There is a wealth of history in the stories told by Iowans involved in person-to-person citizen diplomacy. Our nine Iowa Sister States have provided rich experiences to our states, and our volunteers, home hosts and others have shared some of them, below. Scroll through and click for the full narrative!
If you would like to send us your own tale of working with our Sister States, you can submit your story here >
If you would like to send us your own tale of working with our Sister States, you can submit your story here >
| An Iowan family changes a Russian's outlook on the Cold WarBelow is a true story shared by Roger N. about Yuri, a young Ukrainian professional, who came to Iowa in 1996. Read to find out how a welcoming Iowan family changed Yuri's outlook on Americans after the Cold War.... "Back in 1996, Iowa signed a sister state agreement with the Cherkasy Oblast or region of Ukraine. In September of that year, Iowa sent its first official delegation to Cherkasy, of which I was a member. Because of that newly formed sister state relationship, the Iowa International Center (then called the Iowa Council for International Understanding) wrote a federal grant to bring Ukrainian lawyers, judges, entrepreneurs, and local government officials to Iowa to study democratic principles and free market economy business. I became the first project manager of that program and spent entire days and weeks with each group. Our first group of participants arrived in November. They were local government officials from Cherkasy. One of our groups were business men and women from Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. DP as they called it for short and Dnipro as it is called now, was a “secret or closed city,” where foreigners were not allowed to visit from 1959 to 1987. Its missile plant became a significant factor in the arms race of the Cold War. One of my grant participants in that group was a retired military officer, who now was on reserve status His name was Yuri and I placed him with a home host who also retired, but from the U.S. military. Well, Yuri and his home host family fell in love with each other,’ and they would take him on cultural excursions on his free weekends. One weekend they took him to Omaha and visited the SAC airbase there. Yuri was enjoying himself, but suddenly became rather quiet. His host family asked him “What was the matter?” Yuri softly replied. During the Cold War, he had an important responsibility. If the phone call came, Yuri was responsible for pushing the button that launched a rocket with a nuclear warhead on it. Yuri was careful to say, that actually he would have turned a key, and not have pushed a button. The results would have been the same. But what made Yuri’s eyes moist, as he looked around the visiting area of that airbase and examined a map of the United States, was something only he knew. He explained what he had just realized. This was the intended destination of the rocket in that silo to which Yuri had the key to launch. And if he had received that order, the radiation or nuclear fallout from the blast may have killed his beloved Iowa host family as well. That realization was a powerful moment for Yuri, and I suspect for his host family. It was just personal enough for me and my involvement in bringing Cold War enemies together, that I will never forget that moment either, even though I was not physically there. Ironically, when Yuri’s group arrived in Iowa, I was about to reject him as a grant participant and send him right back to Ukraine. His English language skills were below the standard of fluency required by the grant. For some reason I changed my mind. Perhaps there are no accidents in the universe." To share your own story, please click here. |
| Iowa Farming and Stavropol, RussiaSasha to school for show and tell (photo – 1986 Kindergarten class at Coon Rapids Bayard). Stavropol officials were hosted in 1989 and lead a trade delegation and signed many deals with Iowa companies and met with Terry Branstad. It led to agreements for purchases of seed corn, medical supplies for Iowa hospitals from Russia, Soviet athletes to compete in the Drake relays and so much more. My grandparents also went over a total of 5 times and stayed with Sasha and Peter’s family. They met with Russian officials and toured the agricultural academy, schools, and villages. Victor Luschenko, who was one of my Uncle’s closet friends and a high-ranking soviet official, spent many holidays with our family. Those formative years and influences lead me to become an Iowa Sister State Programing Intern in the Spring of 2010. I now serve as part of the Hebei Committee, thanks again, to the citizen diplomacy displayed by my family and hosting Chinese delegations. We just celebrated the 60th anniversary of citizen diplomacy and Iowa’s original sister state relationship in Coon Rapids last year. I had the pleasure with my cousins, on the site of the home farm where Khrushchev came to visit, to meet with Russian officials and an agricultural ambassador and unveil the statue given to my Great Uncle John before his death by the Russians as a gift (photo - It is a replica of the Statue in front of the U.N. It says "we shall beat our swords into plowshares.)”. To share your own story, please click here. |
