HELPING OUT OUR SISTER CITIES
Albuquerque and Clovis are donating a retired fire pumper truck and ambulance to two cities in need in Zambia.
The cities of Albuquerque and Clovis are doing the brotherly, or more aptly, sisterly thing by donating a retired fire pumper truck and ambulance to two cities in need in Zambia.
Albuquerque is giving the pumper truck to Lusaka, Zambia, which became the Duke City’s 10th Sister City and first on the African continent in 2014. The city has only a pair of fire stations covering an area with a population of more than 2 million people.
“I am so proud of our Sister Cities program and all of the volunteers who open up their homes and hearts to nurture such strong relationships with our friends in Lusaka, as well as our other nine Sister Cities,” Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry said in a news release. “It is because of the hard work and generosity of the
people of Albuquerque that I have the honor to take this retired equipment that has saved countless lives in our city, and give it a new home so that it may continue saving lives in Lusaka.”
The Albuquerque Fire Department donates vehicles once they have been rotated out of the fleet as part of the apparatus replacement cycle, the city said. Albuquerque has given other fire vehicles to departments in New Mexico, Louisiana, and Mexico.
In addition to the firetruck, the city of Clovis is donating a retired ambulance to the city of Kasama, its Zambian Sister City.
“The people of Clovis are proud to donate one of our retired ambulances to Kasama to assist them with their community’s health care needs,” Clovis Mayor David M. Lansford said.
Attending the donation announcement earlier this week was a delegation from Zambia led by Lusaka Mayor Wilson Kalumba and Inspector General of Zambia Police Kakoma Kanganja. Kanganja presented Berry with a check to cover the cost of shipping the vehicles and equipment to Zambia.
“In Zambia, we would describe the importance of this donation using the word ‘Ubuntu,’” Kanganja said. “Ubuntu represents the belief that it is the universal bond of sharing that connects all of humanity. Even though we are separated by oceans, today Ubuntu joins our people together.”
To learn more about Albuquerque’s 10 Sister Cities, visit www.albuquerque-sister-cities.org.