Lulu and I were good friends. Every day we would go outside to play.
One day, Lulu’s mom came home with a bicycle for her. She bought Lulu a helmet so that she would be safe and in case she fell, her head was protected.
Once Lulu learned to ride the bike, she felt she did not need to wear a helmet anymore. Her mother always told her to wear it before she left the house. When she would go outside and play with her friends, none of them were wearing a helmet. They always asked her why she had one on. Sometimes they would laugh at her for wearing the helmet. “Ha ha! Lulu is too scared to ride without a helmet”, they would say.
One day Lulu and her friends decided to race with their bikes. Lulu was tired of hearing her friends laughing at her helmet. That day she left it at home and went out to race. When the race started, a dog ran across the road in front of Lulu and she had to turn away. Unfortunately, she had not seen the tree that was right next to her and she went and crashed into the tree.
Lulu fell down and hurt her head. Then she remembered her mother’s words, “Lulu, don’t forget to wear your helmet!”. I felt sad for Lulu, but she knew if she had listened to her mother, she would not have hurt her head.
Lulu’s experience is a reminder of a Swahili proverb that says, “Asiyesikia la mkuu, huvunjika guu”.
This means that when we don’t listen to our elders, we could end up getting hurt.
Lulu was a good girl, but one day she decided to disobey her mom and she got hurt.
We should remember to listen to our parents because they know what is best for us.
By Nimu Karago