| Kenn Yu, shares his personal experience with the Sister State relationship between Iowa and Hebei ChinaOne of our newest Board Members, Kenn Yu, shares his personal experience with the Sister State relationship between Iowa and Hebei China, and the ongoing importance of citizen diplomacy… "13 years ago, when I first boarded the transpacific flight bounding for the United States from Shanghai, I would never have thought that I would meet the future president of China in Iowa. I came to the United States in the summer of 2007 as an international student attending Drake University. I soon became involved with the local Chinese American community thanks to Drake’s close tie to the Des Moines community. In the spring of 2011, I received a call to assist with a prominent Chinese delegation visit to Des Moines, which included a component of visiting Drake where I could serve as a natural ambassador. The visit was sponsored by Principal and Iowa Sister States, and the head of the Chinese delegation was Madam Li Xiaolin, who was a close childhood friend of then Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, and an advocate for citizen diplomacy in China. That short one day visit, later became the seed of a series Iowa – China people to people exchanges which many of you are very familiar with. I had the opportunity to attend the grand reception hosted by then Iowa Governor Terry Branstad for President Xi's 2012 visit to Iowa, and played a key role as a Principal employee for the grand celebration of the 30th anniversary of sister state relationship between Hebei and Iowa in 2013 – till today, I am deeply grateful for having the privileges to be part of this story. A story that began in 1985 when Iowa Sister States planted a seed through citizen diplomacy by hosting a small agriculture delegation from Hebei’s capital city, Shijiazhuang, where President Xi was a county official in his early 30s. While the U.S. and China are strategic competitors in many areas, the people to people exchange provides an alternative platform for peace loving citizens of both countries to continue the dialogue and efforts of finding common ground. The work that Iowa Sister States does is especially important under the current environment where people are often districted by the noise of media and institutions. We, the people, are all citizens of the world. It’s important to have competitions, but also important to build cooperation. A bright future requires every citizen to do their part, and Iowa Sister States provides a bridge to help people fulfill some of these important responsibilities." To share your own story, please click here. |
| Jerry Perkins tells his story of working with Iowa Sister State Stavropol and the dawning of their agricultural revolution“By learning about each other at a citizen level, we learned of our mutual interest in living peacefully together. Americans and Russians, we learned, are a lot alike. In both countries, parents want the best for their children and the children want to learn and grow and have fun. All that can be accomplished in a peaceful world. It cannot be if there is war and distrust and hatred.” Continuing our series of Stories of Citizen Diplomacy and Travel is Jerry Perkins, who was the ABC Director in our Sister State of Stavropol, Russia. Ready more excerpts from Jerry’s captivating experience below. (To share your own story, please follow the link - https://bit.ly/3kOQxsW) “My name is Jerry Perkins and I retired recently after more than 40 years as a journalist, with the exception of the five years when I worked from 1988-93 as the public affairs director of the Iowa Corn Growers Association-Iowa Corn Promotion Board. During the final year of that job, from May to December 1992, I took a leave of absence to serve as the director of the Russian-American Agri-Business Center (ABC) in Stavropol, Russia. I was the first Iowan to serve as the ABC’s director, and served with my Russian counter-part, Victor Varshovsky, a high-ranking official with the Stavropol Krai ministry of agriculture. The ABCs were set up as partnerships between the State of Iowa and the respective ministries of agriculture in the states (krais) where they were located. It was in October 1991 that John Chrystal asked me if I was interested in being the first director of the ABC in Russia. I said I was interested in going because I had always been interested in Russian agriculture since the Khrushchev visit to Iowa and the massive purchases of American farm commodities in the 1970s. My visit to Krasnodar in August 1991 also had sparked my interest in learning more about Russia and the Russian people. I also thought it was imperative that Russian agriculture should become more market-oriented so it could unleash its tremendous potential to help feed a hungry world. It was decided that Stavropol was to be the location of the ABC in Russia because of its Sister State relationship to the State of Iowa through the Iowa Sister States program. Stavropol also is a heavily agricultural area that could serve as a potential market for Iowa-produced agricultural products such as farm machinery, seed, and chemicals… Another reason I decided to manage the ABC was that I was able to bring my wife and our three sons (ages 14, 12, and 10 at the time) to Stavropol so they could experience living in a foreign country, learn a new language, adapt to another culture, make friends with children from a different country, and experience what it is like to live in another part of the world. My wife and the three boys arrived in Russia in July and, in the fall, the boys attended School No. One, an English-speaking school in Stavropol and they became good friends with many Russian boys their own age… We need more citizen diplomacy by Iowans living the legacy of Roswell Garst and John Chrystal to bring our two peoples together, no matter what our leaders may do. “Peace through agriculture” can have a positive impact on lessening tensions in the world. Let it be so.” To share your own story, please click here. |
| High Schoolers from Iowa and Yamanashi Learn the True Meaning of Citizen Diplomacy"As high schoolers, your world is a bubble, limited largely to your classmates, parents, a teacher or two, but when we experienced a true meshing of cultures - a band of teens from Des Moines and another from Kofu - I think we were all changed for the better. " Iowa native, Anna Swan, shares her story of how a high school band trip to our sister state of Yamanashi, Japan, shaped her future studies and career! Submit your story of travel, volunteering, or international friendship by clicking here Full story: “When I was 18, our high school band director (Randy Hoepker) led us on the most amazing trip to the Yamanashi Prefecture in Japan. While we first stopped in Tokyo to stroll through Yoyogi Park and play with every toy at Kiddy Land in Harajuku, it was our time spent in Kofu that stuck with me forever. As high schoolers, your world is a bubble, limited largely to your classmates, parents, a teacher or two, but when we experienced a true meshing of cultures - a band of teens