AR 2012: Engaging Abroad

 

On August 4, 2012, IFA president gave a talk at AR2012, held in Alexandria, VA about the challenges of engaging different areas of the globe in animal rights advocacy and veganism. His panel “Engaging Abroad” addressed the very different understandings of animals in different areas of the globe, focusing especially on Africa, where religious traditions, speciesism and poverty all influence the treatment of animals.

Veganism is hindered by the poverty facing many Africans, who are unable to afford a plant-based diet, or are lacking the right information and tools to begin transitioning to this different lifestyle. Alongside these factors, the growth of the fast good industry and of factory farming in Africa have also tied people closer to processed food and animal products.

Roba argued that increased information and organization in Africa remains the most important step to reversing these trends. First, by spreading the various arguments for veganism (it is more healthy for humans, better for the environment, and more ethical toward animals) across Africa, more people can become aware of the potential in switching to a plant-based diet. Secondly, starting up vegan organizations in Africa would serve to spread this information through a variety of ways: Conferences/workshops, media relations, and the dissemination of material on veganism. Knowledge must come first, so that Africans can decide for themselves whether to embrace a vegetarian/vegan diet.

Speaking in Asia

I am excited to speak in Asia at the India for Animals, 2012 Conference organized by FIAPO, to be held in Panjim, Goa, India. November 16-18, 2012.
Title of my topic “Learnings from International Fund for Africa”.
http://www.fiapo.org/ifa12.php

Great speech by Philip Wollen

A speech given during a debate by Philip Wollen,an Australian Philanthropist, gave me goose bumps, his speech was so eloquent, his delivery so powerful. I was moved by his plea for the plight of all animals and his clarion call for justice and compassion for our brethren, who he called other nations.

Health fair participation

Participating in a health fair in Houston on Saturday 6/23/2012. Doing my part to help the Ethiopian community in Houston. It feels right to help people in the community we live in. Sharing our knowledge and giving valuable advice is rewarding. Hopefully these kind of events will be more prevalent in the future.

Day 2 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. May 12, 2012

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The second ever Ethiopian Vegan conference was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia May 12,2012

It was an amazing conference, close to a hundred people attended. We had 9 speakers, 5 of them from Ethiopia,4 from overseas.Close to 30% of the people who attended were already vegetarians or vegans. Almost 80% of those who were omnivorous vowed to move towards a plant based diet. We had Ethiopian TV coverage and also EBS, which is a Maryland based TV company that broadcasts on dish network in the US,also broadcasts in Europe and the Middle East. I was interviewed by both networks and our COO miss Seble Nebiyeloul was interviewed by EBS. The conference was held at the oldest hotel in Addis Ababa, a very historic facility. The owner of the hotel is a strong advocate of a plant based diet. The restaurant at the hotel serves vegan food daily. The hotel has on its premises a model garden and they grow their own organic vegetables. They use very simple and effective agricultural and ecological  techniques like composting and perma-culture to produce their vegetables. On our lunch brake the conference participants visited the garden and were given a tour of the garden and also given a short lecture on the science of composting and perm-culture. The morning session we had lectures. By having lectures on veganism not only were we able to create more awareness, we were also able to find many young,smart and very committed people from all walks of life who also helped us organize the conference.   Will post pictures as soon as I get back to the USA

Day 10 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia . May 21, 2012

My last day in Addis. Got up late decided to go see Edell our rescue dog with the amputated front r leg.

When we got to the foster home, Edell looked horrible, the care giver told us he would not eat, was drinking a bit and his surgical site was infected. We went and got some meds and food for him. Took care of his wound, fed him and gave him water. Once he received the attention he deserved he perked up and looked pretty good considering what he had gone through. We took some pictures with him and made sure he knew we loved him and left. (More detailed information is available as a previous blog entry).

