Mashreq Shams Community Connections

On Sunday, September 7, Tricia and Shadi (senior student at Sidi Thabet Veterinary School) met up with the Mashreq Shams Community Development group in Tunis to load up a bus with over 200 backpacks for the children of two small villages in western Tunisia. The bags had been carefully packed with school books and supplies by the group members based on exact numbers in each class, grades one through six.

I helped get some bags down to the bus but I think my partner had all the weight

Shadi (leaning over to pick up a bag) threw the bags up to the members on top of the bus

Shadi and I sat in the back of the bus with the extra backpacks and talked about vet med (and slept a little too)

We drove four hours west to reach the remote village of 400 residents at the base of a mountain near Kasserine.

The community was eagerly waiting for the magic bus full of supplies and the adults organized the students into lines by grade. Then they were treated to an animated motivational speech by Amine, an engineer who volunteers with the group. I don't know what he said but they were sure paying attention!

Mashreq Shams volunteers have fixed up the school with paint, lights and furnishings and improved the water supply

While the backpacks continued to be distributed, Shadi started talking to the adults. The community wasn't expecting donkey care but we offered our services and a young man escorted us to a donkey who lived nearby. At first the owner wasn't sure why we were there, but Shadi explained we wanted to trim the donkey's feet like she does for her sheep. She had a 6 month old long haired brown donkey who had been born there (she said she sold the mother because it was old). This young fellow was very thin and he was hobbled and tethered on a short line. We trimmed his feet and gave her a little advice in donkey husbandry.

We took our time examining and explaining

the owner was quite curious as I was showing Shadi what to do.

 

Shadi went to work right away and did a great hoof trim

One small donkey, three smiling people

When we got back to the school we posed for a group photo and started to load up the bus to go to the next village to deliver more backpacks...

But wait...two more donkeys showed up wanting to be checked ! We quickly grabbed our tools and ran out of the school yard to a nearby field to examine a thin brown donkey and a healthy looking 6 year old grey donkey.

the owner asked why his young donkey was thin and we explained this growing guy needed more feed

this grey donkey was in better shape because he gets to graze (he has on a homemade muzzle to prevent biting)

we did a very quick trim because the bus was leaving

The village leaders treated us to tunisian pepper salad and grilled sheep at the local roadside BBQ

As we headed back to Tunis, Shadi and I were very happy to know we had contributed in a small way to building trust with outsiders in this fragile community. Mashreq Shams careful volunteer efforts have made a real difference in alleviating restrictions of poverty here and they have a commitment to continue their thoughtful work.

The community has access to veterinary care about once a year when the state veterinarians come through to work on livestock (but they don't treat the donkeys). Mashreq Shams has provided veterinary care in the past to the dogs of the community. We want to learn more about how the donkeys are used and we brainstormed solutions to some of the issues we observed in the three donkeys we examined. We are hopeful we can arrange a return visit to see more donkeys and make a lasting connection between veterinary students and the villagers.

maybe we'll meet this elusive pair another time