CHALLENGE
According to the World Animal Foundation, there are more than 40 million donkeys in the world; the majority of whom are in underdeveloped countries where they are used as working animals. As a result of being undervalued and regarded as low status animals, they are often mistreated and forced to work more than their small bodies can bear.
Donkeys, in spite of their resilient nature, face serious abuse and mistreatments. Their ability to suffer in silence has made them one of the world’s most abused animals, and this is no exception in East Africa. The mistreatments range from starvation, severe beating to overworked, slaughtered for food, and in more recent developments, theft for skinning, to satiate the high demand from the Chinese.
Human history reveals that we treat animals based on how we perceive ourselves and our environment; most believe humans to be more superior, others see more equality between humans and animals.
While being kind to animals may seem like a natural response for children, unfortunately, this skill is not encouraged in most households and public schools in East Africa. Kids can learn from caregivers and peers how to care for an animal, whether that be a pet or a wild animal. Instilling values of compassion and respect for animals can help kids develop empathy for all living things which could play an important role in teaching kids about protecting the environment.
THE PARTNERSHIP
Through a collaborative effort between Brooke East Africa and Ubongo, a moving and engaging TV episode was made with the purpose of encouraging communities across East Africa to break the cycle of abuse of animals, specifically donkeys.
Brooke is an international charity that protects and improves the lives of horses, donkeys and mules which give people in the developing world the opportunity to work their way out of poverty. Working on the frontline with donkey-owning communities, Brooke East Africa and their partners have helped to set up over 400 groups with over 9,000 members, funding community-led initiatives to protect donkeys, collaborating with other animal-focused organisations to learn from their experiences and alerting the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to get the issue on the worldwide agenda.
Brooke wanted to get children and youth thinking about donkeys (and animals) with empathy and compassion, as well as educate them on the fundamental role donkeys play in society today. Believing that by engaging children’s curiosities from an early age on animal care and protection, we will bring about positive change for animals and society as a whole.
The episode, which focused on donkey care, also covered animal rights’ education, awareness and empathy-building. Before we started creating, Ubongo, in partnership with the Brooke East Africa, KENDAT, FSK and Caritas Kitui, conducted formative research in the following schools:
- Syomikuku Primary School, Mwingi
- Thiba Primary School, Mwea
- Kinungi Primary school, Naivasha
Our researchers compiled findings on animal welfare and donkeys that would be relevant to the East African context, specifically Kenya and Tanzania. The findings concerned the following:
- What are animal rights? How are they different from human rights?
- What is animal welfare? What role do we as humans/children play in ensuring animal welfare?
- Exploitation of animals: How do humans contribute to this?
- What are donkeys typically used for?
- What significance do donkeys have culturally? Reference to the Swahili saying ‘punda afe mzigo ufike’
- Work of KENDAT’s ‘Heshimu Punda’ program in Kenya & ‘Linda Punde Ushinde’ competition in Kenya
We conducted initial focus groups with community action groups, caregivers and children. The objective of the research was to let kids open up to us about their knowledge of animal welfare and caring for donkeys. Some of the kids we spoke to were members of a Donkey Care Club: an initiative by Brooke to teach and inspire kids to care for their animals; and, had more insights on donkey care compared to non-members.
The general findings from a discussion with a group of local children aged 8-11 stood out the most. The findings indicated that kids were aware of basic human rights but had difficulty in knowing what animal rights are and how humans can protect them. They were aware of humans having a negative impact on animal welfare, but referred mostly to destroying the habitat of wild animals i.e. elephants and not the welfare of domestic animals. They considered the welfare of domestic animals primarily in terms of providing basic needs (food, shelter, water) and not about protection from diseases or being overworked. Lastly, they considered that not being allowed water or food and being forced to carry heavy goods would cause a donkey to suffer.
Gaining this invaluable feedback from kids helped to ensure we find and address knowledge gaps, identify learning objectives and are informed on the next steps: developing storylines, scriptwriting, songwriting, animating, translating and recording. Throughout our process, we test kids’ engagement, enthusiasm and understanding to determine whether the message and its delivery truly resonates with them so that they are able to use this knowledge to change the world and their own lives.
This feedback from the kids led us to build an episode around the theme that “animals feel too” and encourage children to empathize with animals and recognize that they also feel. In the episode, the characters learn about the nervous system, and how it transmits messages of senses and pain through the body, and that animals like donkeys also have a nervous system and feel this way. The episode also models a loving relationship between a kid and an animal through the storyline of Baraka and his donkey, Pendo. Pendo gets kidnapped by a cruel group of people who mistreat all animals, Baraka and his Kokotoa friends band together to get her back and rescue other animals in the process. The episode ends with students in Kokotoa Village deciding to start a club where they will learn about caring for donkeys and teach others about donkeys and animal welfare, because “animals feel too”!
“Animals feel too,
Just like me and you.
Hot or cold, hungry or tired.
They have needs and desires.
So when an animal depends on you,
Remember animals feel too.”
THE IMPACT
This enlightening episode of Ubongo Kids continues to broadcast every week in across Sub-Saharan Africa through our broadcasting and distribution partners. Upon its debut in Kenya, the episode reached over 981,000 households through Citizen TV; 424,000 households through Rwanda’s RTV; 552,000 through Uganda’s NTV; and 192,000 on TBC in Tanzania.
Our total viewership reach is 17 million households, up from 11 million at the start of 2020. In addition to broadcast, we offer our shows for free on YouTube, and on average 1 million viewers per month since March 2020, up from 600k viewers per month.
Even more, our Toolkits platform, equipped with all of Ubongo’s educational content is now available to download for free to all.
The episode on Animal Welfare with Brooke is also available on Youtube.
