Our Community Training Advisor, Macaulay Olagoke, recently visited Ethiopia to train both Community Training Officers and working animal owners – here’s how it went:
SPANA Community Training Advisor, Macaulay Olagoke ‘This training has opened my eyes, and encouraged me to look for future opportunities that will help to tackle animal welfare problems in Ethiopia,’ said Community Training Officer, Gebre Tefera, from SPANA’s Ethiopia team.
Gebre was one of the attendees on our eight-day intensive training course that brought SPANA’s three Community Training Officers, who are based in Ethiopia, Mali and Zimbabwe, together in Ethiopia.
Community Training Officers are a vital link in teaching local owners how to properly look after their donkeys, horses and working animals. By empowering local officers to train their communities, and by providing owners with practical skills, we at SPANA aim to make positive and lasting change in the way people treat their animals. Because without this help and knowledge, working together with the treatment, you cannot break the cycle of suffering.
As well as training our Community Training Officers, a practical workshop was held for animal owners on how to prevent lameness through proper farrier (hoof) care, giving them real skills and knowledge of the importance of cleaning their animals’ hooves on a regular basis.
The Ethiopia trip was a success, with both the Community Training Officers and animal owners commenting on how helpful our training had been.
‘From now, I will care for the hooves of my animals as I care for the feet of my children,’ said Shegaw Bekele, a horse and cart owner who expressed his gratitude to us following the farriery training workshop.
The enthusiasm and appreciation for SPANA’s training activities is very encouraging; by continuing to develop the skills of our Community Training Officers and working with communities to train working animal owners, we can help to alleviate animal suffering in the future.
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