Kwaheri Kenya! Our Final Week Ends

By: Kaitlin Coles, Kaitlyn Ledgerwood, Meghan Martell, with Dr. John VanLeeuwen from the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC), in partnership with Farmers Helping Farmers

As our final week in Kenya comes to an end, we reminisce about the past 3 weeks spent here and what we did to make our last week count! 

We started the week with a seminar in Lower Buuri. Farmers came to the Q&A, and we got a chance to check some cows and deworm a cat while we waited for farmers to show up for the seminar. Many farmers had already completed the year-long dairy club program, and therefore had a lot of in-depth questions that we were very eager to answer. Farmers were curious about zoonotic diseases, including Anthrax, which we enjoyed educating them on, as it corresponds with our new One Health Project that is underway. At the end of the seminar, we had many participants graduate from the program and receive their certificates, which is always exciting! 

We were also joined by Bimeda Kenya representatives during the seminar and while checking cows afterwards. They hired a video company to publicize how Bimeda is giving back to the Meru County community through their support of our veterinary work. Bimeda has supplied FHF/AVC with medications over the years to help us treat many cows, which we are very thankful for!

We hosted our third and final walk-in clinic in Nkando, where we dewormed 606 cows, bulls, heifers, and calves, 7 dogs, a cat, and a few goats! After deworming, we examined animals that needed extra care, and saw cases such as East Coast Fever (ECF), Babesiosis, and pneumonia, and also diagnosed multiple pregnancies. It was a very hot and busy day for everyone, but extremely rewarding as all animals left treated, all farmers left happy, and at least 606 flies caught a ride back to Meru with us that evening.

Our second seminar of the week took place in Ngusishi. Before starting our seminar, we had a meeting with members of the Ngusishi Dairy board to discuss how things have been going at the dairy. Since FHF has partnered with them, they have been collecting much more milk and have noticed that much less milk has been rejected. This has not only benefited the dairy, but also has a significant impact on the farmers and their families. We also learned about a recent project between FHF and Ngusishi Dairy to grow Super Napier. This strain of Napier grass has a higher protein content and is more palatable, which makes it a great choice to feed to dairy cattle. They are hopeful that in the next couple of years they will be able to grow enough Super Napier that it can be distributed to farmers to help them establish their own crops of Super Napier. 

Our last seminar of the trip took place with the Naari Dairy Group. This group was very keen to learn about nutrition related to down cows and reproduction, and we had a great discussion about feeding weeds to cattle and the problems that they can cause. After many great questions during the 2 ½ hour seminar session, we handed out more certificates to graduates of the program, which was the perfect way to end our last seminar in Kenya!

On our drive back from Meru, we had the opportunity to visit the University of Nairobi’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. It was a great opportunity to compare a Kenyan Vet School to our Canadian one in PEI. We said a bittersweet goodbye to the other FHF volunteers as we all departed on different flights home. We enjoyed making these lifelong connections that began in Kenya. 

The last 3 weeks have been extremely eye-opening, especially coming from a privileged country such as Canada. The overwhelming happiness and eagerness for education here in Kenya really puts into perspective how lucky we are for our education at home. It is very apparent how FHF and UPEI have impacted farmers, women’s groups and schools in Kenya, especially in regards to food production and safety. It has been such a privilege to work with FHF and to see first-hand how appreciative people are for our support, and how much of a difference it makes in their lives. We are very hopeful to one day make it back to Kenya, and we encourage anyone who has the opportunity to go for it!