Mohammed Moussa Dimu lives in Bollotono Kabele in Afar, northern Ethiopia. He and his family raise camels, cattle and goats, selling them to buy food and other items.
“In the towns, many people own shops or restaurants, but here everyone makes a living from their animals,” Mohammed said. “But because of the drought, many families’ animals are suffering from different diseases.”
To help improve the health of the animals that people in Afar depend upon so heavily, Islamic Relief established a veterinary training scheme in 2009. This provides local people like Mohammed with the skills and equipment to diagnose common health problems in animals and to be able to effectively treat them. Mohammed completed the training at age 22.
“After I finished my training, I began to treat the animals of local people who brought their sick cattle, goats and camels to me,” he said. “The drought made many animals vulnerable to disease, often with parasites and ticks.
“Over the years the droughts in this area have got worse and more frequent, and the number of animals have decreased. This is threatening our traditional pastoralist way of life,” Mohammed explained. “Many people have been forced to sell their livestock and move to the towns. So far I can still continue breeding livestock, but I fear that I won’t be able to do this forever and will have to look for other sources of income.”
“If animals become ill then people cannot sell them for a good price and they stop producing milk, and this adds to their shortages of food. People here do not grow crops so we have to sell our animals in exchange for grain and vegetables.”
“As a community animal health worker, my main role is to use the kit that Islamic Relief gave me to treat the animals and control the spread of disease,” Mohammed said. “I also advise people how best to care for their animals and how to safely dispose of their carcasses if they die.”
“I work in and around Bollotono where people know that I am an animal health worker. I serve around 30 people a week, treating parasites, infections and respiratory diseases,” Mohammed said. “I charge for the service I give, so that I am able to make a little money to supplement my family’s income.”
“When Islamic Relief came here and told us about this project, my community nominated me to be part of the training. I am very happy to have taken this training and to be able to help my community.”
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