‘There’s No Place Like Home’

Author Josh Orem

I am a born-and-bred Midwestern boy. It is in my blood and is reflected in my decisions and actions. For better or worse, wherever I live or travel, I see things through Indiana-colored lenses.

I have also always had strong Presbyterian roots; some of my earliest memories are from VBS and Sunday school classes. Even as I’ve developed something of an ‘addiction’ to traveling, my roots have always been firmly set in Shelbyville, IN. When I clicked my ruby slippers I would doubtlessly return to my parents’ house.

My first year as a PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteer made me begin to question whether or not I could put down roots in multiple soils. My brother, Tyler Orem, and I volunteered the same year. I was placed in Gatundu, Kenya; Ty went to Kerala, India. A one-year commitment may not seem like much, but I had never gone more than three months without spending time with my family. My YAV year made me start a new family of trusted friends in a place foreign to me.

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I felt like giving my heart wholly to LA would be a betrayal to those to whom I had given it in Kenya.
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My job was to teach at Iciciri Secondary School, but mostly I was the one being taught. As a North American, I’ve had a societal sense of superiority ingrained in me from a young age—this notion as a country that because we are wealthy, we must have our act together and therefore need to show everyone else the way to do the same. I think that idea, whether consciously or subconsciously, infects many people’s mentalities as they go into mission.

In reality, however, there was nothing I did during my YAV year that Mr. Njenga or Mr. Kariuki, the Kenyan teachers at the school, could not have done themselves – maybe even done better! Honestly, I think the most important thing I provided was an example of how people truly are the same everywhere. This was just as important for me to learn as it was for the people with whom I interacted in Kenya. While my experience in Kenya was daunting at first, by the end of the year, I did not want to leave. My heart was fully planted in East African soil.

Coming home was hard. In fact, I had a new home: I decided to do one more YAV year with my cousin Brady Vanes in the Hollywood DOOR program. My “home” went straight from rural Kenya to urban Los Angeles. My job: from schoolteacher to something of a community organizer among people who are homeless. I loved the people with whom I worked with and lived LA, but I was quite depressed for some time. Every day I thought of Kenya and of all the conversations and stories from my time there. How could my heart be in LA when it was still yearning to be back in the place from which it was so recently uprooted? I felt like giving my heart wholly to LA would be a betrayal to those to whom I had given it in Kenya.

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These days when I click my ruby slippers, they could take me to one of many places. But as it turns out, they would all still be “home.”
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All In the Family: YAVA Tyler, Josh, and Brady

It helps to be part of a YAV Alumni (YAVA) community. Nothing holds people together quite like shared experiences. No matter where a YAVA has served, we know that in the larger YAVA community, there are others out there that have gone through similar feelings of joy and sorrow. Many of my closest friends now are YAV Alums. Some I spent a year with, many I did not, but we are all still family.

Over time, I have realized that home does not have to be in one place. Our hearts aren’t dug up and transplanted each time we move, but rather are more like offshoots that can regrow in new locations and still live in each place planted. These days when I click my ruby slippers, they could take me to one of many places. But as it turns out, they would all still be “home.”

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AUTHOR BIO: Josh is an Adventurer and Friend. He is still wandering and wondering, and has found his latest home in Chicago.

Read more stories by YAV Alumni/ae about new life routes!

Read more articles from the young adult issue!