Lion Kids Camp Solio: Day 4

The Ewaso Lions Kids Camps is an inspiring program designed to educate children who live alongside wildlife about the importance of conservation in their communities. Find out more in the introductory post here.

Everyone slept really well, and Lucy the teacher told all the children that she had spent the night dreaming that she was a lioness looking after her lion cubs.

She has an extraordinary ability to engage with the children to embrace learning. After breakfast the children went back to their room, and Lucy taught them a song about the importance of trees.

If there was no trees, there would be no branches, and with no branches there would be no bird nests and with no nests there would be no eggs, and with no eggs no egg yolks and with no egg yolks no birds…. I think she was using the song, found a way to really relate to the children and bring the messages to life.

Somehow we need to find a way to maximize on this amazing skill.

The conservation presentation was very hard hitting, and seemed to impact this group even harder than the first school. I think they had a baseline understanding of the current situation in Kenya, which was slightly ahead from the start and seeing the pictures of slaughtered rhino and elephant really impacted them hard.

I think after an intense morning talking about poaching, the children were thrilled to spend an hour with the horses and horse riding. The whole four days have been incredible, the staff at Solio lodge have taken incredible care of us and I think for all of us at Lion Kids Camp Solio Dec 2014 this will be an experience that will remain with us always.

There have been a few stand out students – Teresa, Ruth, Beatrice, Douglas and Nelson, and we will keep in touch with the teachers and students to make sure that any budding conservationists are nurtured and facilitated to reach their full potential.