلاو places in Britain, which had shown a degree مهدلب لخاد ندم عم ةمأوت ةلصو of interest in initiating a twinning link with cities within their country. Each of the groups had begun from different points of interests; some were formed from Palestine Solidarity groups and other from the ambition of people who had seen how the Palestine’s were treated under Israeli occupation, which was very similar to the twinning campaigns taken up with South Africa during the days of the Apartheid. In just 18 months in Camden, over one hundred people had signed onto a friendship statement rallying for twinning links to be set
So it doesn’t really matter how a twinning begins, it just need the dedication from those participating to push it forward. To paraphrase Husam Zomlott from the Palestinian Delegation, "Twinning is one of the most practical forms of solidarity. It transforms ومست ةقادصلاو نماضتلا لوحي هنأل solidarity to friendship and transcends beyond يظفللا معدلا دعب ام ىلإ verbal support, reaching out for the other community with a sense of shared destiny"
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There are 2,246 miles between the two towns. Establishing links through education, health and youth groups.
Running campaigns on human rights issues and other urgent matters.
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THE CAMPAIGN
Twinned towns proudly declare their partners when you enter their districts; we want you to go one step further and gloriously emblazon your twin across your chest.
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TWINNING POSTS
This is Personal Twinning on a grand and public scale, where you can proudly declare your twin for all to see.
TWINNING
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TWINNING POSTS
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TWINNING
TWINNING POSTS
TWINNING
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The Twinning Oath We, ……………………………………… (name) and…………………………………………… (name), Mayors of ……………………………………… (country) and of ………………………………… (country) Freely elected representatives of our fellow-citizens, Certain that we act on behalf of the sincere wishes and real needs of our populations, Aware that our civilisations and peoples found their origins in our ancient free local communities, that the spirit of liberty was first recorded in the freedom won by them, and later, in the local self-governments they were able to found, Considering that history shall continue in a wider world, but that this world will be truly humane only in so far as men and women live freely in free cities, Convinced of the necessity of respecting the principle of subsidiarity, ffirming our value of respecting human rights, which we hold as inviolable and inalienable, Recognizing that the growing interdependence of different national societies necessitates an international, global democratic order, the foundation for a real peace, Convinced that the ties that bind the towns of our continent constitute a fundamental element upon the path towards developing European citizenship and thus promote a Europe of human dimensions Do take, on this day, a solemn oath According to the relationships established between our two countries, To maintain permanent ties between the governments of our municipalities in order to promote our dialogue, to exchange our experiences and to implement all joint activities which may foster mutual improvement in all domains that fall within our competences, To encourage and support exchanges between our fellow citizens in order to ensure, through greater mutual understanding and efficient cooperation, the true spirit of European brotherhood for our now common destiny, To act according to the rules of hospitality, with respect for our diversities, in an atmosphere of trust and in a spirit of solidarity, To guarantee for all people the possibility of participating in the exchanges between our two communities without discrimination of any form, To promote the universal values of liberty, democracy, equality and the rule of Law, through our exchanges and cooperation, Focus our efforts using all the means at our disposal to supporting the success of this essential undertaking for peace, progress and prosperity, which is: European Unity Place …………………………… Date …………………………