Atlantic Ave Magazine August 2018

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Delray Beach Youth Ambassadors Visit Our Sister City
Seven Sister Cities Youth Ambassadors
from Delray Beach visited Miyazu, Japan.
This is the tenth group of students
that Sister Cities of Delray Beach has sent
to Miyazu, Japan since the program began
twenty years ago.
Miyazu is the hometown of George Morikami
who gave his land to Palm Beach County
when he died in 1976. This land became
the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens.
To honor George Morikami, a group
of Delray Beach citizens established a Sister
Cities relationship with Miyazu, Japan. Over
40 years later, the two cities continue this
friendship primarily through this student
exchange program and economic exchanges.
Every two years, Sister Cities of Delray
Beach selects seven high school students
who train for a year to become youth ambassadors
to Japan. Then, they travel to
Japan for a week where they stay with host
families in Miyazu and attend the local high
school. Since beginning the program, 64
students have visited Japan. Former Delray
Beach Mayor David Schmidt is the president
of Sister Cities of Delray Beach.
Sister City of Delray Beach was created by
the city commission in April, 1977 for the
purpose of establishing a Sister City affiliation
with Miyazu, Japan.
The mission is to promote friendship and
understanding between the citizens of Delray
Beach, Florida and our Sister Cities in Miyazu
(Japan), Moshi (Tanzania), Pesaro (Italy), and
Aquin (Haiti) by encouraging cultural, youth,
athletic and economic exchanges.
For more information on the Sister City program,
visit www.sistercitiesofdelraybeach.org.
34 | August 2018 | www.AtlanticAveMagazine.com