DELEGATION FROM UZBEKISTAN GETS IMMERSED IN LOCAL CULTURE
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND July 20, 2006. A high infant mortality rate in Uzbekistan has prompted some of the countries top maternal and child healthcare professionals to seek advice from local Maryland experts.
The delegation of eight medical professionals from Uzbekistan hopes to learn valuable techniques and generate new ideas that they can take back to share with their Uzbek counterparts. Group members cite an absence of modern literature and a lack of high performance equipment as other challenges that they face.
The World Trade Center Institute (WTCI) is hosting the group for the duration of their three week stay in Baltimore. WTCI has paired the group with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, JHPIEGO – A Johns Hopkins Affiliate, Baltimore City Department of Health, and the University of Maryland School of Nursing, among many other area organizations who are interested in sharing their best practices. "JHPIEGO has worked for more than 30 years in nearly 100 countries, Uzbekistan among them. We have welcomed the opportunity to work with WTCI in developing action plans to strengthen health care services in their country," said JHPIEGO President and CEO Dr. Leslie Mancuso.
Baltimore residents have eagerly welcomed the visitors into their homes. Acting as host families and hospitality hosts, residents share their favorite pieces of the American culture. “Maryland crabs at Nick’s Fishhouse was certainly a highlight for the visitors as we all swapped stories over crabs and cool drinks on the deck. While we taught them how to pick crabs one night, they taught my two children about some local Uzbek dances” said Deb Kielty, President & Executive Director – World Trade Center Institute.
This program is sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with acting program agent World Learning. World Learning for International Development's (WLID) programs in education, civil society and social change, and training and exchange are designed to develop the skills of individuals and strengthen the capacities of local organizations as effective advocates and agents of progress and social change.
About WTCI: Established in Baltimore in 1989 to help connect Maryland to the globe, today the World Trade Center Institute (WTCI) is the region’s premier private sector international business partner. Financed jointly by area businesses and the State of Maryland, WTCI operates as a non-profit membership organization.
More than 2,500 Maryland firms benefit from WTCI’s extensive global network, pragmatic international business programs and customized consulting. WTCI is a member of the World Trade Center Association, along with nearly 300 fellow World Trade Centers operating in major business cities around the world.