My name is Sumbo Owoyele, I’m 23 years old and I live in London, but I grew up in Lagos up until high school and was raised Muslim. I enjoyed growing up Muslim because my parents raised me with such an open-minded and grounded perspective – they made me understand faith without judging others and taught me to have respect for other religions too.

I’m a Yoruba Muslim which, for those that don’t know, is more on the western side of the country and religion. If you’ve ever been to Lagos then you’ll know that it’s the mega-city of Nigeria a.k.a. the most populated district that has an immersive mixture of all the tribes. I grew up with an open-minded view of things because I went to Catholic schools and my family were always receptive to learning about other cultures and religions. I’m really appreciative of the way I grew up learning about religion because I was allowed to have my own unique journey to understand my faith.

As Ramadan approaches, I love using the month to ground myself and get back into routines. Whilst routines can change during the month, my lifestyle stays simple, but I divide my day up into mini tasks so I don’t end up expending too much energy. Normally, my day starts by doing tasks that require more energy like filming content, running errands and studying as I won’t feel as tired then. By the end of the day, I’m typically setting out plans for the next day and prayers – I love reflecting and concentrating on the positive things to look forward to. Ramadan makes me realise I can really do anything I put my mind to and it also makes me value things that I’d usually overlook during regular months. The most significant change is when I wake up because during Ramadan I try to wake up by 5am, but on a normal day I’d wake up at 8 or 9am.

For Eid, I’ll be celebrating in a simpler way as I’m away from Lagos and home. I’ll go to the mosque for Eid prayers with my twin brother and we will probably grab lunch afterwards. The difference is big back home because Nigeria observes both Muslim and Christian holidays, so during Eid, everyone is off school and work. We would usually wake up by 5am to prepare for Eid and my family makes a grand breakfast, plus we have a culture of gifting our neighbours food and I spend the day with my cousins (both Muslims and Christians).

Usual Eid lunch will normally involve beef or ram meat and jollof rice (my favourite). I’m not a great cook, so I won’t have the luxury of eating traditional food this year!

Celebrating Eid away from home definitely makes me appreciate my family more. I see videos from home and I feel so much love and happiness for them. Spending Eid away from home makes me more grateful and I look forward to the times when I’ll be able to celebrate with my family again.

Over this time, connecting with your local Muslim community can be difficult when you’re away from home, but there are ways to stay close whilst you’re far away. One tip I have is going to the mosque on Fridays and remaining open-minded, which could even lead to meeting like-minded people. Whilst I don’t have much personal experience, my twin brother met some people at the mosque and he plays football with them almost every week!

Ramadan brings me so much peace and I look forward to it every year. It’s a way of grounding myself and letting go of negative things that have no purpose in my life. Apart from Ramadan being a religious practice, I see it as a way to better my life in general as it helps me to stick to a routine and further push myself. It's similar to how some may view a New Year’s resolution – a second chance at sticking to good routines and appreciating my surroundings better.