- It's a long, long way from
here to Timbuktu!
- By Brendan Lawrence
CARLOW could soon be twinned with one
of the world's most intriguing cities, Timbuktu. While many
people may believe that Timbuktu is a mythical place, used
to indicate somewhere far, far away, it is in fact a city in
the country of Mali in Africa.
Local historian Michael Purcell has his
sights firmly set on achieving this goal, having already
secured the twinning of Carlow with the city of Tempe in
Arizona 11 years ago. "I am working to get Carlow twinned
with Timbuktu," said Michael.
"We are 11 years twinned with Tempe in
Arizona and that has been a hugely successful programme.
Every year we have student exchanges and last weekend we had
a visit from 20 people from Tempe, including Sue Lofgren who
was recently awarded with the Volunteer of the Year award
for the entire United States for her work in Timbuktu. I am
responsible for the twinning with Tempe and it is one of the
most successful twinning’s in Ireland. Timbuktu is also a
twin city of Tempe and I have met the mayor of Timbuktu in
Tempe and I have been working on getting Carlow twinned with
the Mali city for a year or two now, along with the support
of several local councillors including Jennifer Murnane
O'Connor. I am trying to promote this as we have a lot to
learn from each other. Timbuktu was once a great academic
centre," he added.
Over the weekend, 20 representatives
visited and toured Carlow taking in the sights and sounds of
the county on an August weekend. It was one of the many
visits that have taken place over the past 11 years as the
relationship between both places develops and deepens and
the group are said to have enjoyed themselves immensely.
Sue Lofgren was one of the first to
make contact with Michael Purcell regarding the twinning of
Carlow and Tempe and her work in other areas of the twinning
process including her huge developments in Timbuktu were
celebrated recently with her volunteer award in America.
Over the years, this hardworking woman
has helped to establish seven wells in the desert city along
with myriad of other supplies and animals and ingredients to
make life better for the local people and Michael Purcell
believes that such a twinning with Carlow could only be of
benefit to both places.
Source: Michael
Purcell & Carlow Nationalist 14th Aug 2009
Tempe
in Arizona |
Timbuktu
Mali
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