 |
| Pack animal: Two villagers load a donkey in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. The animals are often required to carry as much as double their body
weight. Christina M. Russo |
Group helps Ethiopia's donkeys
The Donkey Health and Welfare Project tries to change the way Ethiopians view animals that are vital to their livelihoods.
from the July 18, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Gizachew eyes one donkey in particular – a female. The animal's owner says she has been sick for more than a year and has miscarried twice in that time. She did carry one pregnancy to term, however, and as the two men speak, her foal comes to nurse. Soon, Gizachew discovers that despite the donkey's thinness, she is in the last trimester of yet another pregnancy. He asks the farmer to give the donkey a break from working. But the farmer shakes his head. He cannot, he replies, because he has no way to fetch water without the donkey's help.
"I will try to convince him that it is not only this donkey who will die, but the foal, too. So he will lose two donkeys." Gizachew says, "In our project, we can't supply other donkeys; we only can offer treatment and educational services." He pauses. "It's heartbreaking – but what are the farmer's options?"
If this donkey does die, it will cost the man roughly $58 – about four months of work – to buy another one. That is why Gebreab and his colleagues emphasize to the villagers that taking better care of their animals now will benefit their financial and practical lives in the long term.
While the villagers socialize, the donkeys remain quiet. Occasionally, they nuzzle or lay their heads on one another's backs. Gizachew notes this behavior and explains that donkeys are "highly manageable … highly intelligent.… They are very gentle creatures."
Educating future owners
Their agreeable nature makes donkeys especially useful to women, who are often charged with household chores. Children also work with the animals. Because of this, the project has implemented an educational program in local schools, hoping to get its message out to the next generation of donkey owners. In a classroom in the nearby village of Tullu Rea, third-graders wearing forest-green uniforms listen to a project worker explain how much weight a donkey should carry.
"A donkey weighing 210 kilograms [463 pounds] should load 70 kilograms," or about 154 pounds, the teacher explains, "because you divide 210 by three. A donkey should carry no more than one-third of its body weight."
Improving the life of the donkey in Ethiopia has always been particularly challenging, notes Elisabeth Svendsen, founder of The Donkey Sanctuary, which partnered with Gebreab in 1986.
RSS feed
