The Decatur Minute

Decatur’s ICMA Professional Fellows with two members of the city’s human resources staff. From left to right: Ngan, Morgan, Thongvone and Connie.

The City of Decatur was selected as a host community for the ICMA Professional Fellows Legislative Process and Governance Program. This program is a partnership between ICMA and the U.S. State Department and brings fellows from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam to the United States. U.S. fellows then have the opportunity to travel to Southeast Asia later this year. The East Asian/Pacific countries are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Fellowship focuses on the themes of legislative processes and governance practices, accountability, transparency, and citizen engagement and offers opportunities for international knowledge sharing and exchanges between professionals from U.S. host communities and their ASEAN counterparts.

We have two fellows living and learning in Decatur this month, one from Vietnam and one from Laos. They are blogging about their experiences (in English!) and their impressions of Decatur may help you see the city through new eyes.

Here is a little bit more about Decatur’s fellows:

Thongvone Sosamphan (Laos) – Thongvone’s latest blog post about Decatur

• Has been working on humanitarian mine action and development in Laos since 2011
• Previously worked at the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining in Geneva, Switzerland
• CEO of the Insect Flour Group Company, a start-up looking for solutions for nutrition based on the local culture

Community Challenge (special project working on while in the U.S.) objectives:

• Learn how Decatur fulfills it’s obligation to support people with disabilities
• Learn about how a community deals with injustice

Ngan Nguyen (Vietnam) – Ngan’s latest blog post about Decatur

• Working as an official of the International Relations Department of the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU).
• Currently she is program officer of some projects on prevention of human trafficking, hygiene and water system for poor communities, wheelchairs for disabled persons, and scholarships for poor girl students

Community Challenge (special project working on while in the U.S.) objectives:

• Learn about various strategies to support disadvantaged persons, specifically focusing on poor women and girls.
• Learn about the best practices in the community development field – management and leadership skills, government transparency, and accountable engagement with citizens.
• Experience and understand the lives of people from diverse cultures, who are currently living in the America.

Interested in having Ngan and/or Thongvone talk to your organization/group about their work? Please contact Casie Yoder at casie.yoder@decaturga.com or 404-371-8386.