Humane educators in Kenya can spend two weeks driving through muddy, rough terrain during the rainy season to reach classrooms in some regions. And only if their truck has not broken down, which it often does. But for the Kenyan children in those classrooms, the educators' efforts is more than welcome—it is essential.
Humane Society International (HSI), with support from the International Center for Earth Concerns (ICEC), is working directly with Kenyan children to ensure a lasting legacy of protection for Kenya's wildlife.
HSI and ICEC are funding the operation of three mobile education units for use by the Wildlife Clubs of Kenya (WCK), a conservation education program founded by Kenyan students in 1968.
The vehicles carry humane educators, generators for operating audio-visual equipment, videos, and instructional materials to schools across Kenya, sensitizing students to the needs of the creatures around them.
WCK’s humane educators travel with the mobile education units to schools constructed with mud walls or cinder block, simple by western standards, but considered blessings by local residents eager to provide their children with an education. Filling the classrooms is an enthusiastic audience of students ranging in age from 5 to 17 years old.
A WCK presentation can often draw the entire village. Elders, parents, traditional healers, and people from all walks of life turn out to watch the exciting spectacle of a video and discussion of the animals who share their environment and occasionally cross their paths.
To aid educators in conveying their message, ICEC’s John Taft (an HSUS Board Member) is developing educational videos that feature Kenyans and Kenyan wildlife—images with which the children can identify. HSI is also developing workbooks to accompany the videos. The workbooks will be available in English for older students and Swahili for the younger students, for whom English is still rudimentary.
“Educating and engaging the children of Kenya in wildlife conservation programs guarantees a future filled with promise,” says Taft. “The HSI-ICEC Kenya Wildlife Initiative with the Kenya Wildlife Clubs is a model of international partnership and demonstrated success.”
In addition to the mobile education units, ICEC and HSI are sponsoring the Karimba school on the border of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. The proximity of Lewa, an enclosed area of 65,000 acres where animals roam freely, provides a unique educational neighborhood for schools.
The Karimba school will feature humane education as an integral part of its curriculum. It will join six other primary schools in the area that are supported by the Lewa Education Trust, and participate in WCK programs.
By sponsoring a school in Kenya, HSI and ICEC hope to strengthen the ties between education and a brighter future for all animals, including people.
These efforts are crucial. In a country where poverty and human suffering feature in daily life, the plight of wildlife and its relationship to the people is often forgotten.
As the WCK notes, “we do fully recognize that continued environmental degradation and wildlife destruction will only complicate this further. Non-consumptive utilization of wildlife resources” can help maintain and even bolster industries like agriculture and eco-tourism in Kenya, which in turn can help improve the state of the country’s citizens.
Protecting Kenya’s wildlife is an endeavor for today and for the future. HSI and ICEC will build this school with the belief that when the children who have grown up learning to respect and honor their wild neighbors become adults, they will become stewards of Kenya’s fragile natural heritage.
“The path to a secure future for Kenyan wildlife is through education,” says Christine Wolf, HSI’s African wildlife program manager. “After all, the fate of Kenya’s wildlife is in the hands of her children.”