Late afternoon had a meeting with the Ethiopian Vegan Association members and future participants, it was a very productive meeting. We made a lot of progress identifying areas we need to work on and planning on how to organize in the future and how to increase membership. We also discussed revamping the assembly and the board. The basic framework to make the organization effective was layed at this meeting. Future meetings are scheduled, to go into detail about how to move forward.

After our very successful meeting I packed my luggage and headed to the airport. Around 10.30 pm flew out of Addis to go back to Houston.

 

This concludes my Ethiopian trip blog entry till next time.

On arrival in Houston called my sister to check on Edell and she told me he passed away during the night. (Details to be found in my previous blog entries)

Day 9 in Addis Ababa & Debre Zeit,Ethiopia. May 20, 2012

Left Kuriftu resort to meet two of my high school friends in Debre Zeit. Unfortunately one of our friends could not meet us but we met up with our friend who owns a vegetable farm about 20 kms south of Debre Zeit in a town called Mojo. We decided to go there after having a few drinks at a hotel where we met our friend.
After driving 20 minutes we arrived at his farm which was unbelievably beuatiful. All sorts of vegetables and fruits grow on the premises. While admiring the scenery the care takers of the farm told us that one of the puppies that was living there was sick,not eating, not moving like he should. True enough when we went to see him he looked sick. His sister was happy and running around while he was barely moving. Realizing this could be serious we decided to take him to the nearby town and find a clinic. After driving around for half an hour we decided to abandon our search. I called a vet that I worked with years ago who works for the donkey sanctuary (UK) and works on the veterinary school of medicine grounds. He called one of the 4th year vet students to check on the little guy. When we got there, the two guys were waiting for us. The senior vet student checked the dog out and felt that he had babesiosis a malaria like parasitic disease that can be fatal if not treated. Treatment with iv fluids was started and it was determined that the dog stay at the vet school till his condition improved. We left the facility and went home. Subsequent phone follow up was made by us and true enough the dog did have Babesiosis and was appropriately treated and on the 4th day the little guy was doing much better,eating,playful and will go back home within a week of being admitted. One more life saved.

A thank you note for everyone who cared for Edell

May 23, 2012

To all the kind people who responded to our plea for help for Edell,

On behalf of all of us at International Fund for Africa I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who cared deeply about the plight of Edell,and who were willing to open their hearts and homes for this poor soul who suffered so much. Unfortunately despite our efforts and our intense wish to give the little boy a good life he died, and I hope, at least the last two days of his miserable life, he was shown love and care as so many of you have kindly suggested. To make his tragic life worth something to make his death and suffering not in vain I strongly feel that we should do everything we can to avoid this kind of tragedy from happening in the future.

We at International Fund for Africa have worked hard since our inception to help animals and we have partnered with organizations like HSUS and Best Friends to help homeless dogs in Ethiopia in the past, we have been featured on National Geographic and local TV stations in Houston, we even had a song written for Ethiopian Dogs called “One Small Dog” by internationally known singer and music writer Maria Daines from England, with the sole purpose of trying to highlight the suffering animals go through in Africa.. All our efforts have been stymied for various reasons but our commitment remains. 

We hope this incident brings to the forefront  the plight of animals in Ethiopia and the rest of Africa.  Fortunately animals don’t care about national borders,ones creed, religion or nationality. Suffering is suffering whether it is in Ethiopia, Mali,or Russia. A dog in Sweden is a dog in the Philippines is a dog in the USA. The only difference is that there is so much suffering of human beings in Africa that the suffering of animals is overshadowed, ignored. We at IFA want people to realize that although the suffering of human beings in Africa is immense and people need help, rightful so, we should not ignore that the animals that exist in Africa are sentient beings that experience pain and suffer so much and that their pain should not be ignored and we need to reduce, alleviate and when possible eliminate their suffering. We at IFA work diligently to reduce the suffering of both humans and animals. We hope you will support us in any way you can in this endeavor.

Please join us on face book and twitter and on word press and for those of you who are very interested in our work please let me know and I will include you in our email list.

