A Scottish veterinary hospital has donated various items to veterinary school at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Luanar).
Staff of Inglis Veterinary Hospital have offered more than 100 textbooks, lab coats, boiler suits and stationery to veterinary students at the school.
Quality assurance manager of Inglis Audrey Kelly said that books are invaluable to student vets as they have a great deal to learn about many different species.
According to Kelly, books are particularly important in Malawi where internet access is slow and extremely patchy and where even something as basic as the supply of the electricity cannot be guaranteed.
Kelly added that the past starving of people in the country also had impacts on animals and proper measures must be taken.
“Less than a year ago, Malawi declared state of emergency over worsening food shortages caused by a severe drought. The consequences for people are tragic, but the situation also impacts considerably on animal welfare,” Kelly was quoted by The courier.
In his remarks, professor of the veterinary school Melaku Tefera was grateful for the support of the Scottish vets.
Professor Tefera said that the Malawi School of Veterinary Medicine was established in 2014 and the oldest in the history of the country with few old editions of books.
“We would like to thank them once more for not only the materials, but for the moral support they have provided through time of uncertainty for us,” Tefera said.
The gesture was co-founded by Inglis and Lilongwe Society for the Protection and Care of Animals.
As a member of the Scotland-Malawi Partnership, Inglis Vets first developed the relationship with Lilongwe SPCA in 2012 when chief executive of Inglis Adam Tjolle and colleagues converted a very basic and ill-equipped clinic into a state-of-art-facility.
Adam said that the partnership has also improved a fantastic learning experience for the Inglis staff.
“We have been able to do some very worthwhile work in desperately poor country with barely basic veterinary provision,” Adam said.
He further hailed the progress that the country has made in producing veterinaries.
“When we forged our relationship with Lilongwe SPCA Malawi, which has a population of 14 million, they had only nine registered veterinaries and it’s great to see progress in developing an infrastructure to improve that situation,” Adam said.
this is great deal by ingli-vets……