Kuto was born in the arid plains of Djibouti, surrounded by nothing but dust and heat. He grew up angry, at the world and at those who seemed to have everything while he had nothing. Even his name, Kuto, meant “anger” in the local language.
As he grew older, Kuto’s anger only intensified. He began to shave his head and face as a way of expressing his rage at the world. He also started wearing oversized round black glasses as a way of shielding himself from what he saw as an unjust and cruel world.
One day, after a particularly hard day working in the fields under the blistering sun, Kuto came across an old man sitting on a rock. The man was dressed in strange clothes and had a long white beard. He looked up at Kuto with kind eyes and asked him why he looked so angry all the time.
Kuto proceeded to tell the old man about all of his hardships: how difficult life was in Djibouti; how unfair it seemed that some people had so much while others had so little; how much he hated seeing injustice around him every day without being able to do anything about it.
The old man listened patiently before speaking again. “I cannot change your circumstances,” he said softly, “but I can give you something that will help you deal with your anger.” And with that, the old man handed Kuto a small black stone necklace with a green gemstone pendant hanging from it
