Patience and persistence pays off

Today we had to head into central Tunis for meetings. It was a slow start amidst lots of traffic and we were driving around in circles as several arranged meetings got canceled and rescheduled. Patience and persistence triumphed.

Jaber put his cellphone networking and multitasking skills to good use and we were able to make our meeting with Malek Lakhwa a priority. We were hoping he would be a key community partner for our project because he has participated in donkey veterinary service events, owns an olive oil farm, and is an entrepreneur as well as a medical doctor.

We were not disappointed in our meeting. Malek listened carefully to what we wanted to do and offered his farm and community connections. Malek was full of information about the status of donkeys in general in Tunisia and local craftsmen who make harness equipment. He told us about his volunteer efforts with NGOs and the attitudes of local residents towards their donkeys, where many place little value on the donkeys. The owners use the donkeys mostly for transportation and don't understand their behavior which results in rough treatment. We talked about addressing human behavior changes and hope in school age children. He shared his concerns about the increase of donkeys being butchered for meat and the poor conditions of their transport and quality control of the meat. 

Just as we were talking about the welfare of donkeys, a cart went by with a thin mule who looked very stressed and had sores on his mouth and squinting runny eyes. The drivers were friendly and told Tricia to pet the mule. It was hard to walk away and not give advice or treatment.

Malek is very fond of the four donkeys he owns and is keen to improve the health of donkeys in Tunisia. It was inspiring to hear about his entrepreneurial adventures of making soap from donkey's milk (he is the only person his donkey, Cleopatra, will allow to milk her). We also began brainstorming about marketing the soap and agri-eco tourism ideas involving donkeys. Anyone interested in buying donkey milk soap or a working vacation on an olive oil farm and going on donkey hikes?

We agreed respecting local culture and starting small to build a good foundation is key for actionable plans to become realities.  We made arrangements to visit his farm in Zaguan on Wednesday which is about two hours from Tunis.

Tricia Andrade and Malek Lakhwa