What Makes a Home?
Aboubackry Ndiaye
Hello, my name is Aboubackry, and I am from Senegal in West Africa. I’m 16 years old and I go to South Philadelphia High School.
I think where I live is what makes my home because there are friends and my family in Senegal. I used to live in a big house with my mom, sisters, brothers and cousins. I used to live in a city named Dakar in Senegal. My neighborhood was so nice and friendly. I liked to hang with them.
The day before I left my friends and family to travel to the United States, they were taking care of me and telling me how much they loved me and how much they didn’t want me to leave them. I was crying and I was telling them that I’m going to miss them and I love them. Suddenly, my friends walked in and then they gave a bunch of pictures of me and them when we were having fun and all the crazy things we had done.
The day of my flight, I was so nervous when I got to the airport, and then my mom kissed me good bye, and I was crying and I said to her, I love and I won’t forget about her.
During the flight, I was sick and I was throwing up all over the plane until I got to Morocco. We stopped to catch another plane to the United States of America. When we arrived in the United States, my dad hugged me and said to me, “Welcome to the United States, my son.”
My dad took me, my sister Absatou and my brother Zakaria to North Philly, where my cousin lived, so we could stay there to live with them for a while. One day after I got here, I went out with my cousin and brother Zakaria and we were walking in the street, then suddenly some people jumped on us and tried to take my phone and my money. My brother ran, my cousin ran and I was alone there, so I called the police and they ran. The police came, asked me my name and my address and took me to my home. After I got home, I didn’t tell no one that I was about to get beat up by some gangster. 3 months later, we moved to West Philly. In West Philly, people were nice and different from North Philly.
To me, what makes a home is to have a family and friends, but the most important thing is to have your family, because one day, your friends may break up with you and you may never speak to them again. But your family always walks in when your friends walk out. As I grow up, I think it’s time for me to start having my own space and start my own home, but it’s a hard decision to leave your family and live anywhere else, and to make my home is to have friends and family. Therefore, I think that’s what makes a home.
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