One full year back in-person: So many rich experiences created and shared
Kitchen diplomacy. Three years apart.
In March, three years ago, the pandemic was declared. We had three amazing international groups in town - two IVLP and one Open World, and like everyone everywhere, we raced to send all our new friends home safely on Friday, March 13. We thought it would be for three ‘long’ weeks.
Three years later, on that same day (March 13) we welcomed 36 visitors from 21 countries to Kalamazoo: In a perfect parallel - two IVLP and one Open World. So much has changed in three years. One thing is constant - the value there is in coming together - across time, space and difference - to build community. Now as we welcome April 2023, we have passed the one year anniversary of our return to in person programming, which took place at the end of March 2022. Thank you to all who have been with us through these past three years, filled with uncertainty, innovation, and a constant striving to build connections between people - to make this world a better place.
2023 also finds us participating in numerous first-for-us programs, including the Youth Ambassadors Program that brought a dozen amazing Brazilian youth to Kalamazoo in January; CAMCA (Central Asia/Caucasus Institute Silk Road Studies Program - A joint Trans-Atlantic Research and Policy Center) Fellows in April; and a month-long fellowship program in late Spring, YLAI - The Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative, which is the U.S. Department of State’s flagship program for emerging entrepreneurs and business leaders from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada. Fellows will spend a month embedded in area businesses and NGOs in Kalamazoo this May-June. Our Singapore/Kalamazoo Community of Practice, comprising youth development advocates from both communities, also continues to meet virtually and grow. We are excited about all that is new, and all that forms the core of our work here in Kalamazoo.
LGBTQIA+ and Disability Rights Activists from Lithuania connect with changemakers in west Michigan
We had a memorable experience with Lithuanian civil society leaders who visited Kalamazoo last month through Open World, administered by FHI360, and we miss this great group of advocates already.
We’re so thankful to their home hospitality hosts and the dinner diplomats who welcomed these fabulous folks into their hearts and homes, as well as all the amazing people and organizations who met with them in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids.
First the amazing overnight home hosts: Jonathan Tremblay; Mary Baggerman and Phil Johnson; Hether and Matt Frayer; Alec Wells and Callie Rodriguez; and Greg Orr & Patti McNulty.
And thank you to all of those who met, shared and strategized with our guests: OutFront Kalamazoo, Queer Theatre Kalamazoo, First Baptist Church of Kalamazoo, the Kalamazoo Nonprofit Advocacy Coalition (KNAC), Leatrice Fullerton at Stryker Johnston Foundation, Cares Sexual Wellness, Gryphon Place, Little Studio Space in Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids Pride Center, Grand Rapids Trans Foundation, WMU: Department of Special Education & Literacy Studies, WMU LGBT Resource Center, WMU Disability Services for Students, MRC Artworks, and Disability Network Southwest Michigan board member Sasha Boersma.
We were thrilled to have the opportunity to follow the journey of this group from arrival in the country to their return home via program facilitator Rugile Butkeviciute’s blog. You will soon find this travelogue on our website at www.globaltieskzoo.org/blog.
Secretary Blinken's video remarks for the Global Ties Network at our National Meeting in March 2023
(Re)building Community: Globally and Locally at the Global Ties U.S. National Meeting
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s welcome message, delivered to the hundreds gathered at last week’s Global Ties U.S. National Meeting thanked community-based organizations including Global Ties Kalamazoo and the members of our community who participate in the “essential work” of building bonds between people in the U.S. and around the world.
We were deeply humbled that Secretary Blinken brought up two Kalamazoo experiences that have continued to resonate with their IVLP alumni for years to come.
“For Anass Hanafi, his meetings with social justice organizations through Global Ties Kalamazoo inspired him to create his own organization focused on youth empowerment in Turin, Italy, which has welcomed large numbers of refugee youth in recent years,” he said. “Anass is the winner of this year’s IVLP Alumni Award for Social Innovation and Change, for connecting dozens of Ukrainian and Afghan refugees with mentorship opportunities in his community. Ultimately, it’s through efforts like these that we can make progress on the defining challenges of our time – one individual, project, and community at a time.”
Blinken also spoke about Angela Benedicto, who first traveled to Michigan for her 2013 IVLP, in part to learn techniques to defend the rights of children who had been forced into domestic labor in Tanzania. “She didn’t expect to develop a lifelong friendship with her hosts, the Potratz family, or to build enduring professional partnerships with community organizations in Southern Michigan,” he said. “But connections she developed in her three weeks in the United States were so strong that in 2020, Angela returned to her host community – this time passing her own lessons to staff at a U.S.-based organization, Merze Tate Explorers, dedicated to supporting greater educational and career opportunities for girls in Michigan. And of course, Angela stayed with the Potratz family again. These are the kind of lasting connections that Global Ties has made possible for decades.”
