The Meaning of Home

The Meaning of Home When you think of a home, you might just imagine a place to sleep, eat and rest . But that is not just what home means to me .To me my home is a safe space where I can finally settle down after a long day of school and be surrounded by people who truly care about me. On a cold winter day in my home you would see me outside playing with my younger siblings,our laughter and our language yoruba filled the cold air , as we compete in trying to make the biggest big snow ball in the neighborhood . After we finish playing, we go inside and smell the aroma of traditional jollof rice that my mom is cooking, which warms me right up. After finishing our jollof rice we play Uno as a family while speaking yoruba and of course I win! Speaking our native language makes me feel warm inside and right at home . At my home my parents call me Ayoka, a traditional name that means joy that I only use with my family. Hearing my family being used makes me feel truly special and loved. Since moving from Nigeria 9 years ago, I haven't gone back, which makes the tradition we keep even more precious to me. It has been nearly a decade since I left my birthplace so the sounds of our language and the smell of my food and the name my parents call me is what home truly means to me. So you see home is not just furniture, a couch, or your bed, it is the people in it that makes it feel like home. I am very grateful for Habitat for Humanity's work because a lot of people don't have stable homes or have a home at all. Your efforts remind me how lucky I am to have a home of my own .