from Des Moines and another from Kofu - I think we were all changed for the better. One of my fondest memories is a handful of my friends and I sitting in a circle on the floor with a bunch of the Japanese girls at lunch. We could barely communicate through language, yet we exchanged snacks and laughed a lot. Once the day came that we had to leave, these same girls took a lot of pictures with us at our final reception, an evening marked by lots of tears and hugs. And when our Des Moines troupe was at last on our charter bus, slowly driving away, our new Japanese friends came running after us -- shouting, crying, waving, and throwing love hearts. Although we have had no contact in over ten years, these kids totally changed my world for the better. It informed my return to Asia and struck a passion for language learning, it instilled in me a love and respect for intercultural communication (a subject I have now taught at the university level!), and it inspired me to continue to travel (when possible again!) and continue to learn from others, connecting across our differences.” To share your own story, please click here. |
| Veneto, Italy and One Rider's Experience with Iowa's RAGBRAISince 1991, Iowa Sister States has invited over 150 international riders to participate in RAGBRAI, representing 4 of our 9 Sister States! Alessandra Tormene shares an insight on her experience riding on the ISS Veneto Italy team, below. https://forms.gle/SYFLRSMCVgbU3Kbi6 “When I joined Ragbrai in 2004, it was the fourth time that riders from Italy participated. I was invited by my friend Maurizio Marcassa, the President of the Cycle Club, under whose umbrella the riders were coordinated. I did six Ragbrais. Many years later, I am aware that there was a life before and a life after Ragbrai for me and my family, because it was not a one spot experience, starting and ending with the ride, but a lifelong one that has affected me and my family in more than one way. I have been blessed with the friendship of people that are very special and dear to me, Amy and Tom Worthen, the Lavalles, Eugenio and Dee Coco, just to mention a few. I have also made new friends among the Italian riders that I have kept in touch with, despite our lives have taken different paths. There is a special bond between those who have shared special moments, like we did. So, if one word can summarize Ragbrai and the Iowa Sister States connection, that is friendship, whose flame has continued to glow under the ashes, ignited by the warm welcome that we had received from the Iowans. I have fond memories of the past Directors Phil Latessa, Luca Berrone and Kim Heidemann and I am grateful to Paolo Bartesaghi for keeping the relations alive. I have tried to give back a little piece of the generosity that I have received from the Iowans. I have guided around several Iowans in their Italian travels, I have organized a few business trips It is not for me to to say whether I succeeded, but I have tried to do my best.” To share your own story, please click here. |
Continuing our series of Stories of Citizen Diplomacy and Travel is Janet Heinicke, longtime ISS volunteer and supporter of people-to-people exchanges. 💕 Read below and submit your own stories clicking here. I left Russia with one resolve that has guided me since then...whatever I could do to help others find those likenesses I will try, with all my heart, to do!” "My stories begin in the late eighties and the early nineties of the previous century. The days and months of the ending century I remember as being a time of optimism. Particularly during the time that Gorbachev was the “main man” in governance in what had been the former Soviet Union there seemed to be an openness to visitors ideas and practices from the “western world”, including the United States. Interest in exchange visits began to flourish following important and practical exchanges of ideas and practical applications of agricultural practice between agricultural leaders who visited each other in both Russia and the United States. These agricultural visits were followed with exchange visits between representatives of both the “west' and “the east” attempting to explore and grow in understanding of cultural differences. That is how it happened that I found myself waiting in a Dutch airport to be joined by five other women who were mostly artists. They were to join me on a “first ever” visit of women artists to the southernmost province of the former Soviet Union. The six of us had traveled from the States to Moscow, and from Moscow traveled by automobile to this southernmost area. We were met, as we came into the city of Stavropol (our host city) by women, who had waited patiently by the side of the road, holding bouquets of flowers in their hands with which to greet us. During our weeklong visit we met officials of the government; we toured farms and factories; we heard, to some extent, about the needs of the agricultural leaders in the area. We met with women from the Kria (district). Of most importance, however, will be, forever, what we talked about! Our group was housed in a hotel; I had a single room since I had some leadership responsibilities. My memory is “engraved “with the memories I have, not of the hotel room, nor of the food we were served, or even of the way the places we went looked. (That was a little scary...since I did not speak Russian and the clerk at the desk could not understand me!) The “ever important memory” for me is what we talked about. Whenever we had a chance the six Iowa women and the six women from Russia talked about schools, children, opportunities for growth and jobs development… Just what we would have talked about at “home”. The morning we left to return to the states, we gathered for one last time. The woman who had given up her bed so that I could have the privilege of a single room spoke to me through her translator. She “thumped” on her chest and then on mine and said to me (emphatically) “We are more alike than different!” I left Russia with one resolve that has guided me since then...whatever I could do to help others find those likenesses I will try, with all my heart, to do!" To share your own story, please click here. |
