by Phoebe G
One major word comes to mind when I reflect back on my journey with Ten Thousand Homes over the past 11 years: COMMUNITY. A lot of stories we share center around this idea: family, tribe, inner circle, the band, the clique etc. It’s difficult to find a word that encompasses that deep, simplistic yet nuanced sense of belonging. When we belong, we are at home with ourselves and within the world. This can be a life-altering experience.
It doesn’t really make much sense when you write it down; people from all over the world, speaking endless languages, with differing cultural influences and even belief systems, somehow coming together to help even just one person have a sense of home– through one way or another, crossing that cultural line, to come together and make a difference is someone’s life– building a roof over an orphaned family’s heads, showing up weekly to after-school programs to show the organizers and the children that you care, helping prepare and provide nutritious meals for children, going the extra mile to make someone feel heard, safe, loved, and that they belong.
The strangest thing happens when a group of people make that leap to come together to serve a community– in turn, they also gain an eclectic (sometimes eccentric) family of their own. Over the years I’ve gotten to share other peoples’ stories about this experience.
I tend to turn to my camera when I’m feeling a sense of home… that means my phone and hard drives are packed with pictures of sunsets, good food, and terrible quality pictures trying to capture a quick moment in time with people that I love. Particularly during the 6 years I lived and volunteered in South Africa at TTH full time, I have countless memories of playing a small role in building a very large and extraordinary community. Each time I reflect back on these photos and memories, I am amazed at how significantly they have shaped me as a person; life has a wonderful way of working out differently than you expect it to.
Phoebe is a longtime friend and former staff member of Ten Thousand Homes. She is now the Co-Founder and Director of The Children’s Art Gallery.
join the community.
