Connecting Nashville to its sister city, Erbil

Have you met Nashville’s sisters? Sister cities, that is. If you didn’t know, the long-running Sister Cities Nashville program has formal partnerships with 10 international cities.

These partnerships strive to connect the people of Nashville to the people of the world. And they follow a nationwide mission established in the 1950s to carry out what’s known as “citizen diplomacy,” under the belief that exchanging cultural ideas builds understanding and fosters international peace.

One sister city is Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. WPLN reporter Rose Gilbert is currently on assignment in Erbil, and before she left, she and Khalil sat down to preview what she will be working on while there.

Guests:

• Sarah Lingo, executive director of Sister Cities Nashville
• Nawzad Hawrami, co-founder of Salahadeen Center
• Bill Purcell, former mayor of Nashville and board member with Sister Cities Nashville
• William Watson, student participant with Sister Cities Nashville
• Valentina Boulin, educator at Colegio ICEI in Mendoza, Argentina
• Rose Gilbert, WPLN’s temporary foreign correspondent