2015 Young Artist and Authors Showcase

Connecting Communities for Peace

and Prosperity Sister city relationships foster partnerships within the community and between international cities, counties, and states. Whether in person, online, or through the mail, exchanges of people and ideas facilitate community development and educational opportunities. The 2014

theme is an opportunity for youth to use artwork, poems, and essays to highlight the important role that exchanges play in connecting

people, cultures, and ideas.

Made possible through the generous support from

The Carvey Family

2015 Grand Prize, Poetry “A World Like No One Has Known”

Nathen Spitz Osage, IA

Words of discrimination, prejudice, and hate

Have become a common occurrence of late.

Across the desert or the plain,

Understanding begins to wane.

Differences become a focus,

And hate becomes a locust

Devouring everything in its way.

It lies in what we think and what we say,

Blood is shed and for what reasons?

Feelings of loathing come and go like seasons,

Until this cycle is broken,

Words like peace cannot be spoken.

Reaching across with a helping hand,

People can begin to take a stand.

A stand for culture and a stand for mutual respect,

A love for all that cannot be wrecked.

Not because it resides in promises or lies,

But because in differences true friendship survives.

Working together differences will not last.

A time for peace has long since passed.

It is up to our generation to make this idea true,

Together there is nothing that we cannot do.

Without action all of these words stand alone,

Together we can create a world like no one has known.

2015 Finalist, Poetry

“I Can” Delaney Taylor

Suffolk, VA

I can sit at home and watch the news,

Seeing violence and sorrow,

And I can do nothing.

I can wake up every morning, and go to sleep every night,

And I can go through a routine every day,

And I can do nothing.

But nothing will not get anything done.

I can do something.

I can stand up.

Not only for the injustices in my life,

But for the injustices in lives around the world.

One voice can cause a ripple,

And when conjoined with the voices of thousands,

We can make tidal waves.

So we can move mountains,

And we can end the hostility and hatred in our world.

We must simply believe that we can.

2015 Finalist, Poetry “The Pursuit of Peace”

Andrew Yancy Phoenix, AZ

We seem to continue an endless pursuit, in which our simple goal is peace yet our quest does not give fruit for war still fails to cease Our hindrance does not lie in our drive and does not rest upon our zeal for it is a peace that we strive that ignorance tends to steal It is prejudice that makes us blind and disunity that gets in our way making us unable to find this harmony in which we say Human equality is a truth, and acceptance makes us stronger unity must start with the youth to ensure that peace lasts longer As communities and nations began to connect the plant of prosperity begins to grow and where cooperation and agreement project the flowers of peace start to show It is impossible to bring world change alone and to try so is insanity for a person is but a single stone in the mountain called humanity

2015 Grand Prize, Essay “Connecting Communities for Peace and Prosperity”

Beibhinn Cullen Tullamore, Co. Offaly, Ireland

Families and individuals connect with people all around the world, but for what?

There’s enjoyment to be had and curiosity to be fed about different ways of life but connecting with people around the world isn’t just a want it’s a need. A need to survive, through ideas shared and thoughts expressed to help each other remain a strong and prosperous community that we have worked so hard and so long to build.

Connecting with different nations helps keep peace between countries and let everyone live a peaceful and happy life. Giving a helping hand to people who need it, compassion to people with misfortune and understanding to people who are misunderstood. Corresponding with others helps this world thrive and develop for the better and lets us learn from others mistakes.

Without international contact this world would be a reflection of confusion and disarray, it’s as developed and as peaceful as it is because of the communicating communities and support given even when it’s not asked. This tittle isn’t just words, there is meaning behind it, not just one but many and whatever way you pick it up is up to you, but in my head it means that sharing your life with others in your area and outside it helps yours and everyone else’s lives function and survive.

Students swap lives for a week and in that week they see the differences that separate their worlds and the similarities that combine them, in that short space of time they make a connection that could last a life time and proves that not only can friendships be made when there a thousand miles away but the connections made can drive and push them to continue on with the relation of two worlds made into one.

In conclusion, without the help of our friends abroad and our foreign community’s, it would be a dull and incoherent world full of lonely people with discombobulated lives. Connecting communities for peace and prosperity really does help everyone to flourish alongside each other and truly does leave this world a peaceful and prosperous place.

2015 Finalist, Essay “Embracing Communities for Overall

Prosperity” John Ramlogan

Suffolk, VA

Throughout history it has been proven that the most effective way to implement unity is through understanding and a willingness to cooperate. As unity is a stepping stone to prosperity, it becomes the deed of a community to assess recognition amongst all demographics. This prosperity can be attained at a global level, only through the flourishing of thoughts and ideas. These thoughts and ideas come from imaginative yet realistic thinkers that prompt a global community of thought provokers to aspire to solve the problems of the day. This propels them to test their hypotheses, to strive to make a better world, and to enhance the standards of life not only for comrades but also strangers.

