Seeds That Move: Finding Home Through Climate Displacement

By Bryanna Ochoa ​

To understand climate displacement, you have to imagine what it’s like when your environment can no longer support the life your community relied on. As the quote 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.” Even when people move, or are forced to stay because they cannot afford to leave, they carry memories, traditions, and their identity with them. Home isn’t a physical location, it’s when you’re able to feel connected.

I think about this when I think of my mom’s hometown, San Vicente Munguia in Guanajuato, Mexico. Some of my family hasn’t migrated because moving or affording life in larger cities is impossible. But their daily lives are deeply shaped by the environment. My mom grew up surrounded by crops, spending her childhood picking corn and walking into town to sell it after her father passed away. The land was their income and survival. Over time, things changed. The nearby town of Acambaro grew with supermarkets and bigger stores, making it harder for local farmers to make a living from selling what they grow. Their traditional way of life started to fade away. 

Daily life in Munguia depends on natural resources. When it doesn’t rain, there is no running water, during storms the power often goes out, and water may be cold if the day before wasn’t warm enough. Everything revolves around what the earth provides, which makes communities like theirs especially vulnerable to unpredictable weather.

Recently, Hurricane Erick hit southern Mexico, knocking out electricity along the Pacific coast for tens of thousands of people, flooding streets, and damaging infrastructure such as hospitals. Hundreds of properties were destroyed or flooded, roads were submerged, and many lost basic services like power or phone signal (BBC News, 2023). Guanajuato is hundreds of miles from the ocean, yet disasters like Erick show how vulnerable inland rural towns are as well. A single extreme weather event could ruin water supply, electricity, crops, or local markets. In a town like Munguia, where water and electricity are already unreliable, the aftermath of a major storm could make daily survival much harder. 

Even though my mom now lives in the U.S., she continues to visit and check on her family back home. She carries stories and traditions between both worlds, showing that home is not a place but the relationships and traditions we carry with us wherever we go. 

Communities like Munguia and those affected by hurricanes demonstrate that displacement is not only about physical movement. It also includes the loss of livelihoods, economic pressure, and instability caused by unpredictable weather. Through it all, people carry cultural “seeds,” planting them wherever they go. 

The best way to support communities under climate stress is by listening and spreading word. Whether it’s rebuilding after a hurricane or advocating for sustainable water access in rural areas, the best solutions come from those living the reality every day. 

As climate challenge worsens, more people may be forced to choose between losing their lands or losing their traditions. But as long as we hold onto our memories, traditions, and identity, home will continue to live on as we plant new seeds. 

Reference 

• BBC News. "Mexico Begins Clean-Up After Hurricane Erick Hits Southern Coast." June 19, 2025 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg9wprprxyo