The past few weeks have been filled with a
mixture of farm visits, teaching and learning opportunities, exchanges, and
hands-on opportunities; I (Maggie) cannot believe that it is already mid-July
and that we have only 3 weeks left!
Last week was somewhat of a milestone, as
we finished up the welfare project we had been working on since arriving, and
started on the second part of Shauna’s PhD, which focuses on nutrition. It was
also Sarifa’s turn to head on exchange to Naari, so last Monday, after a full
day of stall constructions, pregnancy checking, and deworming cattle, she set
off with our other driver, Jeremiah. Jeremiah is a local taxi driver in the
area, who has been working with Shauna for the past 3 years. He has been a
great help to us when we need a second vehicle, and also a great addition to our
construction team (one of my favourite lines of his has been “the Nail Man has
arrived” – in reference to our abysmal skills with a nail and hammer, and his
superior ability to get the job done much more efficiently and accurately).
One of the last farms of the welfare project
that we visited. The farmer is holding a photo of her and Anika, one of the
student interns from last summer!
Last Wednesday, Mira and I had our first
teaching experience at a local primary school. The school was Ithanji, the one
we had visited in June. It is a fairly small school, and we had planned on
teaching classes (equivalent to Canadian “Grades”) 6,7, and 8. However, when we
arrived, the room was quite full, and some of the children looked younger than
we were expecting…we found out afterwards, that all the classes except one were
there! Considering how many students and what a wide range of ages were present,
it was really incredible how attentive, well behaved, and engaged the students
were. We had spent a lot of time creating a lesson plan that followed their
curriculum, but also emphasized things that we feel are very important to human
and animal health. In the end, this plan included material on “One Health” (how
the health of the environment, animals, and people are all connected and can
affect each other), how to recognize signs of disease in animals, how to
prevent the spread of diseases, and then some more specific information on the
zoonoses (diseases that can be spread from animals to humans) rabies,
brucellosis, and diarrheal diseases.
Overall, we felt that the whole experience
was a great success, and the feedback we received from the teachers was
extremely positive; they even requested to keep the teaching aids we had made. It
was also nice to hear teachers and students discussing how they would share all
the information they had learned with friends and family at home. For me
though, the most rewarding part of the day was walking outside afterwards and
seeing a group of girls practicing the handwashing technique we had taught them
(at the hand washing station built by Farmer’s Helping Farmers!).
Maggie and Mira teaching students and
teachers at Ithanji Primary School proper handwashing techniques.
Going over the review activity that the
students at Ithanji Primary School completed on zoonotic diseases.
On Wednesday, we also visited the last farm
of the welfare project, thus ending our construction marathon! That same day,
Mira and I also had some practice changing a flat tire, so it seems we will be
going home with a range of new handy skills!
Learning to change a flat tire!
The next day, we started visiting farms
that have been part of a nutrition project that Shauna started in 2013. This
project has looked at the effects of different feeding methods such as feed
types and amounts, and their effects on growth of calves, and reproduction and
milk production of cows. This year we are doing physical exams on the cows and
any of their calves (now 2 year old animals) that are still present on the
farm, while Shauna gathers more information about their health and reproduction.
The study has found some really interesting results and it is nice to be able
to give some feedback to the farmers on practical and economical ways that they
can feed their animals in order to maximize profits for themselves and the
animals’ health.
That same day, we also visited a farm that
one of the local veterinary technicians put us in contact with. This farmer had
a cow that had clinical mastitis and he was drying her off (stopping milking to
give her a rest before her next calf due in September). Mastitis treatment is
generally done via intramammary infusions, where an antibiotic is put into the
affected teat(s). Since this cow had not responded to previous treatments we decided
to give her a different dry cow treatment. Dry cow treatment is often more
effective because the type of antibiotics used are able to stay in the udder
for a longer period of time compared to when a cow is still being milked. This
visit provided us (the students) with a great opportunity to practice giving intramammary
infusions, and also discuss management practices that the farmer could use to
reduce the risk of mastitis for his cows. On a side note, he also had the
largest heifer that I had ever seen!
Mira pregnancy checking an enormous heifer…it
barely fit in the stall!
Yesterday, we had another opportunity to do
some teaching and also see some different farming styles. Kamau is an extension
officer that used to work at the Mukurwe-ini Wakulima Dairy providing education
and training to farmers. He is now working in a similar role but in a different
part of Nyeri County, and had organized for us to meet some of his farmers and
provide them with some training. They were an extremely enthusiastic group that
were very keen to learn, and the morning flew by as we discussed cow nutrition,
mastitis prevention, and stall management with them.
Mira teaching a group of farmers about the
importance of having clean and dry stalls for their cows to lie in.
We then spent the afternoon visiting many
of their farms, which was very valuable as they are quite different to the ones
we have been visiting around Mukurwe-ini. Like in Naari, most of their cattle
are grazed at least part of the time, which means that they must also be
sprayed for ticks on a weekly basis. Some of the farmers are also growing a
variety of high-protein plants that are great (and economical) replacements for
the more expensive dairy meal that people feed their cattle. One farmer
actually had hundreds of Calliandra
trees, which are the seedlings that we were giving to participants in the
welfare project. It was really cool to be able to see what tiny seedlings can
grow to in just a few years! As it turns out the farmer was unaware of what a
good protein source Calliandra is
until we had mentioned it during the nutrition part of the talk that morning,
so he was very excited to learn about the ‘dairy meal’ that he had growing on
his farm already!
Picking up Calliandra seedlings to give to
farmers in the Welfare project.
A row of Calliandra trees on a farmer’s
property that we visited with Kamau.
A 22 year-old cow (on the left)! This is one
farm we visited that had a larger number (10) of cows.
Some of the farmers also had many more cows
than we are used to seeing, and it was very interesting to see how they manage
these larger numbers. A common problem farmers face in Kenya is feed shortages
during the dry season, and this can be especially difficult when there are more
mouths to feed. Recently, there has been a growing interest in making silage,
which is fermented, storable feed, to help with this problem. Kamau has done a
great job working with his farmers to teach them about this, and one of the
larger farms we visited had just built brand new silos to start making and storing
silage in.
Coincidentally, as I am writing this blog,
the farm where we are living on is actually in the process of making its first
batch of silage. This farm also has a large number of cattle (~20), so this is
an exciting step to ensuring there will be forage available for the animals,
even when crops aren’t growing well during the dry seasons.
Making maize silage. The barrel of water is
being used to compress the maize to get the air out.
Finally, I cannot forget to mention our
newest Kenyan friend. Last week, a kitten was found orphaned outside the Mukurwe-ini
Wakulima Dairy, and after being unclaimed by her mother for over a day, we
decided to feed her. While it is difficult to guarantee the long-term health of
such a young kitten, Maziwa (“milk” in Swahili) has proven herself to be an
extremely resilient, voracious, and of course, adorable little furball.
Maggie feeding little Maziwa.
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