Stories of Kindness from Around the World

I wanted to share a story from a time in my childhood when I was living with my step mother.  She worked all day so I was responsible for doing the household chores and taking care of my younger half brother. During that time in our life, my dad was not present much, but I didn’t mind, my step mother took great care of my little brother and I in any way that she could. I loved her and always wished she could spend more time with us but she worked Monday through Saturday between the hours of 8:00 am and 10:00 pm.  

At that time my little brother was about 4 years old and he missed her so much all the time. He would always wait up for her but would fall asleep many times before she returned and when she left for work he would be asleep. One day, after I had given him his dinner and fed him, I put him to sleep but he started crying instead saying he wanted his “Mammie” as he called her. My biological mother was not in my life so I knew what it was like to want your mom. He was so young and really needed his mom - it hurt me to hear that. So I dressed him and put on his shoes and locked the house and we started walking. I did not consider our safety; I just knew I had to get my little brother to his Mammie.

In Africa we walk everywhere so transportation was not an issue. She did work very far away. After about an hour of walking, my little brother got tired. I did what any loving African big sister would do; I carried him on my back. I walked with him on my back for what seemed to be an eternity. He started getting really heavy, that’s when I noticed that he had fallen asleep. I then looked down and saw that he had lost a shoe while sleeping. I took him from my back and put him down. I knew we needed to find that shoe. My step-mom would not be able to afford new shoes for my brother.

I knew we had to back track our steps to find it but it would take too long to do it whilst carrying my brother.  So I told him to stay put right where he was and I would run and find the shoe and comeback for him. A man overheard and stopped me right before I walked off. He asked me, “You are leaving your brother here to go find the shoe? What if he is not here when you return?" I did not know how to answer that question. So he squatted down so that he and I were eye level and said in our native tongue, “People are always more important than things, it's okay if you can't find the shoe, but it is not okay to lose your brother over a shoe.”

He asked where we were headed and I told him my little brother wanted his mom, I remember him looking at me and smiling really big when I told him what I was doing. He took both me and my brother and put us in a taxi and sent us to our destination. Once we got there my mom was not too happy to hear the story. When we got home I received a spanking, she said it was because I did not consider mine and my brother’s safety.

My entire life I have depended on the kindness of many strangers, my only regret is that I cannot reach out to any of them and say thank you. I do not even remember what the gentleman’s face looked like, but he taught me a lesson that I cherish and value to this day - that people are more important than things.