By Sunel Craythorne | Fundraising Administrator
Our first trip for the year to Zimbabwe and Zambia took place from 30 June to 9 July 2022. Over the course of 10 days we travelled a total of just over 4000km. In Zimbabwe our ports of call were the University of Zimbabwe and Twala Trust animal sanctuary, and in Zambia it was the University of Zambia, Lilayi Elephant Nursery and the Leopard Hill Veterinary Clinic. Our team distributed five boxes filled with 60 veterinary science textbooks, twelve microscopes, four spay kits, cleaning materials and other supplies of veterinary interest. This included different kinds of surgical instruments, reels of chromic cat gut, bandages, dressing, disinfectant and darting equipment. We also donated 100 kilograms of dog food.
It was heart-warming to walk through the university libraries we visited and to note just how many of the books at veterinary science students’ disposal have over the years been donated by Vet Books for Africa. Some of the books date back to 1998. One of the trip highlights was seeing the “absolute delight” of the veterinarians at Leopard Hill Veterinary Clinic in Lusaka when they received a box filled with veterinary supplies and a new microscope to replace the very old model they were using for diagnostic purposes.
The trip was however not all plain sailing. Our team, among others, had to cope with the logistics of having to seek medical attention and organize MRI scans in a foreign country, after one of the committee members, Lara, suffered a serious back injury. Lara received fantastic medical care and were able to book her a flight from Lusaka to Johannesburg.
Our sponsors have also been wonderful. Without them, we simply would not have been able to do the work that we have been doing! MBT Petroleum, our main sponsor and provided us with vehicles as well as fuel for their trip. The trips are also made possible thanks to Montego, Global Supplies, Pneu Dart, Wildlife Pharmaceuticals, Hills, Elanco, Kyron Agri, MSD Animal Health, SAVA, Molatek, Avimune, Acorn, Sanlam, OVK, Zoetis, Sapmok, HERD, Afrivet, NuPro Veevoere and Sky Information Supplies. We look forward to having all our sponsors at our Gala evening later this year.
We are already hard at work planning the second leg of their trip, which will take place from 2 December 2022 to 9 January 2023. We learned a lot of valuable lessons during out first trip that will help us a lot during our longer December trip.
Earlier this year, 26-29 May 2022, we had an amazing opportunity to join hands with HERD and take part in a rabies and veterinary awareness drive at schools in the local communities. Thanks to Montego, we were also able to distribute dog food and treats in local communities. At the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre, we lent a hand with feeding the cheetah’s, vultures and wild dogs at the centre. We also helped to clean the feeding area of the vultures and the watering holes of the leopard and wild dogs being cared for at the centre.
We would like to thank each and every person and organization for their involvement and support.
The Vet Books for Africa Team
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