Social and cultural ties between the Province of Negros Oriental and the State of Hawaii are expected to be stronger once a series of exchange programs between the two governments are realized.
Dr. Eva Rose Washburn-Repollo, commissioner of the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture & the Arts, was in Negros Oriental recently to invite Gov. Roel Degamo to visit Hawaii.
Hawaii and Negros Oriental established a sisterhood agreement in 2008 during the time of then Gov. Emilio Macias II.
The proponent of the agreement on the Hawaii side is State Rep. and Vice Speaker John Mizuno, whose wife Joje May Besario-Mizuno, is from Guihulngan, Negros Oriental, and an active promoter of Filipino and Visayan causes. Joje May Mizuno is president of the Congress of Visayan Organizations, composed of 27 organizations.
Rep. Mizuno is scheduled to visit Negros Oriental again on May 16 to meet with Governor Degamo to talk about establishing a Disaster Relief Fund and forming a Culture and Arts Partnership.
Repollo also accompanied eight nursing students from Chaminade University of Honolulu for clinical and cultural immersion for five weeks, led by their clinical instructor Dr. Edna Magpantay-Monroe.
Repollo said she hopes to establish an exchange program between Chaminade University of Honolulu and Silliman University, which, among others, would feature a faculty exchange visitation program.
Caption: Dr. Eva Rose Washburn-Repollo, commissioner of the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture & the Arts, and Prof. Mathilde Limbaga-Erojo (standing 2nd, 3rd from left) pose with their Nursing students from Chaminade University in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Music students from Silliman University after some sessions on learning how to make music with indigenous instruments at the SU College of Performing & Visual Arts headed by Dr. Elizabeth Susan Vista-Suarez.
