Liberia's Student-Led, Hands-On Animal Welfare

This is the 2nd of a 2-part series about Liberia Animal Welfare & Conservation Society's (LAWCS) student-led projects funded by AKI. Please see the April 19, 2016 AKI Blog Post to read Part 1.

To get LAWCS humane ed students out of the classroom and into their communities to help animals, AKI funded student-led, hands-on projects that ranged from education/awareness raising and advocacy to dog washing and pet care. Each school received $100 to implement their project.

As you can see in the pictures below, the students had fun, the pets and their owners benefited, and everyone learned about caring for animals.

Here's what LAWCS humane education clubs did with AKI donor support.

1. Kids Connection Daycare School used the local radio station to reach the public to talk about a different animal protection and care issue each week. This continued for about 4 months.

2. Voinjama Public School #1 organized an animal care clinic and awareness raising on responsible pet ownership project. The students conducted weekly community awareness raising by going door to door, visiting pet owners, and then held a clinic for wound treatment, de-worming, and tick and flea control.

3. William A. Brown Public School held a contest for students at the school in which they drew their favorite animal. The humane education students used this contest to educate the student body about proper animal care.

4. Vezala Public School held a community rabies education and dog washing program during which 150 dogs were bathed.

5. Voinjama Public School #2 held an animal monitoring program. The children visited communities, assessed the conditions of the animals, and educated the owners about proper care.

6. Kormah Shaperhood Mission School held an event during which they dipped dogs, provided mange treatment, tick and flea control, and de-worming, and also educated the participants about improving the care of their pets. The outreach clinic provided free treatment and care for 300 dogs.

7. Lawalazu Public School was involved in class to class education. The humane education students visited each of the classes in their school and presented lessons on animal welfare.

8. Barkedu Public School monitored their families’ animals and also provided education to the community on animal care and protection.

9. Japan Cooperative Daycare School conducted community animal welfare monitoring and education and distributed food and water bowls to dog owners.

10. New Life Community School held a class to class education program during which they educated the students about animal welfare.

11. Tennebu Public School conducted community education on the basic needs of dogs and cats. They visited each community in Tennebu and held awareness raising sessions with community members.

12. Womanor Public School was involved in community education on the proper care of livestock and helped livestock owners to provide shelters for their goats, sheep, and chickens.

During June, once all the projects were complete, LAWCS organized five events to bring together the humane education groups and other students in the 12 schools. The events were meant to educate the students who weren’t involved in developing and implementing the projects, and to showcase the student-led animal welfare projects. During the events, LAWCS presented each of the 12 schools with a certificate of appreciation for taking part in the program.

This project gave students a chance to be heroes for animals, and we hope they'll continue to speak up for animals as they grow into adulthood. We rely on AKI donors to continue to fund projects like this one!