 Click to
enlarge
|
Life as a volunteer at Gambia
Horse and Donkey is not for the faint hearted, and is most certainly not the place for
anyone just looking to kick back and enjoy the steady pace of Gambian life!
As I sit on the balcony of the house of an
evening, looking out into the tranquil bush, watching the beautiful turquoise blue birds
flirting with each other on the fence and enjoying the sounds of the insects, it's hard to
imagine the hectic day that I've just had.
A typically busy day out at one of the local
'lumos' (markets) where we go with a small team to provide veterinary treatment for the
many working horses and donkeys who spend day in, day out, pulling heavy carts around or
pulling ploughs on the farms. We have a farrier with us, and a harness maker too, who are
both fully trained local Gambians helping to make a difference to the lives of the equines
here.
The atmosphere is buzzing and lively,
surrounded by stallions and their owners, all chattering away in their local
tongue…of which there are many! The chances of learning any one language here are
limited, as just as you think you have cracked it people start talking to you in one of
the many other languages that they speak here!
The pushiness of people trying to get their
horse seen to first can be a little unnerving initially, but you soon come to realize that
its all just part of the culture here, and most of the time when it sounds like people are
having a raging argument they're actually just having a friendly chat! People here have a
great sense of humour and almost any tense situation can quickly be resolved with a little
bit of fun. |
As the day goes
on the sun gets hotter and hotter, soaring to temperatures of over 40 degrees. Almost all
the horses and donkeys are treated for a variety of different problems; harness sores,
wounds, worms, colic, trypanosomes, and other weird and wonderful tropical diseases.
Shortly before packing up to leave, a foal is brought to us with horrific burn injuries. I
smelt her before I saw her; a stench of rotting flesh wafting into my nostrils, so strong
that it hit the back of my throat and left a lasting taste. Having been tethered by a fire
to keep the mosquito's away from her, Molly (as she is now called) had tripped and fallen
into the flames, and was so weak from malnourishment that she was not able to get herself
out of the burning embers. Walking around to the side where the wound is, I gasp with
horror at the extent of this little horses injuries. From her shoulder, all the way down
her neck and stretching down the side of her face, necrotic tissue reaches deep into her
neck. Amazingly still standing, despite her obvious agony. The accident happened one week
previously, and she'd been left without treatment or pain relief since then; another few
days and she wouldn't have survived at all. It is a God send to have superb vets with us
from the UK, who are out to help us at Horse and Donkey. I stepped back as the vets
sedated her, debrided her neck and bandaged her up ready for the trip back to our base at
Sambel Kunda. Fortunately, although Molly is 2 years old, due to her lack of proper food
and care she was still very small, just small enough to squeeze into the back of our
pick-up.
Luckily we have an extra vehicle with us, as
on the way back we are flagged down to treat more sick horses, one with colic, and one
with an injured leg. People in the local district know GHDT well and know our weekly
timetable, so it is not uncommon to be flagged down like this several times in one
journey, by farmers desperate for our help with various animal emergencies.
Desperate to get Molly home and comfortable,
out of the blistering heat of the sun we split into two groups; one taking Molly back and
the other treating the other sick horses we have been called to. On arrival at our base
camp our team of well trained Gambian staff carefully lift Molly out of the pick-up, able
to stand her up as the sedation wears off. We are lucky to have good facilities at GHDT,
with mosquito proofed stables and thanks to kind donations from the UK we have a selection
of medicines and dressings, although these always seem to be depleted far too quickly.
Needless to say, as I watch the vets re-dress Molly's neck using the same amount of cotton
wool that we typically use in more than one month, I have to bite my tongue! But who am I
to comment when they had just done such an amazing job of starting to save Molly's life,
which in my humble opinion is worth ten billion rolls of cotton wool…..or more!
A long slow healing process stretched out
ahead of Molly, and hours every day have been spent cleaning and re-dressing her wounds.
Our years supply of Vetwrap bandages were gone within a matter of a few short weeks,
leaving us with nothing more than minimal equipment and our initiatives to find ways to
keep the wound covered and the flies away.
During this healing process it became clear
that Molly is one of the kindest hearted horses ever born, with the very typical trait
that Gambian horses (or maybe even horses all over the world) have of forgiving humans,
despite all the pain we were causing her on a daily basis. She went to hell and back; she
became so weak she couldn't stand, the scar tissue on her face was preventing her from
eating properly so we had to think of foods she could eat just to help her survive. Not
only that, but she was a particularly fussy eater who turned her nose up at almost
everything we tried, until we finally found a baby cereal powder, with a milky, sugary
taste, which she slurped up happily 6 times a day for 2 months of her life. She has had
trypanosomiasis twice during her recovery, and yet despite all of this she never gave up
the will to live. In the rainy season, the grass in the paddock was so long that when she
lay down, she disappeared into the lush greenery surrounding her, and it became a task
several times a day to go searching through the undergrowth for her! Whenever she was
found, she would greet you with a welcome whicker and look so grateful for the help of
getting her to her feet once again.
Nine months after the accident, she is now in
the final leg of her recovery. In December 2008 some more wonderful vets from the UK did a
skin graft on her neck to speed the final bit of healing. At long last she is eating and
drinking well and beginning to lose her long, thick, starey coat of a sick horse, and a
beautiful gleaming coat is pushing its way through to replace it. All that's needed now is
a bit of fat to cover her bones, and you would never believe what this little horse had
been through.
If a horse can smile, Molly can. From the day
I met her, despite her agony and frailty, Molly seemed to always be inwardly smiling; if
you look deep into her eyes you can see it. She is a daily reminder to me of the wonderful
work being done at GHDT, and as she canters across the field to me for a papaya(her
favourite treat), in her wobbly weak little gait I become so filled with happiness that my
eyes fill up and I get a lump in my throat.
Molly is just one of the many animals who have
entered my life since volunteering at GHDT. There are many, many more, each one with their
own endearing story; some happy endings and inevitably some sad too.
It's all about understanding that every little
helps. We can't save every animal that we see, and at times it can be frustrating when we
don't have the equipment we might like, but this is where we have to think on our feet. We
rely hugely on donations from the UK, whether in the way of money, unwanted tack, medical
supplies, or even just in the way of raising awareness about the amazing work being done
out here. There are many more Molly's waiting for our help and as time goes on GHDT will
be able to reach more and more of them with the continued generous support of people
around the world.
Back to News Reports
|
Home