(Great Falls) – Four (4) Russian Leaders participating in the Open World Program will spend September 15-23, 2007 in Great Falls and surrounding communities examining ‘Accountable Governance’. The Advisory Commission on International Relationships (ACIR) for the City of Great Falls is hosting the delegation for Open World. Managed by the independent Open World Leadership Center at the Library of Congress, Open World Program is financed by congressional appropriation and private funding. The Program enables emerging Russian political and civic leaders to work with their U.S. counterparts and experience American-style democracy at the local level.
While in Great Falls, the Russian delegates will both learn and teach by discussing governance and accountability to citizens with municipal administrators, state, regional and local legislators, civic and political activists, journalists, non-profit leaders, Native American leaders and local business leaders.
This group will be the fifth delegation to visit Great Falls and hosted by ACIR in as many years according to ACIR Chairperson, Sandra Erickson. “We are delighted to provide this opportunity to both our visitors and our fellow citizens of Great Falls. The focus is to discuss or emphasize transparency, service delivery, citizen participation, strategic planning, public-private partnerships among other learning experiences,” stated Erickson.
“We are seeking volunteers to provide housing for these individuals. There are three participants, one government facilitator and one translator. We need five families to volunteer for these homestays,” continued Erickson. All guests speak some English and some speak fluent English. The guests will be busy during the days and some evenings but these homestays represent a valuable and rewarding aspect of the program for both delegates and the host families. “The personal connections and the chance to find commonalities with the foreign guests can be life changing,” according to Erickson who shared the feelings of one of last year’s host families. Call the following numbers for further information: Sandra Erickson at 452-0961 or Jay Buckley at 736-5200 or Charles Tyler at 952-4937.