Meron points to the amazing links already developed between SaltSpring Island in BC and Pitseng in the Leribe region of Lesotho and very reasonably asks:

So, can we be assigned them? Seeing as we are already started and all.

:D

Well, the answer, I'm afraid, is no.

But that doesn't mean that this project is trying to undermine what is already happening between SaltSpring and Pitseng.

Instead of deliberately linking these two areas (which, unlike Portland, have already been apportioned):

1225. Lesotho - Butha-Buthe and Leribe districts

6129. Canada - British Columbia: Capital, Nanaimo & Cowichan Valley regional districts

Each will be assigned at random and the chances of their being linked is exactly one chance in 2,400. Better than your chance of winning the lottery, but probably not enough to put your shirt on!

So what are the reasons for using random allocation:

• It would appear at first sight to be great if Pitseng could be assigned SaltSpring, but it might gain very little from the link-up. They are already linked. Nothing the WWC says should affect the strength of this bond.
• In fact if Partner Area 1225 is linked, not with 6125 (which contains SaltSpring - see link), but with Partner Area X, one of the easiest ways people in X could get involved with Pitseng would be to be support SOLID, perhaps by setting up their own “SOLID in X” organisation to support the Pitseng projects.
• Alternatively, people in X might want to create their own SOLID-type organisation to support other places in Leribe district or in Butha-Buthe district. SOLID is an absolutely brilliant role model for any WWC area - its story needs to be told throughout the WWC world! (That’s why I’ve linked this group here on ned.com to the SOLID group and to no other, so far).
• Random allocation ensures that every eligible area in the world has an equal chance to be linked to a great partner like Partner Area 6129. It would be unfair to allow any other method.
• It might seem that SaltSpring might feel half-hearted about supporting anywhere else but Lesotho. I doubt this very much. Whichever area it is allocated may very well have a major problem with HIVS/AIDS and the experience of SaltSpring in tackling this in Lesotho will be invaluable in developing links in Partner Area Y.
• Looking at the map of part of Partner Area 1225 (see Capital link above), you will see just how large an area each WWC area covers (of course, its much smaller inside a great city!). That means each WWC area contains many different communities, many different SaltSprings. That offers the prospect of self-organisation within each WWC area in order to further subdivide each partner area to make appropriate links between individual places within the mutuality.

Thanks for the question, Meron. I hope you can see the merit of entirely random allocation of partner areas - it need not be random after that.