In September 2022 Alex Thiemann MA VetMB MSc CertEP MRCVS from The Donkey Sanctuary and Liphook Equine Hospital Practice Nurse and R(E)VN Emily Buckley travelled to Tanzania to embark on a two-week trip to provide training, education and veterinary support to the team at MAWO and local communities. Alex shares her experience of their time spent in Tanzania.

Our journey to the impossibly glamorously sounding, Mount Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania, started at Fleet Services on the M5, where I met Emily Buckley, Clinic nurse from Liphook. We had both been surprised to be accepted to volunteer at MAWO – Meru Animal Welfare Organisation and had worked frantically through a few weeks of visa applications, vaccinations, and preparations under the extremely organised guidance of Leaya Slater from BEVA trust.

MAWO was founded in 2009 by Johnson Lyimo to “be a champion for animal welfare throughout the district of Meru and Tanzania”. The organisation has three main areas of work: 1) education projects- animal welfare clubs at local schools, working with community leaders and livestock training colleges, 2) Mobile dog clinics- offering rabies vaccination, treatments and if possible spay/neuter clinics, 3) Donkey clinics and training in making pack saddles.

Tanzania, East Africa is considered a lower middle-income country with a large proportion of the population involved in agriculture, and pastoralism is widespread. There are very few horses in the country (used primarily in horse- back safaris) due to the risks from trypanosomiasis and African horse sickness, and there is little equine knowledge among the veterinary professionals. The donkey population is variably estimated at around 650, 000, but there are concerns that this has dropped over the years due to donkeys being slaughtered to supply the Ejiao (skin) trade (Tanzania has now banned the slaughter of donkeys for this market).

During 5 days of our stay we were immersed in the practicalities of visiting and attending to the herd of donkeys (Sigerea or Punda) owned by the Maasai tribe several hundred kilometres from MAWO headquarters near Arusha. We learned of the importance of donkeys, mainly as animals cared for by women, as their prime role is to carry water from water pumps to bomas (homesteads), and goods to local markets. The women had strong bonds with their donkeys and would celebrate the birth of donkey foals in the village. We met two formidable Donkey Champions Grace and Sion women who promoted donkey care in their community and came with us on long visits to help catch and hold donkeys for treatment. Once we had been dressed in the traditional Maasai blanket we were allowed to get on with our work.

The donkeys came from the local area herded in groups into a small enclosure made from spiky acacia and brush, over a morning we would treat up to 200 animals, moving between bomas. The treatments were basic- mirroring what cattle farmers want, the donkeys were usually given injectable ivermectin and treated if any wounds/illness was present with a very limited range of drugs. Initially this was tricky for us, given the emphasis on evidence-based worming we are used to reciting as a mantra. Our consolation was finding some papers on Google that cited reasonably high worm egg counts in donkeys in Tanzania and being told that the treatments were improving the condition of donkeys compared to areas where it was not practised. We also used the Donkey sanctuary normogram to assess the weight of some donkeys to ensure correct dosing was used and avoided worming foals under 6 months.

One area we tried to focus on was modelling good behaviour when handling the donkeys- slowing down the process, avoiding using a twitch and not agreeing with young animals being caught by the hind leg. The Donkey Champions could catch the donkeys calmly and easily, while the young men were noticeably more inclined to treat the donkeys as cattle and create a wilder clinic atmosphere.

During the trips we were accompanied by a vet and para vet from MAWO and a district vet to assist with translations and complex lunch questions such as whether to have rice and beans, or beans and rice!

Most of the Maasai donkeys we saw were in good body condition score with minor injuries and few health problems- hyena injuries and rubs from pack saddles were limited. Many had suffered hot branding or ear cropping as methods of identification so were understandably head shy.

One day we travelled out to an education clinic and Emily, and I learned how to sew a pack saddle from hessian and feed sacks with a group of 20 Maasai women. This was one of the most fun days we had as it became a great bonding activity with much discussion about how many husbands we had, and how old we were. Emily’s group finished first and their donkey proudly modelled a well- fitting comfortable pack to carry water.

On a few days we had to be self-motivated as the allocated task- to prepare for the clinic, did not take long at all, given the lack of equipment and medication. We decided to do some impromptu training sessions for the MAWO staff. First, we concentrated on pharmacy practice and bought some books for record keeping, drug disposal and stock take. It was satisfying to remove out of date and unlabelled drugs- but that wiped out half the stock, necessitating a trip to the vet drug store- where anything can be purchased without the need for prescriptions.

Next we did revision on hand hygiene and suture practice using a model that Emily created from some dressings and thread. Our final training session was about assessing donkey welfare using a number of specific criteria, which I was familiar with using on donkey populations.

On our final day we went to a local market in a semi urban area- here the donkeys were in much worse condition, and even a basic welfare assessment could evaluate the challenges they faced. Many donkeys were in low body condition, exhibited exhaustion and had hobbling and pack injuries. The contrast between these donkeys and the free ranging Maasai animals was stark, and we suggested that future volunteers would be usefully employed setting up a clinic in this area.

The trip turned out to different from our expectations and as very busy practitioners we found it hardest to slow down and accept life as it happened. The combination of a vet and nurse worked really well- especially as Emily remembered to bring a huge pack of Uno-flip to while away some pretty long quiet hours. Having regular daily power shortages, no Wi-Fi and a basic diet when out with the Maasai certainly reset my “gratitude compass” on return.

We are trying to remain in contact with MAWO and suggest ways to maximise the skills volunteers can offer. Going to Tanzania and working with the Maasai was an unforgettable privilege, and we are so grateful to BEVA trust for this opportunity. We did manage to fly home without smuggling back a real donkey, but each of us found one tiny carved wooden donkey in the back of the tourist shops.

These shops were full of exciting animals that one can see on the many safaris on offer- giraffe, lion, zebra, elephant- but the one animal that spends its life ceaselessly carrying water and goods for people, was tucked away, unnoticed and forgotten- pretty much a metaphor for donkeys in many societies, unless people go and look for them- if you get a chance to work with these animals- go for it.

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