 In September 2007, my husband Robert Anderson and I spent six days on the enchanting and historical island of Curaçao. The purpose of our visit was two-fold:
- to make a presentation to members of your communities on Domestic Violence, at the invitation of SEDA, and
- to explore the potential for creating a Curaçao Hub of educators and community leaders for the International School Connection (ISC), a global learning network for educational leaders.
Since my return home to Tampa Florida, USA, I have told the remarkable story of my visit to many people around the world, which has prompted me to share it with you on the new 5STAR website. 
In November 2006, three citizens of Curaçao attended the Annual Global Summit of the ISC, which was held in Tampa Florida USA: Meyrtha Leetz and George Leetz from SEDA, and Jadira Bakhuis from Youth and Youth Development in Curaçao. They brought back to the Island a new tool to foster dialogue among families in various communities, called the World Café. This technique is designed to facilitate dialogue among people about questions and issues that matter to them. Since SEDA is committed to altering the patterns of family violence on Curaçao, leading World Cafés around the Island became a strategy for improving the quality of life. Violence affects families, schools, businesses and community life, and in the aggregate it will effect the development of Curaçao as it becomes a new nation.
In the 11 months since the Tampa Summit, 26 World Cafes have been conducted in towns and communities all over Curaçao, which have resulted in bringing the problems to a conscious and collective level. Groups of families, and students in schools, have followed up the dialogue sessions with suggested improvements in family conditions. After the cafes, another technique, called Leverage Point Analysis, was used to help groups develop a strategy for altering these negative trends in violence. Together these two dialogue tools have encouraged people to bring out in the open the nature of domestic violence, which provided a process to develop a project and plan for action. With the goal of developing a better quality of life for Curaçao communities, over 33 projects have been created this last year from the dialogue and work of SEDA and its partners around the Island. This website was created to communicate the amazing number and kind of projects that have emerged, and which have promoted the active involvement of citizens in community development. Their work is now leading to an increase in volunteer work through SEDA and its partner organizations. The 5STAR website has the potential of raising the level of consciousness about community problems to a new level, and thereby drawing new resources and leaders to the development projects. One of the newest 5STAR projects is to create an ISC Hub for Curaçao, and to launch international school ventures for students, their teachers and principals. This decision has great potential for developing the Island’s capacity as a global partner in a broad range of community areas of business, education, and services. The first strategy for creating the ISC Hub in Curaçao, and garnering broad support for its development, was to organize a delegation of educators, students, and members of the service community to attend the 2007 annual global ISC Summit, which is in Beijing China in October 2007. The local purpose is to develop an awareness of potential international school partners and to begin networking schools in Curaçao with others around the world. To develop the funding for the Beijing adventure, Victor Pinedo orchestrated a gathering of Government Ministers, Business leaders, educators, and agency leaders. There was strong support for the Beijing venture because of the long-range strategic plan that had evolved over the week: to host the 2009 ISC Annual Global Summit in Curaçao. The organizers’ vision is to influence the quality of education on the Island over time through connections with the ISC and its global learning network whose purpose it is to foster schools around the world as global learning centers. What is remarkable about this story is the systemic way the SEDA projects are taking form. They are all designed to link families with their larger communities, and with schools, government agencies, and the business community. Everyone seems to be enthused about the long-range vision for these projects and the ISC connection, which is to advance the quality of life in Curaçao for a new century of living. Because the community is so well linked together, and is able to garner its resources quickly to make decisions and move ahead, the ISC Board of Directors believes there is a jewel in the Caribbean, called Curaçao. Decisions have not yet been made about bringing the ISC Global Summit to Curaçao, but there is great interest and even enthusiasm from the ISC Board of Directors for linking with the strong community development trends in Curaçao. This year in Beijing the focus of the ISC Summit is to link the East with the West of this world. By bringing the ISC to Curaçao in 2009, we could focus attention on linking the North with the South of our global community. The remarkable development, which emerged through the Cafes and community action strategies, provides a story of vision, determination, and community partnerships and possibilities for others around the world. There is an intention to alter the patterns of living that prevent growth, and foster together the kind of living and learning that will prepare Curaçao for a good life on the global stage in the 21st Century. In Beijing, during my speech, I will tell the story of Curaçao and its 33 projects for developing the future of this Island as an active partner on the global stage. Bravo Curaçao! Bravo SEDA! Bravo 5STAR! Bob and I are eager to return to your Island Home! Dr. Karolyn J. Snyder, President
International School Connection 
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