Matabeleland Animal Rescue & Equine Sanctuary (MARES) October Report 2023
Below is a report from our partner group MARES in Zimbabwe, following their Vulindlela Community Donkey Workshop on the 23rd and 24th OCTOBER, 2023:
1. Introduction
Greenline Africa (GA) in partnership with Matabeleland Animal Rescue & Equine Sanctuary (MARES) and support from Dr. Isaac Moyo, conducted a donkey clinic workshop on the 23rd and 24th of October in Vulindlela village of Kachechete ward under Chief Matata manned by five Village Heads. The team comprised of MARES three-person team who were spearheading the whole donkey clinic process, Dr. Moyo and his assistant were responsible for dipping and checking on any ailments in the donkeys and Greenline Africa four-person team were responsible for coordinating the donkey owners, recording all the required data for the day and assisting the MARES Team in installing swingle trees and yokes in carts. During the two days, Claire Einhorn, the Founder and Director of MARES educated donkey owners on donkey proper care, harnessing and loading of the carts. This was followed by the distribution of donkey harnessing equipment led by MARES team. The second day we focused on finishing the harness distribution exercise. The Vulindlela community were very receptive to the programme and grateful for the education and equipment they received.
2. Donkey Workshop Activities
The donkey workshop started at 0930 hours with the welcome remarks from Chief Matata and the introduction of Dr. Moyo and MARES team by Greenline Africa. The two-day activities comprised of the training session, donkey dipping exercise and the distribution of donkey harnessing equipment to eight (8) households.
2.1 Training Session
A hour and a half training session was done led by Claire. It focused on correct hitching of carts to donkeys, weight distribution, proper donkey care and advantages of using humane padded harnesses. The key elements that participants were educated on are;
• Proper harnessing and the difference between a good and a bad harness. That is, how to fit and take off a harness properly.
• The use of padded humane harness to prevent donkey injuries rather than use of harnesses with wire that cause injuries on the donkeys.
• Use of two swingle trees and not one and how to attach the swingle trees to the cart
• Correct hitching of the donkey to the cart and correct length of traces
• Loading the cart, that is, how to balance the load and the maximum load a donkey can carry
• Correct length and weight of a disselboom
• Hitching two donkeys to a cart and not four. This was the difficult part of the education program as the donkey owners seemed not to be convinced on the use of only two donkeys rather than their normal four. Claire clearly demonstrated and explained that the two outside donkeys were definitely not sharing in the weight load of the cart, hence, there is no need for them to be on the cart.
• Importance of waiting till the donkey is past three years before using it.
• Correct use of the whip (traditional long whip producing a cracking sound, not the short one for inflicting pain)
Claire further highlighted the benefits of having healthy donkeys that include;
• Help to achieve their daily tasks like fetching water and firewood for use in the home. She further elaborated that if healthy, they can do these tasks faster thus affording more time to do other chores.
• Working donkeys reduce the burden on women such that women are eased of and suffer less from injuries like back pains caused by carrying heavy loads.
• Healthy working animals also aid in transporting sick people to the health centres.
Demonstrations on some of the key elements touched on during the training were done so that participants can clearly understand and have a clear picture on what is being taught.
2.2 Dipping Exercise
After the trainings, a tick dip of donkeys was done by Dr Isaac’s team member and a total of
88 donkeys were a dipped. Unfortunately, due to the extremely high temperatures (over 41 deg) there was no vaccination done on the day and MARES stated that vaccinations would be done in November.
Participants were informed that in the next donkey clinic vaccination will be done as all participants indicated that none of their donkeys have ever been vaccinated. Also the team checked on wounds and ailments within donkeys and a total of four donkeys that needed further veterinary attention for infections and wounds resulting from the poor harnesses with wire and a lack of basic care were identified.
2.3 Distribution of donkey Harnessing Equipment
Distribution of humane padded harnesses and other items was done over the two days by Mares with Charles the harness technician taking the lead. A total of 12 families were targeted meaning 12 Carts and 26 donkeys,
Participants who received equipment had swingle trees and yokes installed on their carts. Each donkey received padded harnesses and reflectors and only two donkeys per person were considered save for the reflectors. The first group of people who received the harnessing equipment on the first day were six Village Heads and Chief Matata. The other six participants were covered on the second day. The distributed equipment comprised of harnesses, swingle trees, yokes and reflectors. Each cart that was done on the day had a registration plate with MARES logos installed on them. The registration numbers will be inputted in the future for identification and monitoring purposes.
Conclusion
Planned activities for the two days donkey clinic was successful and the Vulindlela community greatly appreciated all the services that were rendered to them during the two days period. The following was achieved;
• A total of 32 people (24 males and 8 females) were reached through trainings.
• A total of 88 donkeys were tick dipped.
• A total of 12 carts were attended to, 26 donkeys benefited from harness and 39 from reflectors.
• A total of 12 participants each received harnessing kits for two donkeys and one cart that comprised of a set of swingle trees, a set of harness, one yoke and two reflectors with only two participants receiving 4 reflectors while the other received 3 reflectors.
• In total 26 harnesses, 26 swingle trees, 13 yokes and 39 reflectors were distributed. 4 donkeys with wounds were identified for further treatment by Dr. Moyo.
Thanks to everyone who participated and contributed to this amazing Donkey workshop.
