May 2021 brought the first anniversary of the killing of George Floyd, which has begun to transform the way issues of systemic racism are seen in this country. The road to address structural injustices in the USA is very long and winding, but this work is essential in order to build a brighter future for all people residing here now, and for all future generations. It is our hope that our work to connect people, across difference, can play a tiny, yet constructive, role in th

Wow! So many reflections on what it means to be a citizen diplomat in Kalamazoo, over our first 50 years, in this great piece by Second Wave Media. Thank you Leeanne Seaver, Betty Lee Ongley, Tom Kostrzewa and Jerry Potratz for sharing your stories. Also, so excited to hand off our Taste of the World event to Merze Tate Explorers and WoteSawa (more on that below). You will find all of this and more in this great article as we move toward our new name and our next 50 years!! T

As we bid farewell to women’s history month, we reflect on a hard month behind us. The anniversary of the pandemic declaration, the opening of the trial and the wounds of the killing of George Floyd, the continuing rise of Asian hate in this country, with a horrible shooting spree targeting Asian American women in Atlanta, and so much more to be concerned about in our world. At the end of this update, you will find a note about the current situation in Myanmar, which especial

Last year on this day, we were looking forward to one extra day of February. And we were days away from the pandemic declaration. This year, as we enter March 2021, we are one year into this most unusual time. February 2021 saw the first Presidential visit to Kalamazoo of the Biden Administration, and for us, has included welcoming visitors from 29 countries (virtually); engaging exchanges with staff from Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency (KRESA) and Kalamazoo Val

While COVID-19 has constrained our ability to craft high quality in-person visits, we continue to create virtual experiences that allow us to bring Kalamazoo to the world and vice-versa. We are all experiencing pandemic fatigue and longing for that time when we can come together again, break bread in one another's homes again. In the meantime, opening pathways to meaningfully engage with one another, in the online sphere, makes space for vital dialogue and exchange. We have t

In this moment of tremendous upheaval in the United States of America, we, Colleagues International, would like to echo an element of the statement we released upon the killing of George Floyd this past May. This deeply divided country, with a very particular history, has a tremendous amount of work to do. From early June: “We are a civil diplomacy organization, working to create mutual understanding among people from across the world to build a better future for all. We also

Our final program of December 2020 (virtual) and our final program of March 2020 (in person) were one and the same. How fitting. Last Thursday, December 17th, we hosted a zoom reunion of Women Entrepreneurs from Russia, who came to Kalamazoo through Open World in early March of this year. While we had 3 groups with us that week of the pandemic declaration, theirs was the last to leave, on Friday, March 13th. Everyone involved in that program has a special bond: from the visit

On November 13th my phone did what many of our phones do – it showed off its ‘artificial intelligence’, sharing photos from ‘on this day’ in prior years. It started with a photo from two years ago. Laurence Bézy, a Program Officer at our Washington DC-based partner World Learning had come to Kalamazoo on a professional exchange. This was a follow on to the week I spent in the World Learning offices earlier that year on a ‘CBM Exchange’. Laurence (on the right) is pictured wit

We hope that you are enjoying the peak Autumn color that we are experiencing in and around Kalamazoo this week. With all of the challenges and crises of 2020, majestic moments of nature’s seasonal transformations provide some inspiration and comfort. Today, we would like to share with you a few updates about our work and projects to come. Feed the Fight Kalamazoo to be honored by the Family Health Center First, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been our honor at Colleagues

Wishing you a safe return to the Fall season, whether that means school in person or on a screen, working in a place outside your home or in the basement, and/or coming together in the streets, calling for justice. Please take good care of yourselves! This week last year, as in many prior years, we were busy welcoming German youth workers to start three month placements in Kalamazoo, staying with host families and doing job shadowing and other cultural and educational progra

As we grapple with the dual upheaval of COVID-19 and the killing of George Floyd, both laying bare the deep structural and institutional inequities in this country, we, Colleagues International, stand in solidarity with the Black community and communities of color in our city of Kalamazoo, throughout the United States, and around the globe. We are a civil diplomacy organization, working to create mutual understanding among people from across the world to build a better future

As we all learn to navigate life during this global pandemic, the core belief of our work has become more necessary than ever.

Dear friends, It has been some two weeks since those of us with the privilege to work from home and socially distance ourselves have started doing so. Our time of shelter in place is almost as old. We here in Michigan could hardly have imagined a month ago that we would find ourselves in one of the states hardest hit by COVID-19, with heroes nourishing us and trying their best to keep us healthy and safe while healing our sick. Our strength and courage go out to our fellow Mi

Help us make the world stronger, through deeper cross-cultural international engagement, right here in Kalamazoo.

Judy and Ed share some of their interesting hosting experiences.

Fall 2017 - I met my first international delegation on a Friday morning. It was a beautiful day and Kalamazoo was bustling. I took an Uber to meet with the group of Librarians from Kazakhstan and Jodi, the Executive Director. The visitors were here through the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program, spending five days in Kalamazoo. When I arrived, they were all standing in a circle, outside the Kal