Zuri loved to read and find out new information about anything and everything.
At school, she was always at the library engrossed in a book or two, trying to see what new thing she could learn.
During lessons, Zuri loved to share the information that she found with her classmates, and they were usually keen on hearing what she had discovered.
However, Omari never believed anything that Zuri said. He would always tease her and tell her that she was just making stuff up.
Zuri would remember her mum saying that she should always love and be kind to others. Despite how hurt Zuri felt, she always tried her best to do that.
Every day after school, Omari would wait for Zuri by the field, and he would bully her and make fun of her for the things she knew by saying things like “stop pretending to be a know it all” or “those things aren’t true”. Each time, Zuri would hold back her tears and focus on responding with love and kindness.
Zuri’s response towards Omari really puzzled him. After a few weeks, he decided to go to the library to see if the things Zuri said were actually true, and to his surprise they were.
He immediately felt bad for the many times he had bullied Zuri, so he planned to apologize to her after school.
When school ended, he went to the field as he usually would, and instead of bullying Zuri, he apologized to her and said that he was sorry for being hurtful towards her.
From then on, Zuri and Omari became great friends and would spend many hours in the library, buried in books, discovering many new things which they shared with their friends.
The way we respond to how others treat us can cause them to change for the better.
Zuri’s behavior towards Omari is a reflection of the African proverb; Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
By Wabi Kamau