DOWAGIAC — In celebration of its 30th anniversary, One World Center will be hosting an open house for the community.

From 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, One World Center, 56968 Dailey Road, Dowagiac, will host an open house for the public to help celebrate 30 years of the nonprofit organization’s efforts to help around the world.

At the event, volunteers who have traveled to Africa and Brazil will speak with visitors about their experiences, show photos and give them tours of One World Center.

“[This year], we have had more collaboration with businesses and people here in Dowagiac,” said Elisabeth Axelsen, the international specialist of education. “We would like to get more rooted in that sense.”

To accomplish that, One World Center will be opening up its doors, offering a cup of coffee and cake for visitors to hear from volunteers and students, Axelsen said.

“People come here because they want to be part of improving conditions for people,” Axelsen said.

One World Center has welcomed students and volunteers, who come to the center for three to six months’ worth of training from all around the U.S., including Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, California and Texas. Axelsen said the center also has people travel to its center from other countries, mostly in Latin and Central America.

“It’s an international place,” Axelsen said. “By being with people who have a different background than you, you really have to learn to accept, listen and work together.”

Julie Bankston, a current teacher at One World Center, walked through One World Center’s doors wanting to be a humanitarian.

“Coming here and being with the group and community and cooking nutritional food was fantastic for me,” Bankston said.

Bankston traveled to Malawi, where she was able to create two programs, both focused on empowering women.

“One was a woman teaching training scholarship and one was a woman support scholarship,” Bankston said.

She said she started a women’s club in Malawi and continues to keep in touch with the group.

Gabby Casdellinos, of Columbia, was part of the 18-month program and spent six months learning about community living, teamwork, leadership skills and how to empower and inspire people at the One World Center.

In Malawi, Casdellinos worked as a core group teacher and helped to establish a garden with 10 preschools.

“I teach them about nutrition and economy with the gardens,” Casdellinos said.

She also was involved in a livestock project with five preschools. Her idea was to work with schools outside of the area to help spread more knowledge. She also encouraged recycling and creativity to empower the people in Malawi.

“The idea is to teach them about feminism and that everyone is equal,” Casdellinos said. “I learned how to actually inspire people.”

Axelsen said teams work with people in Africa and Brazil to establish kindergartens, preschools, farming and other operations.

“There can be people on a team that are 18 and another that is 65,” Axelsen said. “We have different ethnic backgrounds, culture, educational backgrounds, but we are on the same team. We need to be able to work together. If we can do that, then we can work together with people who are much more different from us.”