How a small girl can make a big difference

0 shares Share Tweet Pin ACTAsia’s CEO Pei Su reports: ”Kiki is my niece who lives in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, and goes to primary school for the first year. She does not have a pet and she is even a bit scared of dogs, but she is a typical Chinese kid who has not […]

ACTAsia’s CEO Pei Su reports: ”Kiki is my niece who lives in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, and goes to primary school for the first year. She does not have a pet and she is even a bit scared of dogs, but she is a typical Chinese kid who has not been taught much about dogs and cats in her community. Kiki knows her mum is helping an organisation to save animals and stop animal abuse, but she does not know much about the extent of work.

Kiki received an award for her initiative to introduce the ‘Caring for Life’ programme into her school.

In March, ACTAsia China staff had a strategy meeting at her house for four days. We also discussed our NO Fur China campaign and materials. Kiki did not ask any questions while we were working, and played quietly in her own room. However, just before our departure, she said she really wanted some NO Fur badges, to take to school and share with her friends.

Next day, she went to school and gained permission to give the badges to 30 of classmates and explain shortly why people should reject fur and the problems behind the fur products from her own understanding. When she gave the badges to her classmates, Kiki told them to “go home and tell your parents they should not buy any fur products”.

Kiki’s class teacher, Mrs. Luo, was truly inspired by Kiki’s talk and decided together with the school principle to give her a five minute talk for the whole school assembly. The school also invited ACTAsia to give a presentation about animal protection and intended to set up a ‘Caring for Life’ club so they can encourage students to respect life and be kind to other living creatures on earth.

Since then, we visited the school three times already and spoke to all pupils (age 7-11 years old). Following on from this, Kiki’s school agreed to become the pilot school for our humane education programme starting from September 2012. We awarded Kiki with the title ‘best ambassador’ for her outstanding achievement, at the launch of our Caring for Life humane education programme.