What makes you feel like you belong? GOAL's Book Of Belonging extracted

We present an extract from The Book Of Belonging, the new publication showcasing GOAL's NextGen X-Change programme, which aims to drive global citizenship by bringing cross-cultural creative collaborations to life.

GOAL asked their NextGen youth programme participants one question: What makes you feel like you belong? Why 'belonging'? GOAL wants to tackle challenges of loneliness and social polarisation by creating an opportunity for people to reflect on how we all yearn to belong and to consider how we can all help others to feel like they belong.

The Book Of Belonging is their response, featuring over 29 contributions from Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Honduras, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Ireland.

Sondra Mejia, Age 22, Honduras

Same book, different pages

In every corner of this vast, wide earth,

A spark ignites, giving dreams their birth,

A hobby, a place, a scent in the air,

A common thread that draws us where,

We find our hearts in harmony aligned,

A sense of belonging, a bond that is kind.

Through paint and words, through dance and sand,

In shared passions, our spirits are found.

To be seen, heard, and feel we belong,

In art's embrace, we all grow strong.

In different pages of the same book,

We all have a chance, if we just look.

Aoife Sharkey, Age 20, Ireland

Longing for belonging

I spent my days with a longing,

a longing which embedded itself

into my being,

burrowing beneath my pale skin

until it had nestled in my bones.

I spent my days with a longing,

a longing for true belonging,

a longing which lingered like an

ominous thunderstorm threatening to explode.

I fought and fought this longing,

Misguided by the belief that belonging

was synonymous with merging

and blending and contorting

myself into what others want me to be.

The realisation that I did belong

appeared like a welcome apparition.

I belonged with my family,

as I did with my friends,

I belonged with my quirks and

my oddities and all of the

things that make me me.

So I no longer spend my days

with a longing, a longing for belonging,

instead they are spent content

in the knowledge that I belong

because I am me.

Find out more about The Book Of Belonging and the GOAL NextGen X-Change programme here.