“I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.” – Maya Angelou

What is community? With approximately 15,810,000,000 results in just 0.48 seconds, Google defines community as “a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common” but also “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals”. The first community I knew was “family”, with my parents, younger sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It is a community bound together through blood relationships, those are the people who have been by my side since I was little, taking care of me until I became an adult. “Family” is the first community that taught me social knowledge before I went to school, and is the one who taught me to preserve family culture.

One of the things that makes me love “family” is my Grandmother. Grandmother is my father’s mother and is also the person who opened my young mind to many new things. I still remember when I was little, about 5 or 6 years old, she told me about faith. In my family, she is the only person who follows Buddhism, the remaining members like my parents are all non-believers or atheists. My grandmother said that one of the most unique cultural features of Vietnamese people is ancestor worship. Most of us believe that even if people die, their souls and minds will still stay to protect the family, that is the reason why many families have ancestral altars in their homes. She told me that everyone should have faith to rely on because it can be a great spiritual fulcrum when people don’t know who to believe in. Grandmother also said that there are people like my parents who don’t worship Buddha or follow Christianity, they choose not to believe in any religion. However, my parents still respect and pay attention to ancestor worship, like many other Vietnamese. As for her, she turned to Buddhism as a way to comfort her soul after my grandfather passed away because she felt safe and could calm her mind through hours of meditation. Growing up with Grandmother, I have a more open perspective on idealism, on believing in what our eyes cannot see but our hearts can still feel. That’s my community.

However, my worldview only really expanded when I traveled to European countries and when I studied abroad in the United States, where I was exposed to more religions and beliefs. In Vietnam, the majority of people will follow Buddhism, Christianity or non-religion, there are very few cases where they follow any other faith. Even I, who lived 17 years in Vietnam, had few opportunities to interact with Christian. Yet when I came abroad, I met Muslims for the first time, and for the first time saw people wearing scarves that covered their hair or half of their faces. For the first time, I also encountered Christians distributing flyers, and many times encountered awkward situations when I did not want to receive those flyers because it went against my faith. This reminds me of a lot of issues in International Relations, where conflicts in the world stem from differences in culture, faith, and religion. People cannot control and force all others to follow their will, because no one is the same. And when they can’t persuade with words, they will resort to armed violence. Oppression, massacres of people and harsh religious laws that take away the most basic human rights are still happening around the world, in countries where people have no voice. For us, it is a sad thing when freedom of belief is not respected. I believe that any community that does not go against the law and moral standards needs to be protected, listened to, and sympathized because it is the differences between communities that make human society develop the most diversely.