They came to America and met the world.

This year, the Monroeville-based International Women celebrates 40 years of bringing together women who have left their homelands to forge new lives in the United States. Though each of their stories is different, many arrived here feeling lonely, isolated and, in some cases, speaking little English.

What they found was friends in the same situation and a support group that made them feel at home.

"They've helped me to assimilate better," says Murrysville resident Annie Schauder, who came from South Africa when her husband took a job with Westinghouse.

"Over the years, I have formed friendships next to kinship," says Alena Neumann of Monroeville, a native of the Czech Republic.

In an era when women's groups struggle to grow or even maintain their memberships, International Women draws a majority of its 120 members to monthly meetings at Cross Roads Presbyterian Church in Monroeville.

"When we started, a lot of the women were corporate wives who came here with their husbands," says president Carol Ottobre of Murrysville, one of the organization's American-born members.

In 1968, the Monroeville Center YWCA advisory committee saw a need for these women to come together to meet each other and their American neighbors. Many of the early members arrived during the 1970s when Westinghouse, U.S. Steel and other corporations with a presence in the East Suburbs launched a "brain drain" of qualified foreigners to fill industry positions.

Started as the International Wives Club, the group changed its name in about 1980 to "keep with the times," says then-president Donna Hopkins of Murrysville. The organization, which eventually became independent of the YWCA, has outgrown two locations.

"It's nice to see it grow," says Murrysville resident Ulla Strait, a native of Denmark and one of the original members.

Today, the group offers monthly social meetings with cultural and educational programs-- and a smorgasbord of homemade international foods.

Special interest groups include mah-jong, biking, walking and movies. The women, who represent 37 different countries including the United States, also can participate in informal conversation groups in French, Spanish, German and Asian languages.

"It's a very warm group," says Vera Ducruet of Monroeville, a native of Switzerland.

"I just fell in love with everyone," adds Singapore native JoAnne Killion of Murrysville.

On April 12, they are celebrating the group's anniversary with a dinner at the Longue Vue Club in Penn Hills.

The program will include international music, a slide presentation and recognition of past presidents and several founding members.