Healthy Harold: Being kind is the best way to make a new friend

Hi everyone. Healthy Harold here.

Having friends is an awesome thing. It always feels good to spend time with our friends whether you are playing handball, hide and seek, sitting and chatting, or connecting online.

But have you ever thought about what it would feel like to not have a friend or anyone to play with?

I’m sure you can all relate to this a little bit, like if your bestie is away on holidays and you feel a bit lonely, or your project partner is at home sick and you have to work on it alone.

I want you to empathise for a moment. That means to think or imagine how someone else might feel.

Showing empathy can be tricky and takes a bit of practise.

So, recently we had a new student start at Gumnut Primary, starting in our class. Our teacher Mr Yarrum introduced her and told us her name was Amina. Amina and her family had just arrived in Australia from another country.

When Mr Yarrum introduced her, Amina didn’t look happy or excited. Her eyes were looking down to the ground and her shoulders were curling forward. She looked sad and shy. Amina was covering her face a little with the scarf she wore on her head. (I later found out this was called a hijab). Mr Yarrum helped Amina to put away her school bag and find a table and chair at a shared desk.

I could tell straightaway that Amina was shy, because I too was once the new kid at Gumnut Primary. Two years ago, my mum got a new job on the other side of the city, so my family moved house and I couldn’t stay at my old school as it was too far to drive each day.

That’s how I became the new kid at Gumnut Primary. I have been in the same position as Amina, being introduced to a class full of unfamiliar faces and feeling very nervous and a bit lonely.

This made me wonder why someone would have to leave their country and move away to the other side of the world.

When the bell went for lunch, I waited around to speak with Mr Yarrum. I wanted to know why Amina and her family had moved so far away from their home.

Mr Yarrum told me that Amina’s family had moved to Australia because there was a war in her country, and they moved her to be safe. This means her family are called “refugees”.

At lunchtime, I saw Amina sitting by herself on the buddy bench. She looked lonely, so I decided to go over and sit with her.

Amina didn’t speak any English, which made it a bit tricky to communicate with her. This got me thinking, maybe I could use hand gestures to invite Amina to come and play handball with me and my other friends. I waved for her to follow me and gestured with my hands an invisible game of handball. She nodded shyly but followed me to the handball court.

Amina turned out to be very good at handball, and by the end of lunch had a big smile on her face.

I’m glad that I asked Amina to join in and play handball with us. I learnt that even though we may not speak the same language yet, we can communicate in other ways and have a lot of fun together.

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