Our first in-person guests since March 2020
Social media experts from Pakistan, here through IVLP - our first visitors in real life since March 2020.
We have so much light to share in our work of the past few months. But first, we must acknowledge the darkness that envelops us. Some two weeks ago, there was a white supremacist terror attack on a supermarket in Buffalo, NY, closely followed by the horrific massacre of young schoolchildren in Uvalde, TX. All of this new trauma has been added as last week we marked the two-year anniversary of the police murder of George Floyd. This is here inside our borders, while beyond them war and famine conditions continue, a U.S. citizen journalist was killed, and we are dealing with a climate crisis, among so many other global challenges. The power of our work to bring people – changemakers – together, across borders and differences, to imagine how we might do things in new ways, and build a better future, sustains us. Since the very end of March, so much light has come our way, and we would like to share this with you.
We have welcomed four groups of international leaders, in real life, to Kalamazoo and Traverse City, and we also have a wonderful new team to welcome and share with you in this newsletter. We have the first episodes of our ‘Global and Hyper Local’ podcast, as well as an upcoming public, virtual event, sharing an oral history of world Expos in the United States, and how we bring Expos back to the United States and do so in a more inclusive way that highlights our country’s diversity as a strength of our democracy.
While this is far too much for one newsletter, we are sharing anyway, and welcome you to learn more, visit our website and engage on social media. With three groups joining us in June and an action packed summer, there will be many ways to connect in real life here in Kalamazoo. Thank you so much for being part of our growing community of people that deeply believe in the power of exchange to create meaningful engagement for everybody. We come together to make the world a little smaller and, hopefully, a little better.
Meet our newest team members
Clockwise from top left - Jordan Blough-Orr, Dante Jean, Jordan Lee and Nite Lawantrakool
Helping us to move #ExchangeForward are our new Program Manager, Jordan Blough-Orr, and three new interns, Nite Lawantrakool (Program) Dante Jean (Program), and Jordan Lee (Communications) that have joined the Global Ties Kalamazoo team since March. Please join us in welcoming them to the team and read their wonderful bios here!
Also, check out this piece by Nite Lawantrakool reflecting on her first weeks with the organization (quote below):
Ever since I started this internship, I have always continued to learn something new every day. I have improved my communication, programming, proposal drafting skills while contributing to the team. My experience at Global Ties Kalamazoo is beyond my expectations.
Kalamazoo Community Conversation: The United States and the Future of International Expositions
Expos, also known as World’s Fairs, are the world’s oldest and largest mega event, held every three to five years in host cities around the world since their inception in 1851 in London. Similar to the Olympics, which are world festivals of sports, Expos are festivals of culture, technology, innovation, design, and human excellence. Past Expos have seen a multitude of countries showcase innovations such as the mobile phone, the X-Ray Machine, and the ice cream cone. We have an opportunity to rethink how we bring Expos back to the United States and do so in a more inclusive way that highlights our country’s diversity as a strength of our democracy.
Join us for a conversation on a groundbreaking oral history project to explore the future of International Expositions and the United States’ role in them. The event will also feature voices from the U.S. Department of State and U.S. citizens who recently took part in the USA Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.
Wednesday, June 15, 10:00 am, Eastern on zoom. Register here to join us!
Global and Hyper Local - Our new podcast
In studio, recording the first episode of Global and Hyper Local with guests from Pakistan
To hear directly from our international visitors on their time with us in Kalamazoo and the U.S., as well as in later episodes (coming soon) from the local people who make exchange rich and authentic in our community. Here is a link to episode one, with our very first in real life guests since March 2020, from Pakistan. We look forward to being able to say ‘available wherever you get your podcasts’, for now, check it out at Public Media Network, where it was recorded in their amazing ‘videocast’ studio. Very special thanks to Milburgo Mora Vergara, Media Training Specialist at PMN for bringing this to life!
About ‘Global and Hyper Local’
The Global and Hyper Local podcast focuses on the ways that connecting Kalamazoo with the world can enrich the lives of local people and guests from all over. We believe that exchange is for everybody. We do not attempt to solve the world's problems - rather, we explore how profound an impact getting to know each other across difference and geography can have.
Programs past and coming soon…
Thanks to all of our community members who volunteered to open their homes and hearts to our first four groups since the pandemic reared its head. Our programs with women leaders from Moldova and journalists from Armenia (Open World) and social media experts from Pakistan and adventure tourism organizers from Tajikistan (IVLP) were deeply meaningful for all of us. Here are but a couple of reflections from the amazing local hosts, and budding journalists at Loy Norrix High School, on the rich connections built with our new friends from Armenia:
I think the best part of journalism is the opportunity to talk with those who share interests in building a unique narrative and telling the truth, and I was glad that this shared interest was able to connect a group of US high school students with Armenian reporters. I thought that was going to be a presentation, which I would’ve still enjoyed, but it was much more of a conversation between our backgrounds as journalists and it was so engaging and as one of us said “enlightening.” Thank you so much for taking time out of your visit to the US and speaking with us, I could only imagine you enjoyed this as much as we did.
James Hauke, Multimedia Editor, Knight Life, Loy Norrix High School
A couple of hours into the evening of Stella and Kushane's arrival, I knew I had met two amazing people....smart, kind, funny, caring...I was immediately smitten. Our time with them was nothing short of amazing, truly, I enjoyed every day, and feel that I have made life long friends. I was sad to see them off. And excited to take them up on their offer to visit their beautiful country in September 2023!
Patti McNulty, Home hosted Stella and Kushane in Kalamazoo
I thought I would talk about you only for a day once back to Armenia. But my friends say " Stop it, you talk about Kalamazoo every minute". And you see, I can't control myself. Thanks for your friendship, for your love, for being a home for us. Waiting for you in sunny Yerevan.
Kushane Chobanyan, Radio Journalist, Public Radio of Armenia
Our farewell dinner with Armenian journalists and online media professionals (hosted by Ed and Judy Huth), here in May through COIL (Open World) via CIPUSA.
There will be plenty of opportunities to be a volunteer host in the coming months (we have three groups in June alone, and more in July, including Iraqi teens through IYLEP). Keep your eyes peeled at www.globaltieskzoo.org and our social media handles (here below) for these volunteer opportunities, which range from hosting a single dinner to welcoming an international visitor to stay in your home for one to four weeks.
