Sunday, July 5th; Sorry to miss the annual Bowman 4th picnic, Sis, but I was having a completely different experience. I am exhausted, but exhilerated. This is great work, and the 4 men are learning many new skills. As you can see, there is more than one way to make a vet call. We drove as far as we could and made an additional 2,500' trek up the hill to a village that needed our service. These horses are quite sturdy, although quite small. I had been prepped to see lots of goats and sheep with foot problems, but the horses have been a significant part of our work. The Gujjar use these animals to transport pilgrims and tourists from place to place, which increases their income significantly. Some of the men will live in camps near the areas of concentration of work, which are quite an experience.
No matter where we go, we gather a crowd. This goat was in the high country, you can see the tent and the glacier in the background. All these kids and women come close, but when you take a picture, the young women tend to try to hide their faces. The devout Muslim believe that a camera steals their soul. However, many giggle and want a 'photo' (a copy) when you show them on the camera. The children have no such problem with photos and stand shyly as you click away. We have had rain showers nearly every day, which signals the start of the monsoon season. The northern area does not get torrential rains, but thunder in the Himalayas is powerful!. When we went back to the mountain, we returned to several of our former patients. The calf that had eaten the poison grass (Rhodendron) was up and eating!! The people all came out to thank Dr Bruce Sahib! This was a wonderful experience, but as we say at CVC, only God heals animals, we just try to be His instrument, and especially try not to hinder healing!
We are encountering groups of goats like this for deworming -- liquid Albendazole is the most economical and available in the country. With this group, they were herded to a wide spot along side the river. The goats wouldn't dare jump in the river, so they stand quitely by while the children and young girls shepherd them. When we are deworming, the men come to help, but most often, the children are the ones doing the field work. Most of the goats have shaggy hair, with all kinds of horn conformations and color patterns. In this male dominated society, NOTHING is ever castrated. If selective breeding takes place, it is very quietly done. According to the Muslim faith, this is for God to decide. A devout Muslim prays to thank God for not making him a woman, a Jew, and a pig, in that order.
We are also seeing lots of sheep. There is very little variety in the sheep breeds. There is some variety in color. ALL of the pasture that I have visited, no matter what elevation, is badly overgrazed. This photo is of a 'Choppar', who is a hired shepherd. These sheep can travel several miles a day to graze, but then return to the camp at night for safety. I have yet to see any predators of any kind. I have seen marmots (they call them moles) lizards, and lots of birds. There are some mountain flowers that are quite delicate and beautiful. Somehow, I have lost some of my photos, so I will sign off now, and get some more rest. I am exhausted, but exhillerated! I am definitely feeling the effects of the altitude. I keep a low grade headache, and constantly drink fluids to ward off dehydration. Like any good livestock veterinarian, I have been stomped on, kicked, and smashed a bit. (Future photos will show a scab on my forehead, on the bridge of my nose, and you can't see my upper lip!) Some of these horses are pretty wicked, and they strike with purpose! More on that later. Thank you for your prayers, I feel perfectly safe. I will post again this evening. BLN
Sunday, July 5th; Sorry to miss the annual Bowman 4th picnic, Sis, but I was having a completely different experience. I am exhausted, but exhilerated. This is great work, and the 4 men are learning many new skills. As you can see, there is more than one way to make a vet call. We drove as far as we could and made an additional 2,500' trek up the hill to a village that needed our service. These horses are quite sturdy, although quite small. I had been prepped to see lots of goats and sheep with foot problems, but the horses have been a significant part of our work. The Gujjar use these animals to transport pilgrims and tourists from place to place, which increases their income significantly. Some of the men will live in camps near the areas of concentration of work, which are quite an experience.
No matter where we go, we gather a crowd. This goat was in the high country, you can see the tent and the glacier in the background. All these kids and women come close, but when you take a picture, the young women tend to try to hide their faces. The devout Muslim believe that a camera steals their soul. However, many giggle and want a 'photo' (a copy) when you show them on the camera. The children have no such problem with photos and stand shyly as you click away. We have had rain showers nearly every day, which signals the start of the monsoon season. The northern area does not get torrential rains, but thunder in the Himalayas is powerful!. When we went back to the mountain, we returned to several of our former patients. The calf that had eaten the poison grass (Rhodendron) was up and eating!! The people all came out to thank Dr Bruce Sahib! This was a wonderful experience, but as we say at CVC, only God heals animals, we just try to be His instrument, and especially try not to hinder healing!
We are encountering groups of goats like this for deworming -- liquid Albendazole is the most economical and available in the country. With this group, they were herded to a wide spot along side the river. The goats wouldn't dare jump in the river, so they stand quitely by while the children and young girls shepherd them. When we are deworming, the men come to help, but most often, the children are the ones doing the field work. Most of the goats have shaggy hair, with all kinds of horn conformations and color patterns. In this male dominated society, NOTHING is ever castrated. If selective breeding takes place, it is very quietly done. According to the Muslim faith, this is for God to decide. A devout Muslim prays to thank God for not making him a woman, a Jew, and a pig, in that order.
We are also seeing lots of sheep. There is very little variety in the sheep breeds. There is some variety in color. ALL of the pasture that I have visited, no matter what elevation, is badly overgrazed. This photo is of a 'Choppar', who is a hired shepherd. These sheep can travel several miles a day to graze, but then return to the camp at night for safety. I have yet to see any predators of any kind. I have seen marmots (they call them moles) lizards, and lots of birds. There are some mountain flowers that are quite delicate and beautiful. Somehow, I have lost some of my photos, so I will sign off now, and get some more rest. I am exhausted, but exhillerated! I am definitely feeling the effects of the altitude. I keep a low grade headache, and constantly drink fluids to ward off dehydration. Like any good livestock veterinarian, I have been stomped on, kicked, and smashed a bit. (Future photos will show a scab on my forehead, on the bridge of my nose, and you can't see my upper lip!) Some of these horses are pretty wicked, and they strike with purpose! More on that later. Thank you for your prayers, I feel perfectly safe. I will post again this evening. BLN 
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ReplyDeleteWe are so very proud of you and the work you are doing. We did miss you at Barbara's. As usual there was too much food and we all ate to much. Josh was in charge of the fireworks and they were beautiful. We ate at Josh and Corri's and were blessed to bea able to see fireworks all around us. Be safe as you continue to do God's work using your skills, we love you. Thomas and Gail
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you again. Even though we know you can't post everyday, we anxiously await to hear from you. Not only what you are doing, but that you are still safe. Just reading what you are experiencing really affects my soul and makes me realize, yet again, how fortunate we are to have the freedoms that we have. I can't imagine having to be asked to leave a country because of your beliefs. It is unfortunately that the animals suffer the way they do, but as you noted it is not out of cruelty. We will anxiously await your next blogging. AND you SKype too! How technologically advanced you have become in such a short time. Take care and we miss you!
ReplyDeleteDebi & Braxton
Great post, Doc!!
ReplyDeleteThat last picture does invoke in me a question, though: what's up with the park benches???
Seeing you on a horse is such a good thing. :)
Thanks for all the great pictures and posts - and Matt and I are so glad to hear that Skype is working!!! Yay!!!
We did miss you on the 4th, but you are doing amazing work right where you are. We are trying to keep up to date on your posts, and I keep calling mom everytime I see one. She is going to try to get on here and write you something soon. We love you, miss you, and can't wait for more updates and pictures.
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