The Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust is a small charity which is registered in both the UK and The Gambia. Mission Keeping horses and donkeys healthy in The Gambia is a real challenge, insect borne diseases such as Sleeping Sickness (trypanosomiasis), African Horse Sickness, and tick fever are all too common and when these problems are combined with poor nutrition and management caused by lack of knowledge and poverty, the results can be disastrous for the farmers. A healthy working animal can increase its owners income by up to 500% and buying an animal is a big investment for a family, so apart from the suffering that the animal experiences, the family also suffers if the animal is sick or dies. The Gambia is one of the poorest countries in Africa and is unable to provide all the veterinary support that the farmers require, so when the animals become ill, sometimes the owners are simply unable to find help for it. When we first started the charity we asked the farmers in our area what they felt they needed most and it was a unanimous answer - veterinary support! We began by providing basic veterinary support using volunteer vets from UK who were also asked to provide training for our staff. We also felt it was important to tackle nutrition and management and as many of the problems we see with the horses and donkeys are born out of poverty we also felt it important to provide active help with community development in order to help the local economy. Our aim is to provide the Gambians with the knowledge to deal with the problems themselves, so we enlisted the help of World Horse Welfare to help train farriers and harness makers, we provided scholarships for students to train as paravets and we linked with the University of Liverpool vet school to provide training on equines and we now have the first equine specialist paravets in The Gambia! We also began teaching in schools and through our Donkey Club we work with the young boys who traditionally care for the donkeys and teach them to have fun, build a friendship and to take a pride in their donkeys. We speak to farmers groups and provide training to anyone taking one of our project or rehabilitated donkeys. Once a year we hold a horse show which as well as being fun, is also used as an opportunity to get as much information across to the participants and audience as possible. We have found that it is an excellent way to reward those who take great care of their animals and it encourages those who need a little help. We have mobile clinics and basic hospital and laboratory facilities and have stabling for 25 animals, though we often have animals sharing a stable, the need for our services is so great. Whilst trying to help treat the many diseases, we have discovered that very little is known about some of them and even which diseases occur in The Gambia. Thankfully the Universities of Glasgow and Liverpool have come to our rescue and with help from The Veterinary Laboratories Agency and are providing the help and research that is required to help the Gambian farmers. With many of the once so called tropical diseases moving north and potentially reaching Europe their work may also benefit horses in Europe one day. With all the above mentioned activities and busy work schedules, it is easy to assume that we are a wealthy organisation, but all this has been achieved with very little money and with the exception of our Gambian staff who of course receive salaries, ALL other work for the charity is carried out by volunteers, who work incredibly hard and with great enthusiasm to help the animals and their owners. Thanks to the many volunteer vets who have so kindly given their time and expertise, our staff are now well trained and competent. We would like to say a HUGE thank you to the volunteers who do everything from administering to fundraising and from training to vetting. We would also like to thank the Universities of Glasgow and Liverpool as well as the British veterinary profession for their magnificent help. Thanks too to the Gambian Department of Veterinary Services for the advice and support that they give us and our hardworking Horse and Donkey staff who go out day and night to help animals in need. Finally we would like to thank everyone who has supported us or made a donation, none of our work could happen without your support. Please let your friends know about us and please help us to continue our work.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 09:35:40 +0000