The Journey to Ezido Lake: A Story about Empathy

“The Journey to Ezido Lake: A Story about Empathy” is now available in both paperback and Amazon Kindle. This new book follows two Nigerian children with two completely different social backgrounds and beautifully shows that regardless of circumstances, with empathy and understanding, both of their lives can be affected for the better.

Newtown, CT – November 7, 2021, Author Anselm Anyoha has officially announced the release of his latest children’s book, The Journey to Ezido Lake: A Story about Empathy. With his new book, based on a true-life story inspired by Siegel and Hartzell’s book Parenting from the Inside Out, he hopes to convey the life lesson that understanding and empathy can not only bring people together but can spread positivity as well.

In The Journey to Ezido Lake: A Story about Empathy, seven-year-olds Ngozi and Azuka were best friends, but they had different family backgrounds. They lived side by side. Whereas Ngozi came from wealthy parents, and their family had abundant water supplies in their well, Azuka and her family lacked water supply. Like many children in rural Eastern Nigeria, she walked miles to fetch water from the lake (Ezido) with which her family could cook, drink, and shower.

Ngozi had considered Azuka’s frequent trips to the lake as fun and wanted to go with her. One day, after repeated requests, Azuka let Ngozi accompany her to the lake. Together, Ngozi and Azuka experienced the challenges and hazards of going to the lake, collecting water, and carrying water vessels on their heads for miles, back home. When it occurred to Ngozi what Azuka had been going through, it affected her emotionally, making her intervene on her friend’s behalf.

During a recent interview, Anselm Anyoha was quoted as saying, “The moral of the book is that the world would be a better place if we could glimpse the lives of others and show empathy and understanding. Sometimes it takes literally seeing what others go through to appreciate what we have, and learn to feel true empathy for others. I hope that this new book will help children worldwide by giving them the understanding that not everything is always as it seems, and by listening and understanding, they may be able to provide support and comfort to their friends in need. It is a great book for the family to read together.”