CIP/IJAB Fellow Alberta Brown shares Kalamazoo reflections

The 2024 CIP/IJAB cohort is pictured here visiting OutFront Kalamazoo during an orientation tour of downtown Kalamazoo in early September. They are, from right: Alberta Brown, Kathrin Rücker,  Wiebke Matthießen, and Philip Hofmann. 

Now into week four of our exchange in Kalamazoo, I have had some time to reflect on the time spent here exploring the city professionally as well as culturally. 

The first week in Kalamazoo was all about getting settled in, knowing our hosts, Global Ties Kalamazoo (GTKzoo) and the community in which we will be spending eight weeks as social workers from Germany. Myself and other three participants were welcomed by GTKzoo staff Jodi and Emma and our hosts at the Kalamazoo Transit Center. I must say that I was surprised that Amtrak makes a stop at Kalamazoo’s Transit Center but also not so surprised as Kalamazoo is midway between Chicago and Detroit. 

In the week of our arrival, we had a 2-day orientation at the Global Ties Kalamazoo Office - we were given a tour of the place, we got to know more about the work of Global Ties Kalamazoo and know the Team better too! We received information about our placements as well as about Kalamazoo. We also had the chance to explore Downtown Kalamazoo going along the Kalamazoo Mall. After a short while, I had the impression many people knew who we were and that we were “new“ in Kalamazoo. Some locals even spoke a word or two in German with us! So far, the people we have had the chance to interact with have shown interest in who we are and what we are doing here in Kalamazoo. It showed me once again how close knit, friendly and welcoming a community such as Kalamazoo can be! 

Professionally, despite a few hiccups (stringent background check), I think we’ve all had a great start at our respective placements. So far, I am pleased with my placement with Global Ties Kalamazoo. After conversations with Jodi and Emma, I realized that though we may be on the opposite sides of the Atlantic, we all have similar goals - to contribute to a more globally engaged community through international exchange while enriching the lives of local residents and visitors from around the world. I am currently working on enhancing hosting in Kalamazoo as well tapping into the resourceful alumni network. For this project, I will be interviewing some members of the Board of Global Ties Kalamazoo as well as hosts. I will also be interviewing local businesses and/or organizations to explore the impact of exchanges such as the TraX (Transatlantic Exchange in Social Work) among other programs on the local community and organizations. 

We have had the opportunity to engage with the local community here in Kalamazoo through different activities. A highlight of such activity was our meeting and conversation with Dr. Linda Reeser, a professor in the School of Social Work at Western Michigan University. Dr. Reeser gave us general insights into the social work system in the U.S. as well as Kalamazoo. We also had the opportunity to know more about nonprofits in Kalamazoo. We (participants) also shared our knowledge and experience with the social work system in Germany with Dr. Reeser. The conversation with Dr. Reeser was an interesting and insightful one as we got to know some ways in which social workers continue to address the needs of the community in Kalamazoo. Social work in both countries is organized in different ways but all in the field of social work strive to achieve social improvement, and pursue social change to benefit a wide variety of individuals, families and communities.

Other activities worth mentioning include a panel discussion with community leaders and friends of Murphy Darden, including playwright Buddy Hannah; Wendy Fields, president of the Metropolitan Kalamazoo Branch of the NAACP; and the Rev. Kevin Lavender Sr., pastor of Bible Baptist Church (at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum). This Panel discussion was facilitated by Earlene McMichael, who worked as a journalist in Kalamazoo for three decades and now serves as Marketing Project Manager at KVCC.

This event highlighted the racial discourse in the U.S. and Kalamazoo while reflecting on Murphy Darden’s life as a historian, painter and sculptor and his passion for Black cowboys. It was very interesting to see three generations of the Darden Family present at the panel discussion, who are also contributing to ensuring that the legacy of Murphy Darden continues to live on in Kalamazoo. 

Another event I would like to highlight is KYDNet’s Action Friday. We got to know more about KYDNet and their work in the community as well as organizations working together to advocate for policies and sustainable funding streams that enhance and support high quality out-of-school time programming. This event took place in the Northside, which also gave us the opportunity to see another side of Kalamazoo which reflects the socio-economic disparity in Kalamazoo. 

In our first week, we may have wrestled with change as we were in the throes of transition - sometimes excited, sometimes overwhelmed - in our stay in Kalamazoo. Culturally, myself and the other Germans have since had a glimpse of Kalamazoo and Western Michigan. We have experienced a lot, from Art Hop, attending , exploring Art in Kalamazoo, the Night Farmer’s Market to Canadiana Fest. Now, 4+ weeks into our time in Kalamazoo, we’ve fully adjusted from newbies to temporary non-permanent residents of Kalamazoo and looking positively ahead into the next 4 weeks. 

-Alberta Brown