The mold set forth by our forefathers, such as activists and political leaders that pertains to global mindedness is being taught to young people daily, whether through civic duties or education. Either way the community represents the medium in which our youth receive the valuable and worldly views that continue to shape our society. Our communities signify a familiarity of sorts for forward thinking people to revert back to when venturing, into a world full of injustice and cruelty. It is also our task as citizens to help community leaders abolish the aforementioned injustices that remain prevalent in all aspects of life. These leaders exhort the citizens of their towns and cities with information in regards to different opinions, cultures, and thought processes. There would be no admonishment of action instead there would be constructive suggestions to help benefit the empowerment of our communities, which in turn strengthen all municipalities within the world. This implicates that our leaders would instill morals that parallel the importance of peace and prosperity.

Peace should be the most essential trait emphasized by our communities. Tranquility is a catalyst for growth at an exponential rate, also our communities should use this attitude to interact with others, this is precisely why I revert back to the original fact that we must do our best to create a world we wish to live in. Communities that establish bonds with another community, such as that of the sister cities, are able to rely upon each other and exchange thoughts and ideas that promote cooperation. This camaraderie among different cultures is a way for the populace to recognize commonalities and contrasts within their respective societies.

The Promise of cooperation is evident, communities can make huge gains in the furthering of humanity, and this shows that anyone can prosper in ways ranging from a variety of positions however tranquility is almost always reached in this manner and it leads to life with less conflict that way mankind can truly return to a state of completing the tasks that prove to be most meaningful.

2015 Finalist, Essay “Connecting Communities”

Max Ragno Boynton Beach, FL

The fundamental problem that divides communities, be they in the same county

or on other sides of the globe, is the failure of people to properly communicate in the face of age old misconceptions about one another. Some ideologies and ideas take people into blocs or bunches, ignoring their value as individuals and treating them solely by basis of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender. Other schools of thought consider people as barely existent entities that exist only as part of a greater societal unit. These ideas are dangerous and divisive and fail to achieve the goals of Sister Cities International, which promotes cultural and economic exchanges between diverse individuals.

By promoting economic and cultural ties between individuals, businesspeople, educators, and professionals are able to gain from one another’s cultures and bring knowledge that is beneficial back to their own community. By bringing these gifts back to their communities, they tear down misconceptions and false claims about one another, replacing them with a need and a desire for continued ties.

These ties cannot be brought about by the state alone; in many cases, the number one reason for mistrust between two groups of people is not the people themselves, but their own governments. As long as there will be human beings, there will be original sin, selfishness, and greed. Why not harness this to bring about positive chance? Companies that invest in other nations do not only create jobs and improve living standards, but also connect employer and employees across global boundaries. Here, the profit incentive is a force for good, and can be used to shape the modern world for the better. Through voluntary individual action, trust can be restored, and from that fertile soil can the seeds of progress bloom. Violence between racial communities can be destroyed once and for all if individuals chose to invest in one another’s communities.

Another way to connect global communities is to focus less on what divides and more on what unites; this can only be achieved through constructive dialogue between peoples. If people were more willing to adopt the Golden Rule and the nonaggression principal as the guiding light in their economic and basic social relationships, much of the world’s problems would disappear. An aggressive stance creates fear, which only further spurs fear, loathing, and mistrust. Long running feuds can be overcome if brave steps are taken in the face of collective pressure, and independent decisions are made by those who desire to bring peace and understanding to their communities.

By allowing people to connect on their own initiative across borders, be it only one town over or on the other side of the world, people are able to tear down walls of bigotry and mistrust and replace it with the power of human ingenuity and communication. Individuals are clouded in mystery; the state is clouded by history. Only the individual can sew the fabric needed to create a more peaceful and globally integrated world.

U.S. Grand Prize Winner – Red Thread Kianna Vallarde

Hampton, VA

International Grand Prize Winner – The Peaceful Connection

Kanako Onishi Yao, Japan

Whole Danielle Bertulfo

Norfolk, VA

Piggyback Around the World Tamalika De

Culver City, CA

Peace of Me Maia Micou Suffolk, VA

Garden of Communities Andy Liu

Houston, TX

Bond

Ayaka Nakamura Narashino City, Japan

Peace Asako Okeya

Fukui City, Japan

In a United Impulse! Julia Sokolova

Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

Inclusiveness Symbiosis Sun Peiyuan Tianjin, China