Seeds of Home: Carrying Culture Through Climate Displacement

By Yejin Jeong

Home is more than walls or streets. It is the memories, traditions, and connections that shape who we are. The quote from Growing Papaya Trees says, “Displacement is not the loss of home. It is the reminder that we carry home within us like seeds waiting for the right soil.” This holds true in a world where climate change forces families to leave not only their houses but also their histories, languages, and cultural practices. Home lives inside us. It grows again wherever life takes us.

In the Carteret Islands of Papua New Guinea, rising seas have made farming and daily life almost impossible. Families led by Ursula Rakova have begun moving to Bougainville Island. They do not leave their culture behind. They carry it with them. Crops, plants, and traditional knowledge about fishing and gardening continue to evolve. Children learn songs, stories, and the language of their ancestors.
This shows how identity, memory, and belonging can last through change.

Displacement challenges the idea of home as a fixed place but reveals resilience. Communities rebuild kinship networks. They plant traditional foods in new soil. They keep their cultural practices alive. These are like seeds, ready to take root in new environments.

Even in my own life, small moves from city to city or school to school show this. Family recipes, favorite songs, and stories become seeds. They help me feel rooted even when everything around me is new or unfamiliar. Displacement teaches that home is not a place but the practices and memories we carry.

People can support displaced communities by helping organizations that preserve culture and provide climate-adaptive resources. Supporting Ursula Rakova’s Tulele Peisa project helps families replant traditional crops and build sustainable communities. Raising awareness, donating, or volunteering also helps communities carry their culture forward.

Displacement is hard, but it is not the end of home. Resilience can grow. Traditions can be transplanted. Identity can thrive in new soil. Like seeds, our stories, memories, and culture can grow anywhere.
​
Reference:

• Mongabay. (2024, November 12). In a Noah’s Ark move, PNG climate migrants bring thousands of trees to safer ground. https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/in-a-noahs-ark-move-png-climate-migrants-bring-thousands-of-trees-to-safer-ground/Links to an external site.