Most of the delegation from Ghazni, Afghanistan, in front of the Hayward City Hall withCity Councilman Bill Quirk (front, second from right) and Humira Ghilzai, (front far left)

co-founder of the Ghazni-Hayward Sister City Committee.

Slideshow byBruce GreenChairman,Ghazni-HaywardSister CityCommittee

Phase 2 ofUS State Dept.

Program whichUtilized the

Sister City

June 5 - 11, 2011

Slideshow Contents:Examples of Good Governance:� Cal State East Bay� Local City Administration� Union Sanitary District� Ardenwood Historic Park

+ Media Adventures &Future Sister City Initiatives

INTRODUCTION:

This was the highestlevel delegation fromAfghanistan ever tocome to this area ofCalifornia where somany of theirfellow Afghans nowreside. To prepare fortheir visit I workedhard with othermembers of thecommittee to set upthe schedule andmeet the criteria ofthe StateDepartment whichwas to exposethem to models ofgood governance. The Mayor and Governor of Ghazni observe a

peaceful demonstration on the steps of SanFrancisco City Hall–an unplanned example ofgood governance?

Dr. Mo Qayoumi, president of CalState University East Bay leads a tour

of the campus with Governor MusaKhan of Ghazni Provence.

Mayor Michael Sweeney of Haywardmeets Mayor Basir of Ghazni City.

I noted the sense of awefrom the Ghazni delegatesduring their tour of CalState University East Bay(CSUEB) as they realizedthe size & sophisticationof the campus that Dr.Qayoumi has been leadingfor the last 5 years.Minister Pushtun said hehas a new respect for Dr.Qayoumi as a new breedof Afghan hero.Now that Dr. Qayoumi istaking the helm of an evenlarger institution, SanJose State University(SJSU) he will have evenmore influence as anAfghan-American.

Visiting the CSUEB History Dept. Exhibit onAfghanistan. (Left to Right: Dr. Mo Qayoumi,Minister Pushtun (Special Advisor to thePresident of Afghanistan), Governor MusaKhan, Stetson Sanders, State Dept. Officerassigned to Ghazni Provencal ReconstructionTeam (PRT), and Omar Sultan, DeputyDirector of Ministry of Culture in Afghanistan.

Example # 1

SJSU already has anexchange program with the

University of Herat in Afghanistan.If you are willing to help form aSister City partnership between

San Jose and Herat, pleasecontact me.

Cutting Edg

eSt

uff

City AdministrationExample # 2

Besides the tour of San FranciscoCity Hall & photo ops with Mayor Lee(top and bottom), the workshop withcontroller Harvey Rose was tops!ð

Yes! We foundexamples of good governancein San Francisco and Hayward!

Above, the delegation ishonored at the HaywardCity Council meeting.

At left, they are in aworkshop with HaywardMayor Michael Sweeneyand Councilman Salinas.

Good Governance?

Good Governance: Union Sanitary District

Districts are unique regional governing bodieswith an elected board that handle specific taskslike sewage treatment. The entire board of USDwelcomed the Ghazni delegation and shared arelevant slide presentation with a tour of thefacility. A good report is on their websitehttp://www.unionsanitary.com/whatsNew.htm (where I got these photos). Special Thanks toAndy Morrison (in hardhat), my friend and formerneighbor and one of the USD managers .

Example # 3

The tour of the Patterson Mansionwas a highlight for the delegatesbecause the preserved Victorianculture reminded them of home.

Example # 4

“That’s still how we do it back inAfghanistan!” they exclaimed.Blacksmithing, spinning wheels,cooking with word-burning stoves,ironing clothes with an iron heatedon the stove, etc.

The Guest Room

The fanciest roomwas to honor guests, whichresonated with the Afghan

culture of hospitality.

This visit was relevantbecause Ghazni is beinghonored in 2013 as aCenter of IslamicCivilization and theywant to showcase their

rich history.

The Ghazni journalists were included in the delegation for more than justcovering the story back in Afghanistan. They were also to be exposed to theirprofessional counterparts and inspired to better practices and higheraspirations in their profession. So I tried to find a way to enable thejournalists to have some special activities awayfrom the shadow of the dignitaries. Thishappened primarily through a tour I arranged atChannel 7 News studio in San Francisco.

(L to R) Director Sarwary, Ghazni Department ofInformation; Mirwais Arya, producer for TOLONews TV, Aref Yaqobi, reporter for the BBCRadio Dari Service; Hussain Murtazawi, deputydirector for Hasht Sob Magazine

Meeting with Channel 7 managing news editor

A film crew was going to join us for the ferry tripto SF, but this story was preempted by thebreaking news of Congressman Weiner’ssextext scandal.

The first time theseland-locked Afghanshad been on the ocean.

Sister Cities were launched inthe early 50’s with the activesupport of President Dwight D.Eisenhower, a victorious generalof WW2. The first sister citieswere established to help rebuildwar-ravaged cities in Japan andGermany.

-President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Ribbon cutting ceremony in Afghanistanwith Ambassador Karl Eikenberry (R)and Governor Musa Khan opening thephotography exhibit of Arif Yakobi (L),one of the journalists & photographersthat participated in the GhazniDelegation visit to California in June.

The Ghazni-Hayward Sister CityCommittee plans to have him back inNovember for a special exhibit of hisphotography at their November 3rdevent. Mark your calendar!

September 11, 2011: Tenth Anniversary MemorialTurning the 9-11 Curse into Blessing;

Where do we go from here?At this interfaith event we will introduce initiatives to start two newsister city relationships. See flyer for details: 9-11 Memorial flyer

November 3, 2011: The Hayward Ghazni Sister City presents:Celebrate Ghazni Afghanistan Yesterday and TodayFeaturing Arif Yakobi and his amazing photography gallery andmore. Check out the HGSCC facebook page for updates.

Why try to start new Sister Cityinitiatives in Fremont and San Jose?Fremont is the natural location for a Sister Cityrelationship with Kabul, the capitol of Afghanistan. ToAfghans, Fremont is famous as “Little Kabul” becauseof the large number of Afghans who live there.San Jose is a good candidate for a new Sister Cityrelationship with Herat, Afghanistan. San Jose StateUniversity (SJSU) has an exchange program with theirSchool of Journalism and Herat University. And the newpresident of SJSU is Dr. Mo Qayoumi.

On October 29, I will share a PowerPoint presentation about the Ghazni-Hayward exchangeadventure at the NorCal Sister Cities Conference in Orinda, CA, and will join the NorCal board.

Here are some opportunities:

u

v

www.sister-cities.org

Future Sister City Action

Rev. Bruce GreenExecutive Facilitator

Board Member, Afghan CoalitionChairman, Ghazni-Hayward Sister City Committee

Cell: (510) 828-4561 Email: greenbbf@aol.com

For tax exempt donations to support Bridge Buildingmake check out to "FCM Foundation"

c/o Centerville Presbyterian Church4360 Central Ave. Fremont, CA 94536

Special thanks to

and the US Embassy in Kabulfor the generous grant that

made this exchange possible.(510) 745-1680 AfghanCoal@aol.com