By: Kaitlin Coles, Kaitlyn Ledgerwood, Meghan Martell, with Dr. John VanLeeuwen from the Atlantic Veterinary College
Week two has come and gone already, and it was nothing less than exciting!
The week started off strong with two seminars. The first seminar took place in Ex-Lewa
with the biggest turn out yet! The seminar was delivered in a Q&A format, where the
farmers had plenty of great questions regarding their cows, including mastitis, nutrition,
reproduction, and general health. We had plenty of cows to check afterwards, with a
line-up down the road.
We were invited in for a cup of tea, and a chance to tour the host’s farm. It was clear to see how big of an impact FHF has on local farmers after seeing how much the host focused on cow comfort and health. Her cows were producing significantly more milk compared to what they had been in the past.
The second seminar took place in Nkando later in the week. We had the pleasure of
having two new Nairobi vet students join us for the day. We all took turns answering
questions and educating farmers with Dr. John, even demonstrating how to accurately
obtain a weight on a cow using a weight tape. We couldn’t leave without having another
cup of tea!
The donkey project was coming to an end for this trip, but not before we had the chance
to spend a day with Dr. Martha Mellish and our classmate, Anya. Multiple donkeys
showed up to be treated (and of course, we had to check at least one cow). The
donkeys were dewormed, vaccinated for tetanus, and a few received dentals.
We got to learn more about their project firsthand by watching an upper airway endoscope on a donkey. At the end of the day, we said goodbye to some of the other FHF members as they made a safe trip back to a snowy Canada.
Our week wouldn’t be complete without another walk-in clinic. We set up shop in Buuri
and treated 150 cows, two sheep, and a dog! There were many interesting cases,
including cases of East Coast Fever (ECF), Wooden Tongue, Nutritional
Myodegeneration, Babesiosis, Habronemiasis and many more! A big team came out to
help make sure everything went smoothly, which was greatly appreciated. It ended with,
you guessed it, another cup of tea!
On the weekend, we took a well-needed break to visit Sweetwaters Game Park on the
Ol-Pejeta Conservancy. Here, we had the honor of visiting their wildlife veterinary facility
and meeting Dr. Florence Kangethe, one of the two wildlife veterinarians for the
conservatory. Surprisingly, we did not have any tea.
This week has been nothing short of amazing, and we are excited to see what our third
and final week in Kenya has in store!
P.E.I. Kenya 2024 