By Jennifer Felt

The 75 children standing before us in tattered school uniforms (those who could afford them) had arrived on a bus from their community—an impoverished village built on top of the largest landfill in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. Of those 75 faces that greeted us, 74 were open with excitement and wonder, but one was not. A small boy stood in the corner looking troubled.

It is not uncommon when walking down the streets of any town in Central America to see young boys and the occasional girl carrying slingshots in their back pockets. I never resist the urge to ask what they might be using them for, and the answer is almost always the same: "para matar pajaros."  To kill birds. 

In a scenario that plays itself out over and over again, children load rocks into a slingshot and take aim at a wild bird's nest. After the rock hits the nest, the mother bird is usually killed or injured, and the nest falls from the tree with the baby birds inside. The young birds who survive the fall will have their wings clipped and become someone's pets, forced to live in cages or remain confined to a house for the rest of their lives. 

In a place where plastic toys are scarce, it may seem unlikely that children would agree to stop these destructive and deadly games. But in Nicaragua, that is exactly what we persuaded them to do. 

As part of Humane Society International's (HSI) broader capacity-building program in Central America to stop the illegal trade in wildlife, HSI—with assistance from the United States Agency for International Development—distributed funds to the Foundation Friends of the Nicaraguan Zoo (FAZOONIC) to support education efforts. For several years, FAZOONIC has been working in Nicaragua to protect the country's wildlife by taking in animals confiscated by government officials from illegal traders, and rehabilitating and releasing several of the species back into their natural habitat. In addition, the organization also participates in several outreach campaigns focused on the importance and benefits of protecting Nicaragua's rich biodiversity. 

The education program sponsored by HSI in Nicaragua entailed two components: (1) the construction of an education center and library designed to give schoolchildren access to resources about wildlife and species protection and (2) an education program designed to reach more than 1,300 students from the most impoverished communities in and around Managua. More than three dozen teachers participated in the education program, and the results were astounding.

FAZOONIC made several trips to the impoverished communities in order to work with teachers in the classroom and better inform the students about wildlife, habitat, and the important role wildlife play in the world. The students were also able to visit FAZOONICS' new education center, read wildlife magazines, play games, and ask questions. After several months of educational outreach and activities in these communities, the schoolchildren were ready to declare, "I protect wildlife in my community." 

At the end of the program, FAZOONIC held a ceremony to reward the schoolchildren for the accomplishments they had made and to celebrate the students' change in perception about wildlife. After the ceremony, each student lined up to throw a slingshot in the garbage in exchange for a backpack labeled, "I protect animals in my community."

Before the event started, I walked slowly up to the boy with the sullen face. Not wanting to upset him further, I gently asked if there was anything I could do to make him smile along with the rest of the children. 

"No, Senorita," he responded with his head down. He then explained to me that his mother has never allowed him to own a slingshot, and that his family has always been protectors of animals. Because he did not have a slingshot to trade in, he was terribly worried that he would not get a backpack. 

Not wanting him to think that I was laughing at a situation he took seriously,  I swallowed my smile and handed the young animal advocate two backpacks—one for him and one to take home to his mother. 

Jennifer Felt serves as Deputy Director of Trade Capacity Building for Humane Society International.