Her eyes lit up with joy, "Finally, I have a new uniform and hand bag,” Lisa said.

Lisa could hardly wait to get to her new school. She had always dreamt of attending Kigali Primary School. How could Lisa’s mum have read her mind? Carrying her school bag, Lisa’s dad walked her to the taxi outside.

"Be extra careful, this is totally a new environment,” warned Lisa’s Dad.

Remembering that she had left all her old friends at her former school, Lisa’s heart sank. How she wished Suzie’s parents had brought her to the new school.

"I don’t want you to leave, atleast for today,” Lisa told her dad.

Lisa’s eyes were filled with tears; she was so scared of relating with kids that she barely knew.

‘What if they are mean? What if they don’t need new friends,’ Lisa kept wondering.

Her worry would not change anything; there she was, in a totally strange environment.

"I know what to do,” Lisa said to herself. She was determined to exercise her best behavior. Lisa promised never to rudely respond to anyone, not even to a bully.

"Which is class 3.C,”she softly asked a boy.
A tall boy replied so rudely, "I am Simon the bully. No one asks me anything and I hate new comers!”

Tears rolled down her cheeks and Lisa walked away sad.
"Where is Class 3.C,”she asked another girl.
"I could sense that you needed help. Come with me, 3.C is my class too,” said the girl.

Lisa was relieved. She later learnt that the little girl who helped her was Charity. They became very good friends.
"At least there are some good kids here, thanks for helping me,” Lisa said to Charity.

Lisa gave Charity her new geometry set as a token for her good behavior.

When they were out for break, something terrible happened. Simon, the bully and his gang approached them.
"Why do you sit with strangers Charity,” they asked.

Scared but confident, Charity explained to Simon’s gang that every kid needed friendship and help.

"From strangers, we make friends. Simon, imagine if it were you joining a new school and on the first day, kids neglected you, how would you feel?” Charity asked.
Challenged, Simon apologized to Lisa for his unkind treatment.

"I promise I will help you from now on. My baby sister will join a new school next year and I don’t want her to be treated badly,” Simon said.

Lisa and Simon hugged. Core enemies became  best friends. Simon’s group played with Lisa’s and they became a big circle of friends.

Since then, Simon, Lisa, Charity and their friends gave new comers the best treatment in their school.

Ends