Rotarian Roisin McQuillan
  

Jane introduced our lovely Irish eyes as "Roisin The Vet". Roisin was here to share the two week volunteering expedition she did earlier this year for Egypt Equine Aid.                     

The founder Jill Barton was a tourist in Cairo and was appalled by the plight of the horses and mules. She returned back to Australia and sold up and brought her husband back to set up a horse hospital and has not looked back. They used the slogan Lest We Forget in honour of the 10,000 odd horses left behind after WWI, as many of today's equine population are descendants of them. Cairo is a bustling city with a population of over 22 million people, so you can imagine how large the animal population is.

EEA is a charity and depends on donations and volunteers. Their focus is on caring and education, the work is essential to help ease the suffering of horses, donkeys and mules in Egypt. It is a well equipped hospital  and the scans are a vital diagnostic tool. There are two senior vets and two juniors, and then the multitude of volunteers. Malnutrition, untreated wounds, overworked, and many other symptoms are seen every day, Roisin felt that people were slow to realise the impact that pain had on animals. They are seen as work tools rather than creatures requiring care. But for many it is the cost of feeding and if the animal was off work healing then they would lose income. So the emphasis on education is incredibly important, early treatment means quicker healing so less loss of money. Whilst it was heartbreaking to see so many animals requiring attention, there was such joy in seeing the animals flourish under their care. 

The hospital was very happy to have an experienced vet volunteer, with less experienced vets wanting to learn from her, suffice to say they were very sad to see her go. Roisin thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would be keen to do more.

Peter V. thanked Roisin the Vet and congratulated her for her diligence, time and effort and then had to ask... could she 'walk like an Egyptian'? (Did you just sing that??)