You have found the secret to world peace, Diane. It is in the stories. The reason you love these people you teach English is that you know their stories. The reason others do not love them is that they do not know them, and they do not know their stories. When you know someone’s story, it becomes so much harder to hate them because you see them not as a label — Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, — etc. You see them as a person. You see too much of yourself in them to be able to easily hate them again because in order to hate them, you would have to hate the part of you that you see in them.

Tell their stories. Use your gift to build the bridge. Publish those stories. Let their voices be heard. :) That is why we are here. To share stories.