Emerald Sistrunk

CSE 110
Prof Hartmann
Oct 15, 2014

CNN Hero

"We never imagined when we first started Lion Guardians that we could transform these killers to the point where they would risk their own lives to stop other people from killing lions," Dr. Leela Hazzah was voted 2014 top CNN hero for transforming lion hunters into lion guardians. Growing up in Egypt Leela would hear stories from her uncle and father telling her how beautiful it was to hear lions at night. Sitting on her rooftop in hopes of hearing them she never did. Her uncle told her it was because the lions had gone extinct in Egypt.
They were losing their habitat and being hunted. Spending a year with the “Maasai” tribe she seen the warriors were killing lions in retaliation for their livestock and tradition to becoming a man. Leela began training them to read and write in order for them to use technology to track the lions. Now instead of a warrior killing a lion to become a man they own one and track it.
Leela connects to Social catholic teaching through Call to Family, Community, and Participation, Solidarity, and Care for God's Creation. Leela could have used law enforcement to protect the lions, but instead she wanted to work with the community and break the cycle. She worked hard to help people and lions dedicating her whole life to it.
As said before Leela could have used law enforcement to stop the lion hunters or terrorized them herself. Instead she solved the problem peacefully on both sides. That’s one of the ways she protected human rights. She treated the tribe worrier’s equal, didn’t discriminate against them, and provided them with the right to work.
Leela connects to spiritual and corporal works of mercy by instructing the ignorant. She helped the worriers to read and write. Teaching them that killing the lions was wrong and had great consequences. Teaching them what would happen to the environment if all the lion’s were gone.
Leela continues to protect the lions and train more warriors through her foundation.