The Three Sisters

A Happier Village

Okarina, Maraka and Karimba became the heroines of their village. Before the fire, the three sisters didn't have much to do with their neighbours. They had been told by their parents to keep their door closed and not to bother anyone.

The people were not interested in them either. Having to help look after three young girls, that was the last thing they needed. Everyone had enough on their plates. "Life is hard enough as it is," was a popular saying in the village.

After the fire, the houses had to be rebuilt, and everyone helped everybody else. Together they planted new gardens. The green of the forest came back, and soon the village looked more beautiful than ever. Now the people were talking to each other a lot more, and Karimba, Maraka, and Okarina became known as 'our sisters'.

If anyone had a difficult decision to make, or if there was a misunderstanding between neighbours, or when parents didn't get on with their children, someone would say, "Why don't you go and talk to our sisters."

With their shared gifts, the three girls helped many neighbours solve their problems. Karimba could feel and recover the true feelings they had lost, Maraka could hear the words they didn't speak, and Okarina could help them see what they didn't want to look at. The sisters encouraged everyone to accept their experiences of guilt, fear, and embarrassment and trust that it would lead them to a happier place inside their own world.

Having learned to work together, Karimba, Maraka, and Okarina not only saved the lives of the villagers. They gave the whole village a new life. Their parents realised how much they loved their daughters and started to spend more time at home. The five of them began to feel and look like a real family. Being good neighbours became quite normal. Now the saying "life is hard enough as it is," sounded very strange because life didn't seem that hard anymore.