Written piece
Threads of Hope
Umaima noor
Pakistan
About this piece
A short story of how small acts of kindness can form invisible threads that bridge cultures, communities and borders, and how hope and unity can bridge distance and difference.
Threads of Hope:
Rooh was sitting by her window, watching the rain pour down over her village. She often wondered what life is like away from the mountains and seas. They spoke different languages, wore different clothes and had different traditions. Yet she felt there must be something that connected them all. One day her teacher invited the class to write letters of encouragement to the young people in other Commonwealth countries. Rooh wrote carefully about her dreams, her family, and her hope for a peaceful future. She heard back from a girl thousands of miles away a couple of weeks later. Similar dreams, similar concerns and the same desire to make the world a better place, the letter read. Rooh was amazed to see how much they had in common despite their distance from one another. Rooh started writing letters to other peoples of different cultures as the years went by. Every dialogue was a learning experience for her and a reminder to her of how kind people can bring people together. She started to visualize these connections as threads, threads of hope, friendship, understanding. Combined they made a lovely quilt that transcended borders and oceans.
Looking at the sky that evening, Rooh smiled. Distance was not the barrier in the world anymore. Rather, it was bound together by a myriad of invisible threads like people choosing understanding over fear, and hope over division.