ABOUT US

Our local YMCA is proud to have a partnership with three international YMCAs detailed below.  To learn about what other YMCAs are doing on the global stage, please visit YMCA World Service.

 

YMCAs are at work in more than 120 countries around the world, serving more than 30 million people. Over 230 U.S. YMCAs maintain more than 370 relationships with Ys in other countries. Many also operate international programs and/or contribute to YMCA work worldwide through international education, fairs and World Camp. The YMCA of the USA is a member of the World Alliance of YMCAs, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Like many other YMCAs across the country, the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina has strong international ties through long standing partnerships with YMCAs in Mexico, Ukraine and West Africa. Click on the links to learn more about these specific partnerships.

In October of 2004, four YMCA of Northwest North Carolina staff & board members toured two YMCA (locally known as "ACJ") facilities in Leon, Mexico. In addition to child care & preschool, the ACJs offered services specific to the needs of their community - primarily, a dentist office and adult education courses like personal finance and grooming.

As the relationship grows, more exchange programs between the two communities are expected. Our local YMCA Board has assisted in the procurement of a plot of land for a new ACJ facility, and area teens will soon travel down to Leon to help with its construction as a Service Learning Project. Similarly, the Leon ACJ plans to send some of their young people to North Carolina for internships at a handful of Northwest North Carolina branches.

For more information on our partnership with the Mexico YMCAs, please contact Dana Marske.

The YMCA actually has longstanding roots in this eastern European country. Established in 1913, the Ukraine YMCA now boasts 23 regional locations and reaches over 10,000 people.

In September of 2004, a delegation of staff & volunteers from the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina traveled to Ukraine to visit the facilities in three regions: Lugans'k, Krasny-Lutch and Antrasyt. Two of the more notable and unique services being offered by the YMCA include AIDS/HIV education and assistance with local orphanages. More typical programs like aerobics, Cossack martial arts, Arts and Crafts, English tutoring and drama are offered as well.

With a relationship that dates back to 1992, the partnership between the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina and Ukraine is one of our strongest. In addition to providing financial assistance and leadership guidance, dozens of staff, volunteers and teens have participated in exchanges that range from Home Stays to Service Learning Camps to Community Service Projects. We believe that this interaction has been instrumental in advancing the YMCA mission on both personal and international levels.

Another group of staff, volunteers and teens will be traveling to the Ukraine YMCA in July of 2005. For more information on our international partnership with the Ukraine YMCA, contact Jerry Herman.

The YMCA flourishes in the West African countries of Togo, Ghana and Senegal. The YMCA of Northwest North Carolina has been in a formal partnership with the West African YMCAs since 2000, but the informal relationship began long before then. In Togo, one of the most influential YMCA initiatives is a water development project for the mountain village of Dogbadzi-Kpalime. For 200 years, individual villagers have walked to the bottom of the mountain to collect water & return with their heavy loads. In collaboration with government partners, the YMCA built a pipeline and water irrigation system to minimize this arduous process & allow villagers better access to water & improved sanitation methods.

The YMCA in Ghana has all the flair of an urban American YMCA. Poets, dancers, drummers & rappers frequently perform at the YMCA headquarters in Accra and it is known as a congregational hot spot for young people. The mission is not lost, though - programs in Ghana focus on occupational training (primarily bricklaying and carpentry) and HIV/AIDS education.

Despite being a Muslim country, Senegal has welcomed the relief efforts of the YMCA. One of the most important (and fastest growing) programs offered by the Y is the operation of a day care center in Dakar. Women have only begun to work in recent years in this country and, culturally, allowing another person to provide care for one's child is virtually unheard of. Yet, the YMCA is still flourishing and, each day, more citizens take advantage of the services it provides.

For more information on our partnership with the West African YMCAs, please contact Jarrod Covington, Executive Director of the Winston Lake Family YMCA.