Twin towns or sister cities are a form of legal and social agreement between towns, cities, counties, oblasts, prefectures, provinces, regions, states, and even countries in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties. The modern concept of town twinning, conceived after the Second World War in 1947, was intended to foster friendship and understanding between different cultures and between former foes as an act of peace and reconciliation, and to encourage trade and tourism. In recent times, town twinning has increasingly been used to form strategic international business links between member cities.
Salzburg's twin city is the village of Teniente Morales, Paraguay is in a very poor economic and social state. It only has 1000 inhabitants and is located 25 kilometers from the major center of the country. The major source of income for families is from their small, 5 hectare farms. Farmers plant cotton, mandioca, beans, sugar cane, bananas, and yerba mate. However, the cotton prices have fallen and it is not profitable to plant cotton anymore. The are not as many vegetable gardens. There are dirty roads, a small care facility, electricity but no running water.
This information is pretty sufficient in order to devise a plan, however, more details should be known to make it more effective. For example, information about previous projects should be provided (if there were any) and whether they were successful or not. Also, we should know how and where the budget is spent and distributed. In addition, the income of families per person should be known. After all this information is known, it will be much easier to focus on a certain aspect of the community.
The budget that we have is 25,000 euros, which is not as much for developed parts of the world, but enough to make some changes in a less developed village. To help this particular community, we will focus on the water source, health facilities, and the roads, which is an important aspect in a social and economic prosperity of the region. If all those are renovated and updated in a way, there is a bigger chance for prosperity of the region, both economical and social.
The distribution of the budget:
7,000 euros will go to the renovation and expansion of the health care facility
9,000 euros will go to building and improvement of the roads
5,000 euros will go an establishment of an appropriate water source with clean water and so that it can be accessible to all members of the community
4,000 euros of the left over will be divided among the people of the village for their personal needs and in order to improve their living conditions
If the requirement of the established project are met and all goals are achieved, the community will have a great chance to reduce poverty, ensure prosperity and economic and social development. The roads will improve transportation, health facilities will ensure the need help in case of emergencies, the water source will provide enough water for all members of the community.
