Sharing Sunlight

This was Tuesday and Tuesday afternoon is the Rural Wellness Initiative mobile vet clinic. A friend of the group came along with us and took a break sitting on an upturned rowboat.  She found herself sitting among a group of women and children who took great delight in trying to teach her Arabic. Yes, the woman in niqab as well, who turned out to have quite the sense of humour.

We Are The Eggmen

While a group of us were out riding the other afternoon a pickup truck carrying what must have been at least a thousand eggs passed us on the way from a chicken production warehouse to wherever it is that they take this many eggs. They will be left in their cartons standing in warehouses and stores for a number of weeks or until they are bought. Eggs, oddly enough, stay fresh unrefrigerated for months UNTIL you refrigerate them....and then they must be kept cold.

What Camels Really Do

Out on a ride the other day we saw a farmer leading his camel with a huge load of berseem clover. One camel can carry almost as much as a cart.

Apologies for being away. My annual case of bronchitis laid me a bit low.

Mourning

We have had Qamar (it means "moon") out water buffalo for about 6 years. This winter she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who we named Negoom (which means "stars") which gave us the moon and stars. Her previous offspring was named Kofta (for grilled ground meat) since as a bull calf that was going to be his fate. Kofta was dispatched very humanely last year, but Negoom, who was a delightfully friendly little girl who loved attention and scratches from everyone was going to be staying at the farm with her mother. This morning Negoom was found dead in the paddock of no apparent cause and her mother stood next to her crying.  Water buffalo aren't known for their intellect but they they feel things keenly.

Spot light

On a winter afternoon with big thunder clouds blowing above the desert, the sun will shine down through a gap to highlight  a spot on the desert. When the spot happens to be the pyramids of Abu Sir.

Lending a Hand

Egypt's small farmers are being crushed by a lack of support. There are government subsidies on human medications to keep the prices affordable, but no subsidies are provided for veterinary medications that the farmers need for their livestock. These prices are rising steadily along with the prices of clothing, schools, books, and food that they need to buy with what little money they make from their crops, whose prices are rising much, much more slowly. Many farmers now are lucky to be able to pay for medications for their animals, but can't afford to pay any more to cover the cost of gas for the doctor's car or money for the doctor's time. Most vets can't afford to spend time without earning a salary so they are not going out to treat animals.

A few months ago the Egyptian Society of Animal Friends and Al Sorat Farm joined forces to provide free veterinary care to farmers between Shabramant and Abu Sir. Here the vets from ESAF and the grooms from Al Sorat are working on a donkey with an infection in his shoulder. They make weekly visits to different parts of of the farmland as it isn't easy for farmers to find time to take a sick or injured animal to either the clinic or the farm to have it checked. Much of the work consists of discussion with the owners about the proper care of their animals to help them keep them healthy.

Some Things Never Change

Cairo's bridges are more than just ways to cross the Nile. They are parks on summer nights, sites for protests, and more than anything else a public yet private space for a young couple to meet and talk about life.

Trailer Optional

One of the guys who works for me was doing some work on his home in the village and needed to borrow a wheelbarrow. They don't have cars so we offered to haul it over with the jeep, but his cousin said that he would take it over with  his motorcycle. This was something we had to see and record!

Pink Cloud

Cotton candy seller

The youth market never fails. In this case a man has filled plastic bags with wads of pink cotton candy (candy floss for the Brits) and is bicycling around the villages selling it to children for probably something like 25 piastres, which is a healthy markup on his materials, although not so healthy for the teeth.

The Free Market Is Thriving

A Cairo blogger posted this picture of a man who was driving his car around with this sign posted on both sides of it. The sign apparently says:

Hashish "Afghan- Dutch" available
Salah Imbabay
01099649952

There are pretty strict laws on the books against the sale of hashish, marijuana and other drugs, but the police force has been pretty slack lately. Still..... wonder if anyone called him.