VZCZCXYZ0004
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHPO #0026/01 0141527
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141520Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0093
INFO RUEHPO/AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO

UNCLAS PARAMARIBO 000026 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KPAO KIRC NS
SUBJECT: Paramaribo: Request for American Corners Sustaining Funds in 
FY10 
 
REF: 09 STATE 123621 
 
¶1.  (U)  SUMMARY 
 
(A)  Embassy Paramaribo requests "American Corner Sustaining Funds" 
for FY10.  Post's vigorous efforts in harnessing the American 
Corner's (AC) capabilities as one of Post's premier public 
diplomacy tool paid off with a dramatic 132% increase in the number 
of audience members reached in 2009, even as it streamlined the 
number of AC's programs while enhancing the quality of current 
offerings. 
 
 
 
(B)  In response to the growing popularity among local residents of 
the American Corner (AC) as the de facto cultural and educational 
arm of the U.S. Embassy, Post, with significant American Corner 
Funding support, embarked on more strategic marketing that targeted 
specific groups for specific programs, utilizing traditional means 
of promotions combined with people-to-people marketing campaign. 
In 2009, the number of guests who visited and utilized AC resources 
more than doubled from the previous year's figure, while the number 
of American Movie Night patrons more than tripled, to include 
patrons in the District of Nickerie, Suriname's second largest city 
along the Suriname-Guyana border. 
 
 
 
(C)  The American Corner served as the vibrant springboard from 
which Post launched a total of 32 public diplomacy outreach 
activities in 2009.  These activities varied in breadth, scope, and 
themes: from hosting a breakfast meeting for the American Chamber 
of Commerce of Suriname at the American Corner, to co-sponsoring 
spirited discussions on environmental issues among 235 secondary 
school students, and staging a business consultation meeting 
between Suriname's import/export business groups with a 
representative from the U.S. Department of Commerce. 
 
 
 
(D)  As Public Diplomacy remains at the heart of the United States 
official effort in Suriname, Post continues to face the challenge 
of achieving our 2010 goals - with public outreach as the number 
one goal in our Mission Strategic Plan - with lean human resource 
capital: Post has just one USDH PolEcon officer who also supervises 
our public diplomacy effort, one FSN PD assistant (currently a 
vacant position), and one EFM PolEcon Assistant who assists on PD 
programming.  A fulltime USDH Public Diplomacy Officer position has 
been approved for Paramaribo and was on the bid list.  The new PAO 
is projected to arrive at Post in summer 2010. 
 
 
 
(E)  In 2010, Post will continue to rely on the growing public 
appeal of the AC, the steady support of the AC's host institution, 
the Cultural Center of Suriname (CCS), and the continued AC 
funding, to sustain current successful programs while exploring 
fresh initiatives in expanding Post's public diplomacy outreach 
activities.  END SUMMARY 
 
 
 
¶2.  (U)  AMERICAN CORNER PROGRAM ELEMENTS 
 
 
 
(A)  Description of Programs 
 
 
 
In 2009, Post staged a total of 32 programs that catered to diverse 
audiences, which included college/high school/primary school 
students, musicians, business leaders, indigenous peoples, women's 
empowerment groups, tours and travel representatives, and 
government officials. 
 
 
 
Six new programs premiered at the American Corner in 2009: (1) A 
photo-poster exhibit that celebrated the Suriname-South Dakota 
State Partnership Program; (2) Women in History Conference; (3) 
Breakfast Meeting of the Suriname's American Chamber of Commerce; 
(4) Consultation/Meeting between Suriname's import/export groups 
and a representative from the U.S. Department of Commerce to 
discuss trade facilitations and U.S. customs; (5)  World Earth Day 
celebration with primary school students; and (6) the English Story 
Hour, a book reading event for secondary and primary school 
students in celebration of the International Education Week.  These 
new programs were in addition to programming for Black History 
Month, Indigenous Peoples Day, and the monthly American Movie Night 
 
offerings.  Total program attendance in 2009 soared to 2,556 
compared with the 1,100 number of audience reached in 2008. 
 
 
 
Post capitalized on the "captive audience" of the American Movie 
Night to enhance the positive image of the United States among 
Surinamers.  The 2009 American Movie Night, which has emerged as 
the AC's "flagship" outreach program, featured films that were 
keyed in to the U.S. monthly themes or the United Nations days. 
The monthly movies, in addition to showcasing American culture and 
values, underscored global issues such as press freedom, campaign 
to stop violence against women, environment, and drugs trafficking. 
Thoughtful movie programming that balanced Hollywood entertainment 
with substantive topics, robust promotion of the AC in 2009, and 
tapping into the youth/student/school market, resulted in the 
tripling of movie patrons from 324 (2008 data) to 1004. 
 
 
 
Similarly, as Post and American Corner staff engaged in a committed 
promotion of the American Corner as an iconic U.S. cultural and 
information resource center, the number of patrons who utilized the 
AC's inventory of materials and equipment rose from 2008's number 
of 500 to 1045 in 2009. 
 
