By Robyn
International Neighbors began in a Tea Group over fifty years ago when an American lady welcomed international women to her house for tea and conversation. The International Neighbors organization has changed a lot since that time, but the Tea Groups have not. All due to our warm and hospitable Tea Group hostesses who take turns each month opening their houses to local women and children from all nations.
Today’s hostess can be a veteran American who has been the backbone of her Tea Group for forty years or, increasingly, a young, international woman with school age children. Warm, long term friendships develop in the Tea Groups, even when guests’ home countries are in conflict. A cup of tea and conversation can bring a small measure of peace in an often conflicted world. Many of today’s hostesses started as guests, shy in a new country. Now settled, they are happy to give back to international newcomers. The Tea Group hostesses are the unflappable heart of what we do so well in International Neighbors.