Migrating bats need good old forests! – Story by Paul
Once upon a time on a beautiful day, a beautiful bat named Batty was born into this world. The bat grew up to become a lovely girl. She was more beautiful than the princess. She was well behaved and was old enough to be married. She was lucky to find a handsome young male bat named Battez. They raised a litter of wonderful children. In fact the wonderful family of Batty and Battez grew so large and helpful that in their village that they became a positive influence there.
One night a mighty storm blew across their village and some of the bats were carried by the storm into a land very far away, where they formed a new village. There was a huge separation between the two bat villages covering many forests and rivers. However, because of the love they had for one another, the bats in the second village usually paid regular visits to the bats in the first village. Because it was such a long distance from home, the visiting bats usually took a short break from their travelling in the forests between both villages. While taking this short break, the migrating bats would usually ate a lot of food in the forest in preparation of the journey ahead. They also went down to the rivers for a refreshing drink. So as the bats migrated between the two villages their relationship continued to grow over very many generations. An unfortunate accident happened once. The human beings in that region decided to cut down some of the forest to produce different types of furniture. One of the humans suggested that the forest should be cut gradually so that some areas will be retained for the animals of the forest. The leader of the humans refused this brilliant suggestion and went ahead to cut down the whole forest at once. The animals in the forest all died. In a similar way our friends the bats who stopped at the forest during their seasonal migration also died. There was no food, because the forest had been cut down, so all the migrating bats died. This continued over some time and every season all the migrating bats died. The number of bats in each village started to reduce because the dead migrants could not return.
One faithful day, new reached the bats that the humans have chosen a new leader who was a conservationist and planned to replant the forest. So the humans worked for many years to replant the forest. With each passing season, the forest matured and was beautiful day after day. The few remaining migrating bats started to enjoy the newly grown forest. As this continued, the number of bats started to increase with each passing season as migrating bats always returned home. Even the humans began to realise that bats are very kind because they provide many benefits to man and other animals.
Story by Paul.
Saving the village from famine
Adesua a 10 year old farm girl was popularly known as Ade. One evening as the sunset beautifully, Ade sat behind her their farmhouse crying softly. She had been crying all day because of the bad news that famine had struck her village. Her parents had not return from the farm since they left in the early hours of the morning. Their delay could only mean one thing – their farm had been hit by the same locust swarm. The locust swarm is an annual event where the insects arrive. They feed on crops and plants. However, because of the large number of locusts that arrive, the crops are usually destroyed. This year, there was a large number of locusts in Ade’s village and the crops were all being destroyed. The other night their neighbours complained about how their farm harvest was fruitless as all the crops had been destroyed by the locust. What even made this year particularly bad was the fact that the flood last year had also destroyed the farms and harvest so people barely had anything to eat. As a result they were looking forward to this years harvest. Now the locust have wreaked havoc and the village was thrown into famine.
As Ade cried her friend Mr Bati the bat, flew to a perch on a near by tree and asked the reason for her sadness. Amidst tears, Ade narrated the horror of the locust and the famine that had now taken over the land. She told her friend Bati of how she wished she had magical powers to change end the famine. Ade thought all she had to do was drive the locust away, she would only need a magic wand to send the insect packing. Bati consoled his friend Ade but was lost in thought. He told Ade that she didn’t need a magic wand to drive away the insects. Bati said he had a brilliant idea. He told Ade that he enjoys eating the locust but that there are too many locust this years and he would not be able to eat all of them. The other bats in the village will be happy to eat the insect but there were too many insect for the bats. So he said if only he could invite more bats to eat up all the insects. As they talked, Ade suggested that the bats from all the other village be invited to feast on the locust, to which Bati agreed. He promised to go to all the villages around to invite them. He encourage Ade to wipe her tears and hope for the best. Ade thanked Mr Bati for his kindness and immediately went inside the farmhouse happy and hoping for the arrival of Mr Bati’s friends from the neighbouring villages. She was excited and eager to tell her parents about Mr Bati’s plan. As soon as Ade’s parents arrived from the farm, she ran to tell them of the good news – Mr Bati and friends will eat up all the insects and the remaining crops will be saved. Her parents were excited but were concerned about their neighbours who had nothing left on their farm. Ade told her parents that they could share some of their harvest with their neighbours who had nothing left.
That night Bati and friends consumed all the insects on the village farms, not a single insect was left. Ade’s family was very happy that night because the new that the village will wake up to a wonderful news the next morning. Before dawn Ade was awake, eager to see the change in the fields. She pleaded with her parents if she could skip school and go with them to the farm to see the change in the farms. Her parents declined her request, insisting that they she must attend school that day and that she will hear the goodnews when they returned from the farm. She agreed and shared the story about Bati’s plan with her classmates. She was so happy in class that her teacher noticed her joy and asked why she was so happy. She shared Mr Bati’s plan with her school teacher, who was excited too. Ade hurried home after school and waited patiently at the door for her parents to return. Upon arrival, her parents gave her the goodnews that the insects were all gone and the harvest was preserved. They celebrated that night. Ade when outside to thank her friend Bati who was exhausted from all the work of consuming so many insects in one night. She thanked him, and promised to be friends with him for life.