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!

Week 2 Success in Kenya: A cup-of-tea a day keeps the daktari away

 
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!

Week 1 in Kenya: “Shoulder Deep” in the Experience

By: Kaitlin Coles, Kaitlyn Ledgerwood, Meghan Martell, with Dr. John VanLeeuwen from the Atlantic Veterinary College 

Jambo! After numerous delays, we have arrived in Kenya! This past week has been spent immersing ourselves in Kenyan culture, working with local farmers, and learning lots along the way.

Vet students with Dr. John

Our first stop on the way to Meru was the Wakulima Dairy in Mukurwe-ini. This business is now thriving with the help of Farmers Helping Farmers (FHF) and the University of Prince Edward Island. Over 25 years ago, Wakulima Dairy collected less than 5,000L of milk per day, and are now collecting over 70,000L. They continue to provide income and jobs for the community. 

We started off strong by giving a seminar on a farm to a newly-formed club of dairy farmers belonging to the Buuri Dairy Group. We discussed how important nutrition, health, and cow comfort are for happy cows and good milk production. Many eager farmers showed up wanting to learn and ask questions. The club then went to where a cow and heifer were housed on the farm, and demonstrated on those animals the application of the information provided. At the end of the day, FHF Dairy handbooks were handed out to further guide farmers and provide additional information.  

The following day, we visited farms with Stephen Chandi, an animal health employee of FHF, and a local veterinary technician, Henry Mutea of the Naari Dairy Group, to check and treat cows that farmers were concerned about. It gave us the chance to see the difference in Kenyan farms versus Canadian farms, as well as educate farmers, Stephen and Henry on how to treat certain disease and how to improve cow comfort and welfare.  

Not only does FHF run the Dairy Project, but they also provide Horticulture, Donkey, Poultry, and Nutrition projects. We spent a day with Dr. Victoria Bowes, a veterinarian from British Columbia who specializes in poultry, educating a woman’s group on the principles of raising chickens. We saw first-hand how effective the FHF Poultry Project is, when we visited farms belonging to women who have been guided by them in the past. Their coops had been much improved to support flock health and good egg production. 

A big part of the Dairy Project is holding walk-in clinic days for cattle in different areas. This week in Mbaaria, over 400 cows, bulls, heifers, and calves were dewormed and treated by the dairy health team, and a few dogs and goats got in on the action too! We were lucky to have two final year vet students from Nairobi University to help out during this busy day. The day ended with a cow with a uterine torsion coming to the walk-in clinic – Dr. John encouraged all the animal health team to put the arm into the cow’s vagina up to their shoulder to feel the torsion so they would recognize it in the future and know how to treat it. A long, tiring but rewarding day was ended with sharing a cup of tea, celebrating a good day at the clinic! 

We ended our busy first week at a FHF party, which included Kenyan and Canadian staff/volunteers, along with 3 members from each FHF partner group (dairy groups, women’s groups, and schools). The day included singing, dancing, good food, and meeting lots of incredible people! 

We are looking forward to what the next two weeks have to offer, so check back in for another update of life as a vet student in Kenya!  

Seeing success on a Kenya farm rewarding for FHF volunteer

By Ken Mellish

We were visiting the Ex Lewa dairy and after the Board of Directors meeting, we had time to visit a farm.

Dorothy, the dairy manager, selected a farm near by because the rain clouds were looming and there was a distance to the pavement. The farm is operated by Purity Mwirigi. A number of her neighbours had gathered as we planned to talk about cow feeding.

The first impression was how green the crops were on the farm. Kenya has been getting lots of rain the last three months and anything that is not drowned out is growing well. We found that Purity was the farmer, and she was producing thirty litres of milk a day from two cows. This is good production by Kenyan standards. We asked her to show us the farm and tell us how she is producing milk.

Purity attended milk production training provided by Farmers Helping Farmers in 2019. She was quick to point out that the milk production on her farm was much higher as a result of the things she had learned and put in to practice.

The first stop was to visit her new calf. The calf was from her good cow and was almost two months old. She had learned to save the colostrum from the cow and ferment it to feed the calf for the first five weeks of its life. The calf was developing well, and she had used the new milk that had no other value, but is very good feed for newborn calves. The secret to producing lots of colostrum is the practice of “steaming up”, or feeding the cow well before she calves. This was learned at the FHF training.

Next we visited the cows. Two were milking, and one was expected to calve soon. Again, the cows were of very good Freisen breeding, and looked in very good condition. Their feed bunk had a mixture of chopped fresh corn, with lots of grain on the cobs, and immature Napier grass. This is the best combination of forages for producing milk in Kenya.

A short walk to the fields again showed us the results of FHF dairy training. The crops were very well fertilized with cow manure and were a dark green, indicating they would be high in protein. The corn was twice as high as us, and the Napier being harvested was the recommended three feet tall for optimum nutrition and yield. Purity had planted the
maize in August, and had some irrigation water, then the rains came and the plants were a good size. With the excellent fertility from the cow manure, the corn really grew. The same applied to the grass, with a combination of good fertility, rain and hot Kenyan sun producing a high nutrition product. Later plantings would provide feed later when this plot was finished.

So what lessons did we and the local farmers learn? The farm was producing almost all the feed for the cows, with only a small amount of grains being purchased to up the energy level in the ration. It was an almost closed system, with the crops feeding the cows, and the cows fertilizing the fields. The farm was profitable, and Purity was using the farm profits to send her children to school, and had a nice new house. Purity told us repeatedly that FHF training had enabled her to increase milk production from her cows and make more profits. Above all, we and her neighbours saw a woman who was informed and proud of her farm.