an ACE 10 years
Animal Care in Egypt (ACE) recently celebrated 10 years of operation. A fantastic milestone for this self-funded NGO, but it’s been a bumpy ride trying to look after working animals during tough political and economic times. Last year alone ACE provided veterinary care to approximately 100 animals a day and helped educate 400 children a week on animal welfare. The Intrepid Foundation is proud to have provided much-needed financial support and Kim Taylor, ACE Centre Manager, gives us an update…
“It has certainly been an eventful few months since our emergency appeal for assistance in February. The response for funds was a great help to get us through the trying times. Earlier in the year we had to evacuate all animals and people from the ACE premises, as the threat of looting or a deliberate arson attack was too great a risk for the stable animals. All animals that were sent home were visited by our three Egyptian vets to ensure they were being well cared for outside the walls of ACE. Making these visits amongst the tanks and military presence, made it far from a normal drive to the villages around Luxor.
We are pleased to report that things have regained some normality in Egypt, but we are still facing our hardest year ever. Though visitors have returned, the several months with little tourism and with curfews imposing shorter working days put a great strain on the families of the numerous caleche (horse carriages) drivers. When one family can have up to 5 caleche horses, this is a drastic reduction in income. Understandably, feeding and clothing their children will always take a higher priority, but with ACE’s focus being on working animals, we can contribute by treating the animals where needed, enabling them to work and in turn helping their owners earn much needed money to provide for their families.
Although thousands of donkeys working in and around the farming communities of Luxor are not all directly involved with the tourist trade, the 20% rise in feed costs is more than their owners can earn in a day. Many of these donkeys work behind the scenes as support to the tourist industry, providing the food, drink and cooking gas to the hotels and tourism areas. With reduced demand from these tourist-reliant businesses, it has been scarily uncertain for too many. ACE’s role is even more vital, as the free health care we provide can at least take one burden off owners’ minds.”
So if you are thinking of Egypt and how you may continue to help the people and their animals, please consider a donation to ACE. ACE has no paid fundraising or marketing staff and every cent /penny goes directly to caring for the animals in need around Luxor. Plus donate via The Intrepid Foundation and your money will be doubled* by Intrepid Travel, who also pays all the administrative fees of the Foundation – so you can be 100% sure that 100% of your donation reaches those in need!
The Intrepid Foundation – travellers making a difference
Help support ACE and other great organisations via the Intrepid Foundation, plus find out how your donation can be matched* by Intrepid Travel!
* Donations will be matched by Intrepid Travel up to AU$5000 (or equivalent) per donor and a total of AU$400,000 each financial year.