Thanks to the Kalamazooans who so profoundly impacted these visiting leaders: JaRay Reese, Jacob Pinney-Johnson and Ryan Singleton (King Ryan), who shared the work of Uplift Kalamazoo and youth mentorship in general with Anass, and longtime Global Ties Kalamazoo hosts and former board members Jerry and Louise Potratz who opened their home to Angela and countless others over the years; and to the Merze Tate Explorers, for their ongoing partnership with Angela's organization, Wotesawa.
There was so much learning and sharing at the National Meeting. We are so thankful for this opportunity to be in community with our peers who engage in this work of citizen diplomacy all across the country and world.
In one session at the National Meeting, our Executive Director, Jodi Michaels, presented as part of a session entitled DEIA Working Group: Creating Organizational Change, together with Xiao Yin Zhao, Executive Director of the World Affairs Council of Kentucky & Southern Indiana; and Rebecca Kelly, Senior Program Manager, CRDF Global (pictured above). There they shared 'the matrix', a tool designed to help organizations across the network to build inclusive workplaces. Attendees engaged deeply with the material, which was a great sign for its potential as it is rolled out!
It's always a joy to reconnect with our peers all across the Global Ties Network!
Habib the dog with two of his hospitality guests, from Belgium and Sweden.
What does home hospitality mean to you?
We’ve heard it said that hosting international visitors – be it for a week, a month, or a meal – affords us the opportunity to explore the world without leaving our homes. It’s also a great opportunity to play tour guide and share what’s wonderful about living here in Kalamazoo and west Michigan. Global Ties Kalamazoo offers opportunities to host individuals as well as small and large groups, making the opportunity accessible to as many community members as possible.
We’re deeply grateful to the many people in our community who’ve hosted dinner diplomacy gatherings recently, including Andrew and Suzanne, Tom and Jean, Jodi and Natalio, Marcus and Ben, Sarah and Lucas, Shirley, Susan and David, Leeanne, and so many friends and family members (including four-legged friends) who’ve made these visiting leaders feel so welcome.
Want to volunteer as a host or learn more about home hospitality? Visit www.globaltieskzoo.org/volunteer
So many IVLP adventures, and local people to thank for that
We welcomed several IVLP groups over the past few weeks who connected with their peers on topics ranging from science and technology entrepreneurship to combating trafficking in persons.
Many thanks to all the organizations and individuals who met with these great groups (this is only a partial list!!), including: WMed Innovation Center; Black Wall Street Kalamazoo (BWSK) founder Nicole Triplett; the Small Business Development Center (SBDC); El Concilio; ISAAC board member and community program director at Open Doors Kalamazoo; Kalamazoo Valley Museum; Young Kings and Queens; Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation; Loy Norrix High School staff and Knight Life student journalists; Kalamazoo Public Schools staff and site visits to The Kalamazoo Innovative Learning Program and Maple Street Magnet Middle School; The Center for English Language and Culture for International Students (CELCIS) at WMU; the Kalamazoo Literacy Council and its ESL of Southwest Michigan Program; Orchestra Rouh at Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra; Western Michigan University Department of Education and Literacy Studies, YWCA Director of Training and Community Impact Sherry Brockway; Prosecutor Jeff Getting and Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey D. Williams at the Kalamazoo County Prosecuting Attorney’s office; 9th Judicial Circuit Court, District Court Judge serving in Circuit Court Family Division, Judge Namita Sharma, Chief Judge Circuit/Probate Court Gary Giguere, and Richard Fuller – Kalamazoo County Sheriff and Kalamazoo Anti-Human Trafficking coalition member.
Thursday, April 13 talk in the SPAA Public Service Engagement Series at WMU
Jodi Michaels is slated to give an online talk next week as part of Western Michigan University's School of Public Affairs and Administration's public service engagement series. The topic? “Exchange is for Everybody: Strengthening Local Communities through International Engagement”.
This is a Webex webinar on April 13th from 5 - 6 pm.
For more information and to register, visit https://wmich.edu/spaa
If ensuring that #ExchangeIsForEverybody matters to you, we invite you to consider supporting our work. Click the button below to donate, or text GTKZOO to 44321.
Thank you for your support,
Jodi Hope Michaels and the Global Ties Kalamazoo Team
*This blog post was originally sent as an email newsletter on April 7, 2023
