Grace’s Story

When I was in high school, I learned about a program called “Humanitarian Experience for Youth” that allowed teenagers to travel to a foreign country and engage in performing humanitarian aid, donating to the cause, building relationships, and immersing themselves in a new culture along the way. I thought that this sounded like an incredible experience, so I signed up to go to Peru and started raising money to pay for my trip and to donate to the project. I thought this would be a great way to experience a new culture, make some friends, and engage in a meaningful cause. What I didn’t realize is that I would be able to participate in building a powerful community.

When I and a group of other teenagers I had never met landed in Peru, there was a feeling of awkwardness and uncertainty between us. We made efforts to get to know each other, but there wasn’t a sense of unity among the group yet. That changed when we got to our worksite and Juan, the founder of the project we would be working on, told us the story behind the project. Juan told us about his wife. She was an amazing woman that he loved and cherished and who made the world a better place. When she was diagnosed with cancer, there were little to no treatment options available for her. With nothing to stop the cancer from spreading and taking over her body, she unfortunately passed away. After losing his wife, Juan decided to build a cancer clinic so that people like his wife could receive the treatment that they needed. We all cried together as we listened to Juan’s story. In that moment, we all had a shared purpose that each of us was strongly invested in. Our goal and purpose was to do the small part that we could to build the cancer clinic for Juan’s wife and others like her. That shared purpose led us to work harder than we thought we were capable of and build stronger bonds than we ever expected.

We were able to work alongside local construction workers who taught us how to mix concrete (with shovels, not a concrete mixer), lay bricks, and build infrastructure. They were patient with us as we learned and not only taught and encouraged us, but invested in us as people. We got to know each other and became friends. We laughed, cried, sweat, and literally bled together as we physically put everything we had into building our small part of the cancer clinic. After 8-hour work days, we would go to the project manager’s house for Karaoke or play sports with the youth group at church. We ate meals together, worked all day together, had recreation time together, and went to church together. 

This was the strongest community I had ever been a part of. The community bridged people of different races, religions, and cultures. We shared a purpose and each member of the group was needed and valued. We had high expectations of each other and held each other responsible for our contributions to the project. The impact we all had on each other will never be forgotten. We still keep in touch and I hope to go back to Peru to visit my friends there someday. I learned from the people I worked with and got to be a part of a community that changed my life. The sense of community and belonging I found in Peru has helped me to strive to contribute to communities with a meaningful purpose throughout my life.

You don’t have to travel across the world to find a sense of community. You can reap the benefits of being a part of or even creating a sense of community right where you are. Meaningful causes and people looking for connection are all around us. Try joining a new club or volunteering at a local charity. You can even invest more time and energy into groups you are already a part of. A sense of belonging and community can be fostered as you strive to build meaningful connections with others and work toward a common goal.