Global Ties Kalamazoo is urgently seeking home and family hosts for 20 Iraqi high school students visiting this summer through the Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program (IYLEP), July 15-28.

The easiest way to get involved with Global Ties Kalamazoo is through dinner diplomacy, hosting a group of international visitors for a meal in your home. Get tips, reassurance, and a vision of what to expect from 3 local hosts in this blog.

Many of Paul’s strongest memories started with simple questions in the car. Visitors ask about Kalamazoo; he asks about home. Someone notices a cemetery or a mural, and suddenly they are comparing customs, joking together, or talking about family.

Exchange the Global Ties Kalamazoo way is intentional and includes working exchanges where people come together around shared questions and leave with relationships and ideas they can build on. Exchange is strategic.

Global Ties Kalamazoo is grateful to call Miruna Ranjan a partner and friend in this work of citizen diplomacy. Her story—rooted in Singapore and now woven into Kalamazoo—reminds us that when people connect across borders, it changes what young people believe is possible for themselves and their communities.

“It really does feel impossible to express the gratitude I have for Global Ties Kalamazoo and the impact my last few years as Program Manager has had on me not only as a professional but as a person. This work was so much more than just a job.”

2025 was a condensed season of programming—but not a small one in impact. The shorter calendar was shaped by external conditions including the government shutdown, changes to administration priorities and lost funding opportunities.

A few winters ago, a backyard bonfire in Kalamazoo sparked hope. At Sarkozy’s Bakery, co-owner Alec Wells welcomed a cohort of international visitors from Lithuania. “That bonfire,” Alec remembers, “was the start of something much deeper.”