Hi everyone,

Last year Helen and I went to Egypt to see the work of the Brooke Hospital for Animals, a charity dedicated to improving the lives of working animals abroad enabling poor families to earn a living.

It was a fantastic opportunity to see how the money we raise is spent helping the hardworking, but often suffering horses and donkeys and their poor families.

We were able to see at first hand the difference the Vets make to all the horses and donkeys they treat,  and the work  they do in the various Brooke clinics along the Nile (Luxor, Edfu, Aswan, Alexandria, and Cairo) and from the Brooke funded mobile Units they are able to reach more remote villages.

The first picture shows one of the mobile units in a village about 40 mins drive from Luxor. The Brooke have been to this village a few times now, they come on market day  to ensure they get the chance to see as many horses/donkeys and mules as possible.  It's amazing how word gets round, and when we get there we can see  a large group of worried owners, waiting to consult the Brooke's vets.

We saw donkeys and horses with terrible sores and wounds caused by ill-fitting head collars, harnesses and saddle cloths that rub right into their flesh because of the heavy burdens stacked on their backs each day, and the overloaded carts they have to pull!

We also saw other animals who were suffering from parasites and worm infestations who were painfully thin, and near starvation in some cases.

Of course many animals also have to work in large towns/cities and as the roads are so chaotic many animals are injured by lorries and cars!

However  the vets where possible dress the wounds, give antibiotics/medicine /pain relief  where necessary, and in addition show the owners better ways of caring for their animals.

Some of the other photos show  the animals at the clinics, with one little donkey gratefully released from his burdens and having a lovely roll in the sand! 

The last couple of photos are from the brick kilns. Here it felt like we had gone back to Dickensian times, with very young boys working as if their lives depended upon it, (and of course they actually do!) They are the ones, together with the donkeys and mules that have to go into the furnaces to fire the bricks..you can imagine how hot, dangerous and noisy those kilns are!!

We hope you also have time to watch the video,  filmed by our friend Jemima Price while we were out in Egypt. She wrote the song track, 'Need You' on her return. It's a hauntingly beautiful song and I think captures the essence of  these animals, who work so hard to help support their families.

   
It has inspired us to raise more money - to go to even greater 'heights' (infact my son Mark is going to 10,000ft and falling -hopefully with a parachute attached - out of an aircraft, OMG!)

We are doing this, on the 10th July 2010, In the hope that we can raise enough money to sponsor  a Vet for 1 x year.    It will cost about £1,500-00.

We have already raised £695.00 by having a Cream Tea event at Helen's house, with raffle and bric a brac stall, so thanks very much to all those people who came and supported us for that!

Our Vet will be working in India, in an area that is very poor and remote. His name is Dr Sanjeev Kumar Jaiswal and he lives with his wife and young son in Lucknow,  and works in one of the under developed districts of Uttar Pradesh.

He has trained at one of the premier veterinary schools in India, Pantnagar where he achieved his Bachelor's degree in Veterinary Sciences in 1999. He is  very hardworking, and dedicated to treating suffering horses and donkeys for grateful owners and their families whose livelihoods really do hang in the balance when their animals are ill or unable to work.

Often in these poor communities and remote areas the Vets find that when animals become sick or injured, traditional treatments are still being used, and some of these practices do far more harm than good and cause a great deal of additional pain and suffering to the animals. That's why it's really important that we raise money to keep him out in these communities where he is needed most.

Please think of Mark, also, on the 10th July standing at the edge of an open doorway in an aircraft flying at 10,000ft, looking down at the distant fields, building up the courage to lean forward and then let go!

He's falling for the Brooke, I hope you do too, helping to raise money for our Vet with a generous donation.

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