Wildlife Warriors kick off across the country

October 5, 2018

The Wildlife Warriors Club from Farasi Lane Primary in Westlands, Nairobi.

Our Education and Outreach team kicked off across the country to distribute Wildlife Warriors resource materials to 33 schools participating in the Wildlife Warriors program.

Wildlife Warriors is an education program that introduces Kenyan children to endangered wildlife through a nationwide program targeting public primary schools. We are leveraging the Safaricom 2018 calendar and use companion activity books and learning materials, activities and field trips.

The team led by Vincent Ontita, Program Manager, Program Interns; Esther Ngei, Tobia Oduor and David Mukabane visited all 33 schools in Nairobi, Northern Kenya, North Eastern, Western and Nyanza regions of Kenya.

Many of the schools visited face severe challenges such as human-wildlife conflict, poor school infrastructure, lack of clean drinking water and isolation. Despite these challenges, the teachers and students from the schools have enthusiastically adopted the program and are now using the internet to exchange stories, and interact with one another and wildlife experts. At Dadacha Bassa Primary school in Isiolo, our team met India Nuru a thirteen year old girl who rescued a gazelle in December 2015 and took care of it for two years with members of her wildlife club at school.

While still in its infancy the Wildlife Warriors school program is having demonstrable impact on the schools that have enlisted. After attending the Wildlife Warrior teacher training in Nairobi, the teachers at Ol Gir Gir Primary School were inspired to take their students to Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. Our Education and Outreach team joined the 50 students and 7 teachers.

Vincent Ontita – Education and Outreach Manager, handing out resource materials to the deputy headteacher and Wildlife Warriors club patron of MCK Kagurini Primary School in Tharaka Nithi County.

During the tour of Lewa, the students learned about wildlife and their role in the ecosystem. They met two inspirational educators, Ephantus Mugo and Jonathan Odongo who lead the Conservation Education Programme at Lewa.

While on tour, many other schools along the way asked to be included in the program, however, our funding currently only extends to 33 schools. The cost of the program is USD, 3000 per school as it includes site visits, training of teachers, and distribution of materials including computer, cell phone, modem, books and films. If you would like to support the program in another school please make a contribution today.

We are enormously grateful to our partners Storymoja, Safaricom and Siemiatkowski Foundation for supporting this project. We are also indebted to the children, teachers and communities of the participating schools.

To support a Wildlife Warrior or a school, please donate to the Education and Outreach program here.