 
 
(B)  List of Programs 
 
 
 
-          American Movie Night (12 monthly films)) 
 
-          Suriname-South Dakota State Partnership Program 
Photo/Poster Exhibit (1) 
 
-          Black History Month Events (5, including cultural 
concerts, drums workshops, and book reading) 
 
-          Women in History Conference, Presentation, and 
Discussion (1) 
 
-          American Film Festival in Nickerie (6 films ) 
 
-          World Earth Day film screening for school kids (1) 
 
-          American Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Meeting (1) 
 
-          Indigenous Peoples of Suriname Day (2 cultural 
presentations/workshops by the Kevin Locke Ensemble at the CCS) 
 
-          U.S. Trade Facilitation and Customs Consultation with 
U.S. Department of Commerce official 
 
-          International Education Week:  English Story Hour (2 
book reading sessions for students) 
 
 
 
Note: For more detailed listing of AC programs and tracking of 
number of audience reached by a specific program, please see "2009 
Box Office Report," "American Film Festival in Nickerie Report," 
and "2009 American Corner Hosted/Co-Sponsored Programs" 
attachments.  These supplemental data are also posted in the AC 
Paramaribo website. 
 
 
 
(C)  Media Coverage and Promotion 
 
 
 
Post and the American Corner enjoyed generous and positive coverage 
from the local media in 2009.  Local media devoted significant 
press coverage to Kevin Jones (Cultural Envoy) for the Black 
History month events, and to Kevin Locke Ensemble (PAI) for the 
Indigenous Peoples of Suriname Day celebration.  Press articles 
promoting cultural performances that were co-hosted by the American 
Corner at the CCS and other public venues were amplified by photos 
in the cultural pages of the print media, in addition to broadcast 
media interviews.  The Ambassador's visit to the American Corner, 
its resources, student patrons, and youth-oriented programs were 
the subjects for a segment in the "Youth Journal," a popular 
ten-minute daily TV news program, during International Education 
Week.  The American Movie Night continued to receive regular 
monthly radio promotion, free of charge, from one of the American 
Movie Night patrons who hosts a regular weekend radio talk show. 
 
In addition to media promotions, Post pursued a vigorous 
people-to-people campaign to promote the American Corner and its 
programs by complementing traditional and broad approaches with 
marketing blitz tailored to specific target audience.  Aside from 
handing out flyers, bookmarks, and AC souvenir pens in fairs and 
other public gatherings, Post worked with schools, non-governmental 
organization, special interest groups, and government agencies in 
inviting patrons to specific programs that featured specific 
themes. 
 
 
 
Media promotions of American Corner-sponsored events are reinforced 
by e-invitations.  Post boasts a robust 200+ cultural e-mailing 
list. 
 
 
 
¶3.  (U)  AMERICAN CORNER OPERATIONS 
 
 
 
(A)  Location and Staffing 
 
 
 
American Corner Paramaribo is located in one of the major 
thoroughfares in the capital city, just three short blocks from the 
business district and a few meters walking distance from four 
public schools.  Since its inauguration in May 2005, the AC has 
reaped the benefits of being housed at the CCS, itself a landmark 
cultural complex that enjoys considerable public esteem.  Aside 
from the American Corner, the CCS also hosts a writers' group 
workshop center, the national HIV/AIDS prevention training center, 
an internet caf???? and gift shop, a music school, and Suriname's 
equivalent of a national library that receives an annual fund of 
40,000 euro from the Dutch Embassy.  On the average, 200 people 
visit the CCS complex daily, thus guaranteeing the AC steady public 
exposure. 
 
 
 
The AC itself is a 25-seat maximum capacity air-conditioned room 
situated on the second floor of the CCS Annex Building.  Adjacent 
to the AC are a huge exhibition/research space that can comfortably 
seat 150 people and a medium size function room (capacity 60 seats) 
that Post uses for the monthly movies and other medium scale 
events.  These rooms are in addition to the 400-seat capacity of 
the CCS auditorium, which Post utilized extensively in 2009. 
Other foreign missions that have staged cultural presentations in 
the CCS auditorium in 2009 included the French, Indonesian, and 
Indian embassies. 
 
 
 
The AC is managed by a full-time AC director and a part-time AC 
assistant director whose salaries are borne by the CCS foundation 
and the government.  Both AC managers are fluent in English. 
 
 
 
(B)  How FY2009 Funding Was Applied and Its Impact 
 
 
 
The FY2009 funding of U.S.$9,000 invigorated Post's and AC's 
initiatives in enhancing AC's existing inventories, creating new 
promotional materials, sustaining basic services, developing new 
programs while improving the quality of existing ones. 
 
