In Taibah International School-Primary, every week is full of fun-filled activities like “Storytelling week”.  In this week, the teachers tell stories to the pupils they teach.

 Our Math Teacher told us a story first. She told us a story of a girl who lied to her mother that she read her Bible daily. This girl’s mother told her to read some verses like John 3:16 and Matthew 7:7, but she didn’t listen. When her half-term was soon, her pocket money was over, and she was desperate for more. She called her mother to ask for more pocket money, but her mother asked her if she had been reading her Bible. Her mother asked this because she hid fifty thousand shillings in her Bible. The girl said, “Yes, I have been reading my Bible”. Half-term came, and many of the girls’ relatives came to see her. The girl asked her mother again if she could get pocket money, and the girl’s mother knew that her daughter was not reading her Bible. She said, “Bring your Bible.” The girl brought her Bible, and her mother checked inside the Bible. There was fifty thousand shillings inside. The girl was ashamed. This story teaches us about honesty.

Then our Science Teacher told us a story about a man named Kato who stole from his friend.  Kato and his friends performed a ritual where they got a cocoa bean, cut themselves, put the bean in their blood, and ate the cocoa bean. Whoever among them was dishonest with each other would surely die. One day, Kato’s friend harvested a lot of sugarcane and made juice out of it. Kato was jealous and that night stole five jerrycans of sugarcane juice. The next day, Kato’s friend cried for days because of this loss. Then Kato’s friend asked all the people he performed the ritual with. He said, “Whoever stole my juice, please bring it back”. All his friends and family denied it, including Kato. So, they all sat in a circle and recited a chant, “Whoever has been dishonest, should die”. Kato’s stomach started growing bigger and bigger. Kato shouted to his friend, begging for forgiveness, but his stomach burst and Kato died. This story teaches us that friendship is special.

Then our English Teacher told us a true story that happened. He used to have a friend who was addicted to drugs and would give our teacher some, but he never took any drugs and hid them instead. One day, there was no electricity, so our teacher went to his friend’s house, and his neighbor’s generator was on, so there was light. But since he had taken too many drugs, he started dancing to the noise of the generator. Then, when the generator was turned off, the teacher’s friend asked him, “Eh! The song that was playing was a nice one. What was the name of the song and who sang it?”. Our teacher said, “It was Yamaha ft. Petrol”. He said that because the generator was from Yamaha, and it was running on petrol. Our teacher was scared of telling his friend to stop taking drugs. This story teaches us to avoid taking drugs.

Then our Social Studies Teacher told us a story about a kingdom in West Africa. The king told his advisors, “I am almost going to die and my son needs a wife to be a proper king because it will be so ashaming if he is a king that does not have a wife”. So, the Royal advisors spread the news far and wide across the kingdom that the prince needs a wife that is between 17-21 years of age. Many women came for interviews and out of all the women in the kingdom, the prince chose only ten women who did not have a man, for further interviewing. The prince asked them, “Why are you interested in marrying me?”. Some of them answered, “You’re a prince, and who wouldn’t be interested in marrying one?”, and “You’re rich”. But one girl said, “I love you”. The prince was so touched by this and chose that girl to be his wife. The next day, the prince was crying up to midday, and the whole kingdom asked him, “Our Prince, why are you shedding tears?”. The prince said, “My father did some DNA tests and I am not his son”. The whole kingdom chased him out. But before he left, he asked for one favour. He said, “Before I go, I want to leave this kingdom with the girl whom I chose to be my wife.” The Royal advisors allowed him, and he went to pick his wife. But the girl refused and said, “I can’t allow myself to marry someone who is not a prince”. The prince was angry. He left alone. The next day, people were shouting, “It is the prince’s coronation”. Some people were confused. The prince made an announcement. He said, “What happened yesterday was a test. I wanted to test the girl who was going to be my wife, but she failed. So, I am going to marry the nine wives whom I rejected”. This story teaches us to fulfill what we promise.

Thiwe Abesigamukama, P.5