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The Archangel Committee sponsors numerous programs:
PEOPLE TO PEOPLE OUTBOUND EXCHANGE The People To People Outbound Exchange organizes an annual exchange of adults from Greater Portland to Archangel, Russia during June of each year. PEOPLE TO PEOPLE INBOUND EXCHANGE The People To People Inbound Exchange organizes an annual exchange of adults from Archangel to Greater Portland during October of each year. The High School Exchange Program sponsors numerous student exchanges including an annual simultaneous exchange of American high school students and chaperones traveling to Archangel, and Russian high school students and chaperones traveling to Greater Portland during the month of April each year. Additionally, the High School Exchange Program sponsors year long and semester exchanges of high school students and teachers. In recent years, some of these programs have been partially funded with grant awards from the United States Information Agency. In previous years, the High School Exchange Program has sponsored exchanges of Russian youth attending regional summer camps The Cultural Exchange Program organizes periodic exchanges of artists, musicians, dancers, and other professionals in the cultural arts. In 1996 two American artists are traveling to Archangel, and the Cultural Exchange Program is planning for two Russian artists to travel to America in October. The Medical Committee has previously provided shipments of critically needed supplies to our sister city during the period immediately following the break up of the Soviet Union. The Crafts and Cookbook Programs provide a means for the Committee to raise additional funds. We offer highly selected crafts obtained from Archangel, Russia for resale to interested parties. The critically acclaimed cookbook, Flavors of the Russian North, was produced jointly by authors from Greater Portland and Archangel. It is offered for sale by the Committee or in quality retail establishments in support of the High School Exchange Program. LEGAL EXCHANGE / Rule of Law Project
The Maine-Archangel Legal Exchange is part of a larger exchange program coordinated by the Russian American Rule of Law Consortium (RAROLC), a non-profit corporation founded and based in Vermont. The Founder of RAROLC is Justice John Dooley, a Judge who sits on the Vermont Supreme Court. The Consortium pairs the legal systems of five U.S. states with the legal systems of five Russian Oblasts: (1) Vermont and Karelia Significant funding is provided by the U.S. Government to conduct meaningful and productive legal exchanges and projects. The Executive Director of the Consortium is Ms. Karin Bourassa. She can be reached at:
Justice Dooley has provided us with the following historical overview of the Consortium: RULE OF LAW DEVELOPING LEGAL PARTNERSHIPS IN NORTHWEST RUSSIA Since its inception in 1994, the Consortium worked almost exclusively with Vermont and Karelia for nearly three years, concentrating on supporting the new bar association training judges and curriculum development at Petrozavodsk State University Law Department. With concrete achievements in Karelia, USAID and ARD/Checchi began to redirect the project from continuing to support the development of the Karelia legal system to rolling out the Karelia model to other regions of Russia, partnered with other states. Thus, in 1996, we began the process of establishing new legal partnerships when we invited representatives of the Maryland legal community to meet with representatives of the Leningrad Oblast legal community to observe our programs in Petrozavodsk. Under the leadership of Maryland Court of Appeals Judge Alan Wilner, the Maryland/Leningrad partnership took off, and Maryland judges and lawyers have continued with their Leningrad partners to put on high quality programs in diverse areas of the law. In 1997, we established a partnership between Maine and Archangel. In 1998, we developed two new partnerships between New Hampshire and Vologda, and Rochester, New York and Novgorod. Each of the new partnerships has its own identity. Maryland/Leningrad developed out of a sister state relationship that focused on commerce between the regions. As a result, the partners have focused on seminars in commercial and business law and the legal partnership has become an integral part of the overall sister state relationship. The Maine/Archangel partnership grew from an existing Sister City Relationship between Greater Portland and the City Archangel. The legal partnership had its initial focus between the law schools largely because the leader of Archangel legal community for the project was the Dean of the law school, Tatiana Zykina. The law schools have established a legal clinic at Pomor State University law department. Meanwhile, the judges are working on establishing a system of precedent in the Arkhangel Regional and Arbitrazh Courts and Justice Caroline Glassman of the Maine Supreme Court is seeking funding for a demonstration system. While we may have started as the Vermont/Karelia program and its "flock", we have grown into equal participants in the process of assisting in the development of the rule of law in Russia. To bring us all together on a common agenda, representatives of the legal partnerships meet annually in the summer of each year. We find as we talk that we have tremendous strength in
a unified and cooperative approach to our work. We can bring tremendous
expertise to bear on any problem and have the local contacts and working
relationships necessary to implement projects effectively. We also have
