Greetings from Tunis! Tricia is happy to report she is fully recovered from her respiratory flu and we are back at home base after working in Tataouine. We want to catch up on the meetings we had in the days before we left for our activities in southern Tunisia. After a full day in Zaghouan with Malek and his donkeys on Thursday August 28, we drove back to Tunis for two evening meetings.
Our first meeting was with Mashreq Shams (MS), a community development group comprised of professionals from a variety of disciplines. One of the members is Dr. Ghalia Drissi, the veterinarian who we met with in our first week. This dedicated group began their efforts in 2011 in rural communities of northwestern Tunisia and now focus on one community, MS. Their goal is to create poverty alleviation through sustainable change. Through their consistent efforts they have learned which approaches work and where they have to adjust their goals and methods. One aspect they have discovered is that sometimes engaging residents as leaders of the development efforts does not result in positive outcomes. They have also begun to focus their actions in specific areas, and currently are conducting projects in education.
(A wind of freedom has blowen
over our lands...
Let's all make sure that
The sun gets to
all the houses!!)
MS invited us to join them on Sunday, September 7 when they go to the community to distribute school supplies. We will use the opportunity to make a connection with the residents and get an overview of the role of the donkeys in the community. We'll have our questions and veterinary tools ready but because we are guests of the community development group we understand the primary objective of the day is to help with their current education agenda.
The second meeting of the evening was with the Veterinarian Association of Citizenship and Development, which is based in Tunis. This group formed after the Tunisian revolution in 2011 at a time when the government had more pressing issues to address than animal health. The organization connects experienced veterinary professionals with veterinary students in proactive efforts to support animal health in Tunisia. This group was able to facilitate paperwork and funding for veterinary activities. They conducted one time actions such as vaccinating truckloads of sheep for foot and mouth disease at the Libyan border and examining animals at refugee camps.
Currently, the Veterinarian Association of Citizenship and Development welcomes new ideas but has not been as active as funding is an obstacle. They are also very busy professionals with limited time for volunteering. Jaber explained what our project goals were and what efforts we have accomplished so far. They are willing to facilitate our actions, especially any necessary paperwork or initial contacts and will be responsive to our questions as they arise.
Our first meeting was with Mashreq Shams (MS), a community development group comprised of professionals from a variety of disciplines. One of the members is Dr. Ghalia Drissi, the veterinarian who we met with in our first week. This dedicated group began their efforts in 2011 in rural communities of northwestern Tunisia and now focus on one community, MS. Their goal is to create poverty alleviation through sustainable change. Through their consistent efforts they have learned which approaches work and where they have to adjust their goals and methods. One aspect they have discovered is that sometimes engaging residents as leaders of the development efforts does not result in positive outcomes. They have also begun to focus their actions in specific areas, and currently are conducting projects in education.
(A wind of freedom has blowen
over our lands...
Let's all make sure that
The sun gets to
all the houses!!)
MS invited us to join them on Sunday, September 7 when they go to the community to distribute school supplies. We will use the opportunity to make a connection with the residents and get an overview of the role of the donkeys in the community. We'll have our questions and veterinary tools ready but because we are guests of the community development group we understand the primary objective of the day is to help with their current education agenda.
The second meeting of the evening was with the Veterinarian Association of Citizenship and Development, which is based in Tunis. This group formed after the Tunisian revolution in 2011 at a time when the government had more pressing issues to address than animal health. The organization connects experienced veterinary professionals with veterinary students in proactive efforts to support animal health in Tunisia. This group was able to facilitate paperwork and funding for veterinary activities. They conducted one time actions such as vaccinating truckloads of sheep for foot and mouth disease at the Libyan border and examining animals at refugee camps.
Currently, the Veterinarian Association of Citizenship and Development welcomes new ideas but has not been as active as funding is an obstacle. They are also very busy professionals with limited time for volunteering. Jaber explained what our project goals were and what efforts we have accomplished so far. They are willing to facilitate our actions, especially any necessary paperwork or initial contacts and will be responsive to our questions as they arise.
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