Life in Samoa

Home in a Samoan village

Home is where you live; it is where your friends and family are.  It is where you lay your head at night and where you eat breakfast in the morning.  Most of all, home is where your heart is - it is part of who you are.
The above shot is of a home in a traditional Samoan village.  If you were close enough you would find no glass in the windows.  The door has no lock, and the welcome mat is out.  It is a place you can visit with no fear and people will greet you with warmth and a smile.
While visiting this little enclave of tradition; a bastion bearing beauty and benevolence towards outsiders, we were thrilled to see the children playing.  There were no playgrounds or organized activities.  There was no electronics to mesmerize them or adults to control them.  They were free spirits; curious but polite. 
Their parents were busy with looking after the things adults do; but were themselves welcoming and helpful towards each other and ourselves.  It was a community, and it was home.
Home means something different to us all, but in the end it is a safe place where we are welcome.  Here, everybody was home.