the skills to find the resources to support our solutions. The Maine-Archangel DOT Exchange is part of a larger exchange program coordinated by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration and the Russian Federal Highway Agency. The Director of International Programs at the U.S. Federal Highway Administration is Ms. Tracy Bush. She can be reached at: Federal Highway Administration She has provided us with the following description of her Russian program: HIGHWAY COOPERATION "Sister State" Relationships between Russian Oblasts and U.S. States In 1998, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) refocused its Russia program to involve Russian Oblast organizations as well as Russia's federal agency, the Russian Highway Agency. Russia resembles the U.S. in that the majority of road maintenance and operation takes place at the state level. In order to reach Russia's states, the FHWA invited several U.S. states to participate in "Sister State" relationships with their Russian counterparts. The purpose of these partnerships is to provide Russia's Oblasts with the technology and management information they need to carry out free-market reforms in the highway sector and to improve their highway networks. The states presently involved in a "Sister State" relationship are Maryland (with the Leningrad Oblast), Kentucky (with the Perm Oblast), Pennsylvania (with the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast), and Maine (with the Archangel Oblast). The criteria used in selecting Russian Oblasts for partnerships with U.S. states include (1) a reform-minded governor, (2) a progressive highway administration, (3) a willingness to co-finance partnership activities, and (4) an interest in establishing a Technology Transfer Center (TTC). We work closely with the Russian Association of Highway Administrators (RADOR) to determine which of its members are best suited for partnerships with U.S. states. The joint efforts of Maryland, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Maine with their Russian partners has generated a great deal of enthusiasm within the Russian highway community. Several TTC's have been created in Russia and others are in the formation process. Our experience has shown that here are three essential components to a successful "Sister State" highway relationship: (1) the political support of state and Oblast governors, (2) the sharing of management practices between Russian and U.S. Departments of Transportation, and (3) the creation of TTC's in the Oblasts. Oblast and state delegations have been visiting one another on a regular basis in order to learn first-hand about the management structures and road technology used by their counterparts. In 1999, Pennsylvania and Maryland both hosted high-level delegations from their "Sister States". Kentucky hosted an intern for a month, and Maine welcomed a high-level delegation from Archangel in February-March 2000. This past spring and summer, each state sent a return delegation to Russia. Also, North Carolina is reactivating its partnership with the Krasnodar Highway Administration by hosting a delegation in October 2000. These delegations are co-financed by the states, the FHWA and the Russian Oblasts. A major goal is to connect all of the Russian Technology Transfer Centers with the larger Technology Transfer community. In 1999, two technology transfer coordinators from Russia participated in the Annual LTAP meeting in Washington, D.C., and in 2000, one coordinator attended this meeting. In 2001, we hope that each Russian "Sister State" will send its representative to this important venue for the exchange of ideas amongst technology transfer practitioners. Three American doctors from the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia attended a World Health Organization (WHO) conference in Archangel in September 2000. The American delegation was led by Paul Siegel, a medical epidemiologist; at the conference, they networked with 14 doctors from various Russian regions, 6 doctors from the Russian Ministry of Health in Moscow, and one doctor from the United Kingdom. The conference was part of WHO's countrywide non-communicable disease intervention program (CINDI), which has the goal of improving a nation's health and quality of life by reducing premature death, disease and disability. CINDI's overall objective is to enable member nations to: develop integrated disease prevention and health promotion measures as part of their primary health care system for preventing non-communicable diseases (NCD) by simultaneously reducing the common risk factors (smoking, unbalanced nutrition, alcohol abuse, low physical activity, psychosocial stress), and thereby reducing morbidity caused by the corresponding major NCD (including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, accidents, diabetes and mental disorders); establish effective collaborative mechanisms and methodologies for integrated, intersectoral NCD prevention and control; and provide participating countries with a framework for activities to preventing and controlling such risk factors as smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, obesity, excessive alcohol consumption, as well as to addressing their social and environmental determinants. CINDI is active in 23 nations and has 14 sites within Russia. For more information about CINDI, go to the WHO website at www.who.dk/zoro/inv/cindi01.htm. CDC Atlanta is also involved in a major project in Russia focusing on chronic disease prevention. The pilot site for this project in Russia is Chelyabinsk, where Paul Siegel traveled after leaving Archangel. While in Archangel, Paul distributed written materials about the sister city relationship to the attendees and led a toast at the conference banquet at a restaurant near the Dvina Hotel (pictured below).  |
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