Our website is http://www.ifundafrica.org

Once again I thank everyone for all the kindness and care you have showed for our poor little guy,our pain is deep and will take time to heal but all of this will have been worth it if what happened to Edell raises the awareness it so deserves .

Respectfully and Sincerely,

Anteneh Roba MD.

President of International Fund for Africa

Final update on Edell, dog with the damaged leg

Hi Everyone,

  I got off the plane from Ethiopia, tired but happy to come back to Houston, ready to sort out the many kind offers to adopt Edell.  I was going to dedicate the whole day tomorrow sending out adoption forms to people across the US, Europe and South Africa who opened their hearts to this little guy who has suffered so much in his short life. I was excited to know I would be able to find him a home where he would be loved for the rest of his life. Never again to experience the scorn and the mistreatment dished out to him and his kind on the streets of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and the rest of Africa.

Edell had endured days probably weeks of intense pain and suffering, he was probably run over by a car. His r front leg crushed, his bones sticking out. He had to walk on that leg to survive. Not only did he have to endure the intense, unimaginable pain but he had to fend for himself, find food and water, avoid cars and people who aren’t friendly to homeless dogs that are for the most parts seen as pests to be disposed of while walking on a severely injured front leg.  By the time we met Edell, he was laying on the side of a busy road motionless, he had given up hope in a cruel world and it seemed he was waiting for death to take him to a place where there is no more pain.  

 Both, my sister and I thought he was dead, but he was not. Our vet who we contacted was instructed to go and get him and take him to his clinic ASAP. When he got to Edell the poor soul was chewing on his open wound, trying to lessen the intense pain he was experiencing. 

 There was hope, the vet told us, with surgery he would do well he said.  We were ecstatic and we told him to go ahead and do whatever to get him better so that we can find him a home were he would be loved and cared for the rest of his natural life. We even called him Edell, which in the Ethiopian language means Luck. After surgery he looked better, but his eyes haunted us, he looked sad, he looked like he had lost the will to survive. Tired of the cruelty and indifference visited upon him by humanity. But we had other plans for him. We thought he was lucky, he was about to start a new life, to learn that not all humans are cruel and uncaring that there are people in this world that love and respect animals. 

All was for not. A few hours after we went to visit him yesterday, after tending to his wounds, after feeding him and giving him water he died.

 I had just got off the plane from Ethiopia. The minute I got telephone connection I called to check on our boy. My sister Seble told me he died in the middle of the night. To say I am sad is an understatement. The pain I feel is intense, what hurts the most is knowing the little guy who touched so many people never experienced one day of happiness, never had a full belly, never got a kiss or a belly rub in his life. Never will he feel the joy of being a companion of a person who would give him lots of love. Never will he feel the safety of a home. That is my pain. Knowing I promised to give him all that he deserves and more and I failed him. I am so sorry Edell, I will never forget you and will do everything in my power to help all the animals that go through what you went through everyday, anywhere on this planet but especially in Africa. That is my mission in life and your untimely and unnecessary death reinforced my belief that I am on this planet to fight for the voiceless, the despised, and the weak.

 Thank you Edell, my sweet boy, may you rest in peace. Your suffering is over.

 I sincerely thank all of the people who offered to help and give Edell a loving and happy home.

 I hope all of the people who were touched by this sweet little boy will help us, at International Fund for Africa, help the hundred of thousands of animals that go through what Edell went through everyday in Africa.

 Anteneh Roba MD.

President of International Fund for Africa

 

Day 8 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. May 19, 2012

One day left to go back home decided to take it easy and go out of town for a very short one day rest and relaxation. Early morning the vet who took Edell the dog with the injured leg brought him home. He performed surgery on the poor guy. Amputated the damaged leg. Edell was doing better, luckily we found him a temporary foster home till we figure out what to do. The full story has been blogged on this site. 

In the afternoon Seble and I went to a place called Kuriftu about 30 miles south of Addis Ababa. A beautiful resort by a lake. We got much needed rest.