 
 
In September 2009, Post purchased materials that are meaningful and 
valuable to the local students' English language learning 
experience.  Based on the Recommended Reading List for High School 
Students submitted by the Ministry of Education of Suriname, Post 
was able to identify and acquire American books that now form a 
growing collection.  These new inventories are supplemented by 
three sets of twenty-six book titles, also drawn from the Ministry 
of Education list, that are now the resource nucleus for an English 
Book Club (EBC) that Post started promoting during International 
Education Week in mid-November 2009.  Along with the high school 
books, the AC also purchased materials for the English Language 
Learning Club (ELLC), a language learning program for middle school 
students that was developed in partnership with the Youth Affairs 
Division of the Ministry of Education.  Post plans to officially 
launch the EBC and the ELLC in February 2010.  In September 2009, 
the American Corner also added subscriptions to seven popular U.S. 
magazines, such as Time, Newsweek, National Geographic, and Sports 
 
Illustrated.  Post's expenditures of $3,523.00 on reading materials 
accounted for more than one third of the FY2009 total budget. 
 
 
 
In April 2009, Post launched the concept of a mini American Corner 
On Wheels Program by bringing American Movie Night to the District 
of Nickerie, Suriname's eastern border city with Guyana.  The 
three-day event, billed as "American Film Festival in Nickerie," 
showcased films that highlight Black History, native American 
culture, American sport, and Broadway, and drew in close to 350 
movie patrons composed of young professionals, students, members of 
civic groups, business people, media, and orphans.  Inspired by the 
positive result in Nickerie, Post plans to bring American Movie 
Night to other underserved sectors of Suriname's twelve districts 
in 2010. 
 
 
 
Post is in the pre-production stage of promotional pamphlets that 
will detail AC services, resources, and program offerings.  The CCS 
has also committed to installing a steel/metal signage in a 
strategic corner in front of the CCS compound that will advertise 
the American Corner to the steady stream of pedestrians, and 
vehicular drivers and passengers that pass by the CCS complex 
daily.  Funds for these projects were already obligated in 2009 and 
Post hopes to complete these projects by February 2010. 
 
 
 
Of the $9,000 FY2009 sustaining funds that Post received, AC 
expended $8,250 and obligated $1,402 that has not been liquidated 
pending final completion of the projects (for a total of $9652.00). 
The FY2009 AC sustaining funds of $9,000 were matched by Post 
public diplomacy funding support of $10,356.00 for the staging of 
Black History Month (Cultural Envoy), Indigenous Peoples of 
Suriname celebration (PAI), and the American Film Festival in 
Nickerie.  Post did not receive any private fund donations in 
FY2009, but in-kind radio publicity was received. 
 
 
 
(C)  Plans for the Future 
 
 
 
In 2010, Post will continue to identify and pursue opportunities to 
grow the American Corner as a multifaceted organization that caters 
to the resource needs of a broader audience.  As the American 
Corner continues to nurture its base audience, comprised mostly by 
youth and students, by offering more and quality youth-oriented 
programs, it will also initiate and cultivate linkages with 
professional groups for possible collaboration in the future. 
 
 
 
With the planned launching of the English Book Club (EBC) and the 
English Language Learning Club (ELLC) in early 2010, Post will 
continue to fine tune its current inventory in order to make the 
American Corner not only a repository of reference materials but 
also a lead promoter of reading English books (fiction and 
non-fiction), which should be popular because foreign, imported 
books can be quite expensive for everyday Surinamers to purchase. 
To this end, Post hopes to be able to purchase additional books, 
drawn from the 150 titles that the Ministry of Education suggested, 
with FY2010 American Corner funds.  As youth remains one of the 
major targets of AC outreach activities, Post plans to invite and 
transport underserved students from Suriname's outlying districts 
to the American Corner/CCS for special themed events. 
 
 
 
In 2010, the American Corner will pursue its plan to host State 
Department web chats on topics that will attract educators, 
arts/crafts, and trade groups, women in management positions, 
religious leaders, tourism representatives, and youth leaders, 
among others. 
 
 
 
 
 
(D)  Itemized Budget Request for 2010 
 
 
 
$3300              Wireless internet services and electricity 
(upgrade to ADSL at 512/128 kps) 
 
$2500              Books, subscriptions, audio/visual materials, 
 
poster exhibits, and updated reference materials 
 
$1680              American Movie Night logistics ($140/month) 
 
$ 720               Audience transport costs (gasoline, etc.), 
including student transportation to/from English book 
reading/literature discussions/special events 
 
$ 800               Program preparation and support 
 
$ 800               Publicity (print media advertisement for Black 
History Month & Indigenous Peoples Day) 
 
$200                Anti-Virus Software 
 
 
 
$10,000                       TOTAL 
 
 
 
(E)  American Corner Training Provided 
 
 
 
The American Corner Director has not participated in any training 
since the 2007 training in Trinidad and Tobago because of budgetary 
constraints.  Regular, quarterly consultations between Post and 
American Corner managers were held, however, to provide feedback 
and guidance to the American Corner. 
NAY