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- EDD K. USMAN | Twitter: @edd1819 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 | Facebook: SDN — Scitech and Digital News
MANILA (SDN) — Once in a while you get the chance to visit multiple foreign cities in one single travel.
They are the lucky ones — travelers on official business sponsored by and on invitation from governments, international organizations, and other patrons.
As has been said often quoted and cited, “Travel erases bigotry!”
That’s a quote from Mark Twain, American popular author whose real name is Samuel Clemens. A traveler and author of many classic novels, as well as his immortal stories on the adventures and misadventures of the young Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.
Traveling is both an opportunity and a learning experience. Travelers get to know and learn about other people, their culture, religion, idiosyncracy, language, things to do and not do while in a foreign land, historical and cultural icons, among other things.
Not too many people, though, have the privilege traveling through someone’s pocket. Of the lucky travelers for free are invited and sponsored government officials, journalists, sportsmen, and others.
Lawyer Naguib G. Sinarimbo, head of the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), is one such lucky “Travelin’ Man”.
Remember the Creedence Clearwater Revival’s lyrics for the song above:
“737 comin’ out of the sky
Oh, won’t you take me down to Memphis
On a midnight ride?
I wanna move…”
Well, Sinarimbo is moving around in some famous European cities on account of his participation at the “UNICEF East Asia-Europe Child Friendly Cities Interregional Exchange: A Policy Dialogue” that was staged in Madrid, Spain, on September 4 and 5.
After the conference in the Spanish city, the Bangsamoro official and his fellow participants are moving on to some European cities to visit and observe best policies and practices on achieving cities that are child friendly. Hopefully, to adopt to the BARMM situation at least some of those best practices.
Which was what Sinarimbo said about his observation of his participation in the UNICEF forum.
“The Exchange is to provide a platform for knowledge and experience sharing on child-friendly environments for Asia and Europe delegations. We will hear both from experts and practitioners during the sessions and actual visits to child-friendly cities here in Europe.”
The MILG chief reiterated this in his visit to Helsinki, the capital of Finland.
“I am sure there would be many lessons to learn from here that can be applied to our cities in the Bangsamoro. The drive is to create cities that are fit for children. After all, a city that is fit for children is fit for all.”
Here’s how he describes his visit to Finland.
