PH International (Project Harmony)

08/17/2026

💙 Words We Use a Lot at PH International

Some words naturally become part of our everyday conversations, not because they're buzzwords, but because they reflect the values that guide our work around the world.

🌍 Connection

When we're designing a program, connection is at the heart of every conversation. We think about how to bring people together. We believe that meaningful relationships create opportunities for learning, mutual understanding, and lasting impact.

🤝 Partnership

Nothing we do happens alone. Our work is made possible by the partnerships we've built over the years: with host families who open their homes to exchange participants, schools and universities that welcome our programs, organizations that collaborate with us, and the many individuals who generously share their time, expertise, and support. It is because of these partnerships that PH International has been able to grow, adapt, and create meaningful opportunities for thousands of people around the world.

✨ Opportunity

Opportunity is at the heart of everything we do. Whether we're working with exchange participants, teachers, professionals, or communities, our goal is to create opportunities to develop practical skills, broaden perspectives, strengthen leadership, and build meaningful connections that last long after a program ends.

These aren't just words we use. They are the principles that shape every conversation, every partnership, and every program we create.

What word would you add to describe PH International?

07/31/2026

🌍What does a month of international exchange look like?

For participants in the Young Ambassadors East Asia & Pacific (YA-EAP) program, it meant exploring new ideas, building lifelong friendships, and developing the knowledge and confidence to become stronger leaders in their communities💡

🏛️Throughout the exchange, participants traveled from New York and Vermont to Washington, D.C., engaging with educators, innovators, community leaders, government institutions, and nonprofit professionals. They strengthened their leadership skills through workshops, collaborated on Community Impact Project ideas, explored American history and democratic institutions, and experienced daily life in the United States alongside host families and local communities.

As the program ended, participants departed with more than unforgettable memories. ✈️They returned home with lasting international friendships, expanded global perspectives, and practical plans to implement Community Impact Projects that address challenges in their own communities.

07/17/2026

Forty years ago, at the height of the Cold War, a teacher, an architect, and a lawyer looked at a world divided by fear and asked a simple question:

❓ What if people could meet each other instead of relying on stereotypes?

They were not diplomats. They were not international development experts.

In fact, they had no international network and no roadmap. At the time, there was no email, no internet, and communicating with people in the Soviet Union was anything but simple.

🎶 So they started with music.

What became known as Project Harmony began with an exchange between student choirs from Vermont and the Soviet Union. The first group to arrive in Vermont included 32 girls and one boy.

Communities packed concert halls, local newspapers followed their visit, and friendships formed where political divisions once stood.
Years later, the founders still remember audience members moved to tears by those performances. As they often said, music became a language of its own.

More than four decades later, that same belief continues to guide our work.

🤝 People meeting people.
🌍 Building understanding across cultures.
🕊️ Creating connections that can outlast conflict.

Sometimes the biggest changes begin with a simple idea and the courage to take the first step.

🎥 Watch the founders reflect on the beginnings of Project Harmony and the vision that started it all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkfwRCu5vMA

PH International's mission is to build a strong global community by...

07/10/2026

🌿 Last month, PH International's Board of Directors and leadership team gathered in Vermont for a Board Retreat, taking time to reflect, reconnect, and look ahead.

Like many nonprofit organizations, PH International has navigated a rapidly changing environment over the past several years. Throughout these challenges, our Board has provided steady leadership, thoughtful guidance, and an unwavering commitment to our mission.

This retreat was an opportunity to step back from day-to-day responsibilities, strengthen our shared vision, and continue building an organization that is resilient, responsive, and ready for the future.

We are deeply grateful to our Board members for their time, expertise, and dedication. Their leadership helps ensure that PH International can continue creating opportunities for learning, connection, and understanding around the world. 🌍

Here's to the work ahead.

06/26/2026

🎓 Congratulations to the 300 students who graduated this year from the English Access Scholarship Program in Georgia!

Over the past two years, these remarkable young people have strengthened their English language skills, broadened their horizons, and built lasting friendships through interactive learning, educational activities, and summer camps.

🤝We are deeply grateful to the US Embassy Tbilisi, Georgia for their continued partnership and support of the Access Program. Our sincere thanks to Chargé d'Affaires Alan Purcell, Public Affairs Officer Harvey Sernovitz, and English Language Programs Coordinator Lika Gumberidze, for hosting this year's graduates at the Embassy to celebrate their achievements. We also extend our appreciation to Cultural Attaché Eavan Cully, Regional Public Engagement Specialist Amy Smith, and Public Diplomacy Specialist Gega Gabunia, who joined graduation ceremonies at Access program sites across Georgia, making these celebrations even more meaningful for students, their families, and teachers.

