The GAMBIA Horse and Donkey Trust (GHDT) was established to reduce rural poverty by increasing productivity of working horses and donkeys through animal welfare and management education. Last December, Joni Caswell, from Dunstable, who runs a small business teaching children how to see the world from a pony’s point of view, spent two weeks in The Gambia, West Africa, with members of GHDT. Sophie Scott reports.
AFTER a six-hour flight, an overnight stay in the capital Banjul, a three-hour wait for a ferry, a six-hour car journey, two 45-minute boat trips and several wee stops in a prickly bush, the trek to the small village of Sambel Kunda could only be described as epic.
Joni Caswell, a GHDT volunteer, said: “We arrived in the pitch black and could hear the commotion before we could see anything.
“It was overwhelming. The whole village was out with drums and whistles; they were dancing, clapping and singing.
“The children were chanting ‘welcome, welcome, welcome’ and I heard one man repeatedly say ‘Heather (Armstrong GHDT organiser) is here and she has brought her friends’. We had arrived.”
In the early morning sun the following day, it was the first opportunity Miss Caswell and the other Trust members had to get a good look at where they were.
The charity has a large twostorey house that caters for volunteers who visit throughout the year.
She added: “Overlooking the balcony were two large paddocks where the donkeys and horses can have a good run around and leg stretch before the sun gets too hot (30c would be considered a cool day) and a short walk away is another yard for all the stallions.
“Twenty-two of us left the cold behind to come to Sambel Kunda to offer help in any way it’s needed.
“I went as prepared as I could with lots of teaching notes and visual aids to show the children.
“However, I quickly realised all the things I had prepared to teach and show them were just not suitable.
“Even things basic for us here in the UK, like providing ‘Fibre, Friends and Freedom’, are not appropriate. Gambians can’t offer an environment where their animals have friends as they are working animals, not a pet, and they often struggle to support the one they have.
“They can’t offer the animal freedom; when they are not working they are usually tethered to a pole within the family compound.
“In terms of fibre, they offer them what’s available, which is a hay so coarse you can snap each piece like a twig.
“It also becomes clear you can’t come to The Gambia and tell people what to do.
“It’s far better to do things, let people see the benefits it brings and they’ll soon follow suit.
“As an example, as I stood talking to a young boy about his donkey, I gently stroked its ears and neck and it promptly leaned against me and fell asleep.
“Within a few minutes I had a group of children with me all eager to have a go and even starting to argue over who got to do it.”
The first week of her stay was dedicated to the annual Horse and Donkey show.
Miss Caswell added: “We put up marquees, bunting and notice boards and on the night before the show, competitors were already arriving.
“There were no luxury horse boxes here; some people had to get their horses and donkeys across the river and some walked for two days to get to us.
“The day was a resounding success, we saw lots of horses and donkeys in beautiful condition.
“Not only is there plenty to do at the GHDT site with daily wound checks on various animals, but staff also travel to ten local schools teaching children about the care of horses and donkeys and travel out to lumos [markets] each week to treat any sick or injured animals.”
Going out to the lumos was where the harsh reality of The Gambia hit Miss Caswell and her team; the days are long, hot and extremely dusty.
She added: “We saw everything – a horse with a septic tendon sheath, a horse with a badly swollen and broken penis, maggot infested wounds, burns, sores from poor harness, rubs and sores from tethering, abscesses, lots of horses with heavy worm burdens and levels of emaciation I have never seen.
“It sounds horrendous, but once you are there in the thick of things, you quickly get past the shock and have to accept the reality of the place and get on with the job of patching them up as best you can before sending them on their way.
“The charity relies on vets volunteering from the UK and often has to manage for several weeks without one present.
“They also rely on drugs donated from the UK, so once they run out there’s nothing else to offer.
“Two weeks suddenly seemed like two minutes. I’d just about got used to the heat and dust, understood what is needed from an education point of view and begun to appreciate the sheer scale of it all, before I found myself boarding the plane to come home.
“I have been humbled to tears during this trip, by the people I met and worked with, by the spirit and will of the horses and donkeys and I’m so very proud to have been part of this project if only for a very short time.”