My name is George Russell and I’ve had the honour of being a trustee of Safe Haven for many years, seeing the incredible impact we’ve had in caring for donkeys over in the West Bank and Israel.
But today I want to share with you the harsh reality for people and donkeys who work in the brick kilns in Egypt, and the work Safe Haven is doing to improve the lives of the donkeys.
When the charity first started working in the El Saf kilns, the donkeys and mules had not had any veterinary care or farrier services for many years.
Here, uncastrated male donkeys – used for their strength – pull carts overloaded with bricks. Normally such donkeys are highly spirited but the kiln donkeys have been beaten into submission, and are quiet and reserved so as not to show pain.
The brick kilns operate in desert, non-irrigated areas, where the sand is used to make the bricks. The environment is full of fine dust that gets into the eyes of all animals as well as humans. Above you can see our vet Dr Shaaban checking a donkey’s eyes for infection,
At the end of the working shift the donkey handlers are asked to gather round. They are hungry to learn as as our farrier, Moharam, explains that donkeys do feel pain, and how they could better handle their allocated donkey.
I observed complete attention as Moharam ran the session followed by questions. Each child was then asked to come up with an action plan that is checked in the next clinic. It works! The children are not deliberately cruel, and they love these training sessions. Each was given a Safe Haven cap as a thank you for attending. There was a great big thumbs up at the end, with lots of smiles.
Watching this session, I became a bit tearful as I realised that right in front of me children’s attitudes to their donkeys were changing!
Our challenge now is there are lots more brick kilns that need our help. Kiln owners want us to help them, so we are seeking to expand our work as well as increase our education program.
Of course all this takes money for which we thank all our donors who provide the funds for this amazing work. And we look forward to bringing you more news of our plans for Egypt in the months ahead. Thank you!
Thank you!
We hope this update has helped to show you how your donations are helping donkeys in desperate need – thank you for your support!
If you’d like to read previous updates of our work, please click here.