📚A special thank you goes to our dedicated Access teachers, whose commitment and encouragement have helped students reach this important milestone, and to everyone who has contributed to the success of this year's graduates.

Congratulations to all of our graduates! We are proud of what you have accomplished and look forward to seeing all that you will achieve in the future.

06/12/2026

06/08/2026

🌍 What starts with a shared meal can become a lifelong connection.

For Sharon Sisler of Waterbury, Vermont, hosting international exchange participants through PH International has always been about opening her home and learning about other cultures. What she didn't expect was how profoundly those connections could shape lives, including her own.

Over the years, Sharon and her family have welcomed participants from around the world, sharing everyday experiences, from family dinners and hikes to cookouts and community gatherings. Along the way, they discovered something simple but powerful: it is often the ordinary moments that leave the greatest impression.

One of those connections became especially meaningful when Sharon hosted Nyan, a student from Burma with dreams of studying at MIT. Years later, when circumstances forced him to leave home, Sharon stepped in to help him begin his new life in the United States. Today, Nyan is thriving as an MIT student and remains part of the Sisler family.

💬 "It is often the small things that make the biggest impression."

For Sharon, hosting is about more than cultural exchange. It is about building understanding, creating lasting relationships, and making a difference in ways you may never expect.

Interested in becoming a host family?
🔗Learn more: https://sites.google.com/view/host-families-portal/home

05/22/2026

🌍A year ago, Roben Musa arrived in the United States as part of PH International’s Youth Ambassador Program carrying more than just luggage. He was carrying uncertainty about his future.

Before the program, Roben had been expelled from school and struggled to see a path forward. But over four weeks in the U.S., surrounded by fellow Youth Ambassadors from the Philippines, Pacific Island countries, and Burma, something changed. ✨

Through leadership workshops, conversations with peers, visits to schools and communities, and daily life with host families, Roben found something he hadn’t expected: support.

💬 “Before the program began, I expected my fellow participants to be competitive and self-centered. But as I got to know them, I realized they were actually helping me become the best version of myself.”

After returning home to the Philippines, Roben helped create a “Calm Room” at his new school: a space where students can manage stress, regroup, and stay connected to learning instead of being pushed out.

Stories like Roben’s are a reminder that exchange programs are not only about travel. They are about giving young people the opportunity, confidence, and support to grow into leaders in their own communities.

As PH International prepares to welcome new Youth Ambassador groups to Vermont this year, we’re reminded that sometimes a single opportunity can change the direction of a young person’s life and the lives of those around them.

05/15/2026

PH International still exists today because people continue to support its work 🤝
Not because the challenges are simple, but because the impact is long-term and it often unfolds quietly, over time.

Through exchanges, training, and community engagement programs 🌍, PH International works with individuals at different stages of their journey, supporting them as they build skills, confidence, and meaningful connections.

These are not one-time experiences. They are moments that shift perspectives, strengthen decision-making, and open pathways that might not have been visible before.

By contributing, you help sustain programs that:
🌐 connect people across cultures and backgrounds
🧠 strengthen critical thinking and leadership
🚀 create opportunities that extend beyond the program itself

Support like this is what allows the work to continue and to reach more people.

🔗 Donate here: https://www.ph-int.org/get-involved/donate/

05/01/2026

“Expect the unexpected.” 🌍

When PH International organized its first exchange in 1985, the world looked very different.

The Cold War was still shaping how people saw each other. Travel across the Iron Curtain was rare. Encounters between young people from opposite sides were not just unusual, they were often viewed with suspicion, shaped by politics and limited information.

For Todd Kingsbury, a participant in PH’s first exchange to the Soviet Union, the experience began with uncertainty.

The setting felt controlled. Interactions were formal. Much of what they saw seemed carefully arranged.

But the real exchange did not happen there.

It happened later, in a private home, around a dinner table. 🍽️

That is where conversations became real. Where curiosity replaced hesitation. Where people began to see each other beyond the narratives they had grown up with.

💬 “When you’re sitting at a dinner table, you really get to know people… the labels don’t matter anymore. You just see people.” — Todd Kingsbury

Looking back, what made that first exchange significant was not that it changed political realities.

It was that it created space, however small, for honest human connection 🤝 at a time when that was anything but common.

That idea has remained at the core of PH’s work ever since.

Today, PH International continues to facilitate exchange programs across regions including Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, Africa, and Asia 🌐, connecting young people, educators, and professionals through shared experiences that build understanding and long-term relationships.

Exchange does not remove complexity.

But it helps people understand it with greater clarity.