Educational materials
Working in conjunction with the Women's Union of Syria, SPANA held a story-writing competition. The challenge was to encourage respect for animals by portraying them as useful and necessary to our society.
You can read about two of the winning entries below.
Samir and the Birds
This is a story of a young boy who catches all the birds in his mother's garden because he likes the sound of their singing. He locks them in a cage and, as a result, caterpillars begin to eat their way through the growing crops of peas. Samir learns an important lesson: the birds play a vital role in keeping food crops free from pests.
The Eggshell
In this tale, a chick helps a farmer to understand why he should not keep his hens in battery cages. After befriending the farmer's daughter, the chick tells her how harmful it is to keep animals locked up. She, in turn, persuades her father to release all his animals, allowing them to roam freely around the farm.
Teaching manuals
The curricula in many of the countries where SPANA works include little information about animals, their needs, or how to take care of them. As a result, we have produced several manuals giving teachers lesson plans and fun activities that portray animals in a positive way. All our manuals are produced in local languages and we have also designed picture books for children who cannot read and write, so they too can learn about the importance of animals.
A selection of SPANA's animal stories for children.
Photo: Bluefrog
