Rescate animal Mompiche is a small NGO in the tiny village of Mompiche, on the north coast of Ecuador, run solely by Fabiola, an incredible lady with a huge heart who, 10 years ago, decided to dedicate her time to rescuing and caring for the numerous animals who are sadly abused and abandoned here in Mompiche.

Things were going well at the rescue with many volunteers coming to help throughout the year enabling the rescue to grow and develop projects such as the sterilisation project. Sadly in April 2016 there was a devastating earthquake measuring 7.8 on the rector scale about 27km south of Mompiche which destroyed almost everything in Mompiche, including the rescue. Since then Fabiola has been rebuilding the rescue (and her house) with materials reclaimed from the destruction and driftwood. Unfortunately as she no longer has a place for accomodation to offer, she's not been receiving much help from volunteers.

The rescue doesn't receive any support from the government or other organisations and needs so much; from as little as tic removers, flea treatment and food to more expense things like medication and funds for sterilisation; but Fabiola's positivity and calmness is inspirational. She says 'poco a poco' = 'little by little', and she is happy as long as the animals are healthy and happy.

The top priority right now is to construct a house for volunteers to stay in, so that more volunteers will be attracted to come and offer much needed help. This could cost upwards of $6000, and at the moment, with no funding, what little she has goes to the basic essentials of food and medications.

Fabiola also cares for 9 beautiful horses that she rescued, and through offering horse riding she raises a little bit of money to help the rescue. The horses have a lovely large area of farm to roam free, however sadly the vegetation that grows there isn't suitable for them. So the other main priority of the rescue now is to raise funds to hire the machinery to clear the land and then purchase new, more suitable grass for them. This project could cost as much as $2000.

It's a huge target to try to raise, in a country where people have very little and see animals as either food, workers or vermin; but, little by little, we will get there, so if you could spare anything, no matter how little, Fabiola, all the animals, and me, will be eternally grateful 😊

For more pictures you can go to the Facebook page Animal Rescue Mompiche ❤