to offer free medical treatment to equids in
need, educate owners and distribute much
needed horse feed, the ESAF clinic near
the Pyramids remained open for the entire
three weeks that the Kiwi Care Team were
in Egypt to enable them to work alongside
the ESAF vets.
"I had no idea what to expect coming to
Egypt," says Stephanie Chin, "I'd heard all
these stories about how dangerous it was -
tourists getting kidnapped, countless acts
of abuse and or harassment, riots, killings
and so on so wasn't I in for a shock when
wherever I went there were nothing but
greetings of `Welcome! Welcome to Egypt!
Where are you from, Jamaica? Alaska?'"
The team worked tirelessly - there was
simply no other way with so many in dire
need of assistance; countless of which
were "so far gone it's a wonder they even
had the will to stand, let alone work" says
Stephanie, "I'd have wanted to curl up in
a dark corner and pray to never see the
light of day again! Though I guess these
poor creatures simply knew no better. I'd
often wonder to myself are we really
making a difference? We're here for three
weeks, treating these animals left, right
and centre...but what will happen when
we leave? Will they just revert back to the
way they were before?" Common injuries
addressed by the volunteers included
tongue lacerations, swollen joints, huge
sores and abscesses under the saddle
(some as big as 20cm wide), dehydration,
and extreme fatigue as a result of being
forced to continually carry/pull heavy
loads whilst being severely underfed.
Surprisingly there were some high points
amongst the horrors. The team came
across some beautiful, well-fed and
glossy horses with too much energy!
These Arabians, also known in Egypt as
Dancing Horses, with their `I'm too big
for my boots' attitude were a total contrast
to the dehydrated and emaciated working
horses the team routinely saw. Another
ray of hope were two young local children,
Mohammed and Moses, who took it upon
themselves to help Stephanie and Chloe
clean and treat wounds, "It was a start!"
says Stephanie, "They wanted to help as
much as possible and in return we taught
them as much as was feasible. Now we can
only hope they took home a little of what
they learnt."