(Sept. 15, 2016) After spending several weeks overseas, Berlin Town Administrator Laura Allen back at it on Monday, sitting in her usual seat on the top right corner of the dais during a mayor and council meeting in Town Hall.
Of course, she brought slides to show off to the audience.
Allen had been visiting the Philippines and Malaysia as part of a U.S. State Department program with the International City/County Management Association. Earlier this year, that same joint program had sent two women, Crisanta Rodriguez and Zalikha Wan Zaharuddin, to Berlin.
“President Obama created [the program] to bring closer ties to the United States and emerging leaders in Southeast Asia,” Allen said.
She spent the majority of her time in the Philippines, where she said she was warmly received. When Rodriguez and Zaharuddin came to Berlin, officials greeted the two women with a “welcome to Berlin” sign. Allen received a similar greeting overseas.
“We could tell we were going to be welcomed very well. We saw a sign outside of the village that [Rodriguez’s] aunt is the mayor of,” Allen said. “This was a sign that we were in for a very warm welcome and a wonderful time.”
In the Philippines, Allen said she had several meetings with local government officials, met with U.S. officials in the region, and toured the Caramoan National Park, where Rodriguez has worked on a project that balances environmental stewardship and tourism.
Allen helped hand out food and supplies to children in the area, which she said was largely impoverished.
She also visited Bulusan Volcano Natural Park, which is run through a partnership of government agencies, nonprofits and a private operator. Similar to what the town hopes to do with Berlin Falls Park, a former Tyson’s Chicken plant, Bulusan turned an undeveloped area into a large nature park.
“There were two things that I took from my visit to this particular park that I think we might look at replicating here,” Allen said. “One is the floating building … I love the idea of having some kind of a nature center or meeting space that floats on our pond as a way of providing an opportunity for recreation or education programs to children.”
The second was a “tree walk,” where visits could climb into a canopy of trees and follow a path along, essentially, a long, rope bridge.
“It’s kind of hard to see how high up we are, but you can tell by how nervous I look,” Allen said. “This was something in particular [Rodriguez] thought that we might be able to do here in the canopy of trees that we have in our park.”
Allen also spent several days in Malaysia, where she had a brief reunion with Zaharuddin.
“She wanted everybody to know she said ‘hi,’” Allen said.
Of course, she brought slides to show off to the audience.
Allen had been visiting the Philippines and Malaysia as part of a U.S. State Department program with the International City/County Management Association. Earlier this year, that same joint program had sent two women, Crisanta Rodriguez and Zalikha Wan Zaharuddin, to Berlin.
“President Obama created [the program] to bring closer ties to the United States and emerging leaders in Southeast Asia,” Allen said.
She spent the majority of her time in the Philippines, where she said she was warmly received. When Rodriguez and Zaharuddin came to Berlin, officials greeted the two women with a “welcome to Berlin” sign. Allen received a similar greeting overseas.
“We could tell we were going to be welcomed very well. We saw a sign outside of the village that [Rodriguez’s] aunt is the mayor of,” Allen said. “This was a sign that we were in for a very warm welcome and a wonderful time.”
In the Philippines, Allen said she had several meetings with local government officials, met with U.S. officials in the region, and toured the Caramoan National Park, where Rodriguez has worked on a project that balances environmental stewardship and tourism.
Allen helped hand out food and supplies to children in the area, which she said was largely impoverished.
She also visited Bulusan Volcano Natural Park, which is run through a partnership of government agencies, nonprofits and a private operator. Similar to what the town hopes to do with Berlin Falls Park, a former Tyson’s Chicken plant, Bulusan turned an undeveloped area into a large nature park.
“There were two things that I took from my visit to this particular park that I think we might look at replicating here,” Allen said. “One is the floating building … I love the idea of having some kind of a nature center or meeting space that floats on our pond as a way of providing an opportunity for recreation or education programs to children.”
The second was a “tree walk,” where visits could climb into a canopy of trees and follow a path along, essentially, a long, rope bridge.
“It’s kind of hard to see how high up we are, but you can tell by how nervous I look,” Allen said. “This was something in particular [Rodriguez] thought that we might be able to do here in the canopy of trees that we have in our park.”
Allen also spent several days in Malaysia, where she had a brief reunion with Zaharuddin.
“She wanted everybody to know she said ‘hi,’” Allen said.