International

Serving a Global Community.

An International Men’s Movement

The YMCA was founded in England in 1844 and the idea caught on. Eleven years later, Y leaders from nine nations convened in Paris to form the World Alliance of YMCAs. Their mission: to establish and strengthen YMCAs around the world in support of youth, families, and communities. Today, the World Alliance has YMCAs in 120 countries serving 64 million people.

YMCA Honolulu — A World Alliance Superstar

World Alliance YMCAs raised money for programs, buildings and “foreign secretaries” stationed in developing countries to help establish self-supporting YMCAs. YMCA Honolulu joined the World Alliance in 1883 and was a key player in raising funds and establishing and supporting YMCAs internationally.

Partners in the Pacific

The YMCA Honolulu was later designated as the international lead for the Pacific and China in the 1970s through 90s, serving as a leader for YMCA of the USA’s International Division.


Consulting visit left to right: Don Anderson, CEO/ President, YMCA of Honolulu; Professor Joseph L.C. Zheng, Yunnan Project Advisor; David M. Haig, Metro Board Member, YMCA of Honolulu and Co-Chair of the Yunnan Project campaign; Yan Rong Ke, Magistrate, Wu Ding Country; Li Ya Ping, Associate General Secretary, National Committee YMCAs of China.

Since 1887, YMCA Honolulu has raised significant funds for the World Alliance of the YMCAs, including $250,000 in 1991 as part of a $1.5 million collaborative project to build a hospital and school in one of China’s poorest provinces.
In 1922, the President of China hosted a reception in Peking for Dr. John Mott, a long-serving leader of the YMCA. Lloyd R. Kilam of the YMCA of Honolulu was in attendance. In 1946, Dr. Mott would go on to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his YMCA work.

In 1910, YMCA Honolulu became the International headquarters for the training of American YMCA International secretaries, and by the 1940s had foreign secretaries stationed in Poland, Japan, Czechoslovakia, Russia, India, New Zealand, China, India, and Jerusalem.
YMCA of Honolulu hosted the Six YMCAs Conference in 2014, and again in 2019 in honor of its 150th anniversary. Honolulu joined the annual conference in 1994 when YMCA leaders from Osaka, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei, and Honolulu gathered in Singapore to share ideas, collaborate and celebrate cultural diversity. The Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong joined the group later on.
August 21, 1931 Governor and Mrs. Lawrence Judd attend a Hawaiian Luau Dinner at the 2nd Pan-Pacific International Conference hosted by the YMCA Honolulu. The Conference led to the creation of the Institute of Pacific Relations and is known today as the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council.
Every year since 1993, the YMCA of Honolulu, Hiroshima YMCA and Cebu YMCA have sent a delegation of young adult volunteers to the Philippines for hands-on service work in poor rural communities. The Rotary Club of Honolulu joined this effort in 2003. The volunteers have built schools, health facilities, youth shelters, sanitation projects and other community improvements. They have also assisted in providing dental care and reading glasses.
In September 1988, the YMCA of Honolulu created a formal partnership with the National Committee YMCAs of China. L to R: Robert Masuda, President and CEO of YMCA Honolulu; Dr. Wu Zhao Guang, President of the Board, National Committee YMCAs of China; Henry F. Rice, Chairman of the Board, YMCA of Honolulu; Li Shou Pao, General Secretary, National Committee YMCAs of China.
When YMCA  island boys attended the first International Camp for Older Boys in Japan in 1930, they climbed Mt. Fujiyama, where this photo was taken.

War and Peace ➔