The Strawberry in a Banana Farm by Fadumo Yusuf

Naima looked at the mirror, staring at her long black hair extending past her shoulders. She noticed how they fell over her brown scarf that was on her neck and shoulders. Admiring how beautiful her dark brown skin looked, she couldn’t help but wonder.

“Why do I look so different? Everyone in my school looks so different from me! why am I the only one who is different?” She wondered as she tied her hair back together and put her scarf on her head to cover her hair.

“You have such a long and beautiful hair, why do you cover it?” One of her classmates asked her.

“You have a beautiful hair why do you show it?” Agitated by the question, Naima answered.

Naima’s classmate did not ask her any other questions. She did not ask if Naima was offended by her question. She thought maybe she had offended her classmate and rushed out of the bathroom without saying a word.

Naima stood there thinking about the question that her classmate had asked her a moment ago.

“Do they think I wear the Hijab because I do not have hair or because my hair is ugly? I have beautiful hair!” Naima thought.

That evening when Naima got home, she had a conversation with her dad about why people were different from each other and why she looked so different from everyone at her school.

“Aabe, why am I so different from everyone in my school?” Naima asked her dad.

“That is how the world is aabo.” Mohammed, Naima’s dad responded to her.

“What do you mean aabo?” Naima asked her aabe.

“What is your favorite fruit aabe?” Naima’s aabo asked her.

“I do not have one favorite fruit aabo. I love bananas, strawberries, mangos, apples and oranges!” Naima said smiling.

“Those are my favorite fruits too! Imagine, if there were no other fruits or food except for strawberries. How would that make you feel?” He asked her.

“Yuck! We would have to eat strawberries all the time. I like strawberries but I don’t want to eat strawberries all the time!” Naima said.

“Now, imagine if one strawberry was in a farm where only bananas grew. And the strawberry wanted to look like the bananas. What if the strawberry asked, why do I not look like the bananas?” her dad asked her.

“But the strawberry is not a banana, why does he want to be a banana?” She asked.

“You are right, strawberries and bananas are two different fruits. What if because the strawberry was the only strawberry in that farm, he felt sad because he did not look like everyone else?” Naima’s dad asked her.

“That is ridiculous! They are different fruits and they are both delicious.” Naima said laughing.

“You are right aabe, they are both fruits. Each one is a different, unique and yummy in their own way. They do not need to all be the same to be awesome fruits.” Naima’s dad said.

“Do you want to eat a banana or strawberry?” Naima’s aabe continued.

“Let’s have both!” Naima said.

The next day Naima went to her school with a plan to talk to her classmate and tell her about the Hijab.

“Samantha, may I speak with you for a minute? I have something to tell you.” Naima said.

“Yes Naima, I wanted to talk to you about my question too.” Samantha said.

“I am sorry, I did not mean to yell at you. I was just sick and tired of everyone asking me why I am different and why I wear the hijab all the time.” Naima said.

“I am sorry too, I did not mean to ask you an offensive question. I just thought you had a beautiful hair and wanted to give you a compliment. I shouldn’t have said it the way I did, I am sorry.” Samantha said.

“I wear the hijab because that’s who I am. My mom, grandma and all the women in my family wear it too. That is part of who we are, how we live and part of our religion. I am a Muslim.” Naima said.

“That’s really cool. I am Christian. By the way, I saw your mom at our parent teacher conference. I loved the scarf she was wearing, it was very beautiful! Naima, do you want to be my friend?” Samantha said.

“Thank you, Samantha. She always wears beautiful scarfs. And yes, I would like to be your friend. We should do a presentation on our different cultures and religions for the class.” Naima said.

Naima and Samantha became best friends. They have asked their teacher Mrs. Edquest if they could do a presentation for the class to tell their classmates a little bit more about each other’s culture and religion.

“That is a wonderful idea!” Mrs. Edquest said.

Once Mrs. Edquest finished teaching the lesson for the day. She told her students that they had a new assignment for the next two weeks.

“Alright class, we have a new assignment for the next two weeks. Pick a partner. You will be doing a presentation on your partner’s cultural background, religion, and family’s way of life. And remember, culture is not the same as religion and not everyone follows a particular religion but that does not mean their family does not have values that guide them.” Mrs. Edquest said to her students.

Samantha and Naima worked on presentation together to tell their classmates about their different religions and cultures. Naima presented on Samantha’s culture and religion. Samantha presented on Naima’s culture and religion.

Everyone in Mrs. Edquest’s class learned about different religions, different cultures and different ways of life. They all respected each other and were stronger because they had different cultures, religions, and ways of life.

Samantha and Naima become best friends learning about each other’s culture and way of life every day. Their friendship was so much fun and better because they accepted and celebrated their difference.

Acknowledgement and Credits:

Originally created for Neighborhood Bridges, a program of Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota.