Loving Africa's People and Its Lions

I read an interesting blurb this morning written by Goodwell Nzou aptly named “In Zimbambwe, We Don’t Cry for Lions”. The writing was sparked by all the ridiculousness going on about this dentist who hunted and killed a lion, this story explaining the flip side of the coin when villagers fall victim to lions. I don’t watch the news and don’t know the details of this case, only what I’ve heard from friends, at the office and on Facebook. For the record, I don’t hunt myself – just not my thing, but I have many friends who do and know them to be some of the most loving people in my tribe. I not-so-secretly wish there would be a little more outrage about the people’s hunger in Africa than the hunting.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had the pleasure of visiting the beautiful continent of Africa, Kenya and Tanzania to be exact, and fell in love with those countries, its people and its wildlife from the minute I set foot there. We went on safari and witnessed the majesty of these beautiful animals – we saw a beautiful lioness sleeping with her two cubs, just feet away from our Rover. We saw a herd of elephants crossing the road in front of us where, the matriarchal head in front of the pack stopped in the road in front of our Rover and waited until all other members, especially the little ones, safely crossed to the other side before she bowed in the direction of our vehicle, as if thanking us for our patience, then ran behind the rest of the group. We were in awe at the blessing that it was to witness the way these animals take care of their own and are dedicated to caring for their families. From our guides we heard stories as well of the danger and threat villagers encounter from living in a country where people and wildlife live side by side and these stories confirmed what I read this morning from Mr. Nzou.

Still, I’m amazed by the outrage, threats and reaction this story has sparked; the indignation by those experiencing the bravery of being out of range, these righteous ones. I thought about what good could come from this controversy, searching as always for the silver lining.

It occurred to me that I would wish the people who were outraged and infuriated by the death of this African lion, gave a little more of a shit about the people of Africa. In spite of everything, I wish they would be encouraged to visit the home of the lions still living in Africa, anywhere in Africa; connect with an ethical safari tour group (there are many) and witness how these beautiful animals live within their natural habitat. I wish that this controversy would encourage people, in their die-hard dedication to right this wrong, to become involved with conservation efforts being done in just about every country in Africa for not just lions, but all sorts of animals on the brink of extinction. More than that, I wish that they would dare to venture off the tourists’ beaten path and take some time to visit towns and see how people there live – experience for themselves the generosity in hospitality of the African people; visit a slum or remote village and see the struggles endured there on a daily basis with the very palpable lack of the most basic things we 1st-world people take so for granted and experience how HAPPY AND LOVING the African people are despite their hardships. I wish they would visit a children’s orphanage and see what goes on there – experience the love with which these children are cared for, by volunteers and giant-hearted people who have taken on the task when no one else would. I wish that they would find themselves persuaded to become involved with an organization that is doing something positive to help fill in some of these gaps for the beautiful people of Africa. Mostly I wish that they would visit Africa, to realize just how much we can learn from its lovely people and its wildlife and try if they are able, to bring some of that back with them - bring back some perspective, which I can almost guarantee will be very different from the one they left with. I also wish they would get off their social soap boxes long enough to fucking DO SOMETHING!!!