Most of us have a place we call home. It is not necessarily a place in the traditional form, but a space where one lays their head. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a home is a house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household. The neighbourhood on the other hand is a number of persons living near one another or in a particular locality. From this we can deduce that homes make up the neighbourhood. The home and the neighbourhood feed each other in terms of character and influence because it is made up of living participants.

It must be noted that as a result of the composition of the neighbourhood, there will be good and bad habits or activities that give the overall neighbourhood a certain design. On the bad side such habits could be theft, drug abuse while, on the opposite side, there are schools and organisations that improve the lives of people. My neighbourhood is Ennerdale in the south of Johannesburg.

In Ennerdale, there are many organisations such as Ladies of Hope, which helps the youth to overcome drugs addictions, and physical and emotional abuse. Another one is SOS Kindergarten, which was established to shelter kids from child headed homes and for orphans. These organisations are tasked with a huge task of getting rid of social ills.

My home and neighbourhood is different from how it used to be. Back in the day when I was in primary school we used to be able to play in the streets without a worry in the world. Those were the best times of my life and I really miss that time. The violence as a result of gang conflicts and drug addicts has altered the environment and has made it unpleasant and almost inhabitable. The children of Ennerdale imitate these antics as they see the older kids do, because they think of them as the role models.

This reminds me of my brother, who was caught up in gangs and the bad habits of these people. He grew up in a very disciplined home with respect. He fell into the gangs and started to steal and he cannot be trusted with anything at home. As much as I want and hope for the best for him, I feel helpless and frustrated. The only hope is for more people to get involved in the organisations in the neighbourhood. This can be done through dedication and determination in organisations where people can donate their time, and those that cannot, but have the financial means can donate funds to these organisations.

It cannot be accepted as normal for young girls to be terrified to go to the shop because of being harassed by boys and men, who stand and smoke outside the tuck-shops and street corners. Life is very different in the neighbourhood to what it used to be and the vision for these neighbours and homes has been destroyed. Poverty has played a big role in the destruction of the fabric of the homes. Crime and addiction seems to be the first point of call that people use to numb their frustrations. Unfortunately, this takes them to a higher level of despair, rather than a solution.

My opinion on this matter is that we should not give up on making a great opportunity out this situation. This would make us a great neighbourhood. What I thought of whilst writing this essay is that there always has to be a bad person in order for there to be a good person and with good people we can have our happy homes and a fantastic neighbourhood.