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It was the first tree planting session for the 'Living with Leopards' crew yesterday, another great turnout. The theme for the day was RESPECT for all living creatures and before the tree planting we had the eagerly awaited and early contested Boys v Girls football match. Before the game I had the boys yell out three times "GIRLS CAN PLAY FOOTBALL TOO!"
A crocodile swimming in the river nearby made things interesting especially when the ball rolled down the bank into the water. The successful retriever of the ball was always accompanied by a lot of yelling, screaming... and laughing. A couple of weeks ago the boys were playing when a tiger crossed the river so you can imagine the scene:
1) Boys playing football
2) Tiger is spotted crossing the river
3) Boys stop game for 10 minutes and watch
4) Boys start playing football again as if nothing had happened
Bardia, yep, this is the stuff that goes on :)
So yeah, RESPECT. Before yesterday's game (and it was the first time a girls team had ever been formed here, they loved it), I told the kids about my encounter with the adult leopard a couple of days ago (see post 2 back) and how all these animals must be given their space, shown complete respect. Environmental ethics are the seeds we are trying to sew (the kids are a bit young yet for me to be banging on about environmental law but by god I will!), something which has been lost on previous and current generations globally but coexistence depends on it. The 'Living with Leopards' concept is based on this, there's a long way to go but these young ones are being receptive... I just wish the football didn't go in the river quite so much, the trees being planted may help stop that a bit. That crocodile wasn't small...
