Community projects around the world are showing us that it is vital to involve local people when it comes to improving donkey welfare in the long-term.
In Tanzania, The Donkey Sanctuary is supporting a programme called Roots and Shoots to improve the welfare of thousands of donkeys.
Through sharing stories and knowledge, and encouraging grassroots activism, the value of donkeys for children in school to owners who use their animals to farm is becoming clear.
Thanks to our supporters we can fund Roots and Shoots to integrate donkey welfare action projects into their school club activity in more than 20 schools across northern Tanzania.
Recently, the team set out on a walk to assess the welfare of 256 donkeys in the region.
Gumbo Mhadeni, donkey project co-ordinator, said: “It’s really helpful to know the welfare status in relation to the seasonal variation. Right now, it’s the farming season and many donkeys play a gigantic role.
“Overall health was OK, but we observed some injuries that might have been caused by long working hours during the farming season.
“For local sustainability of our action projects, we have seen it is very crucial to involve local people who are willing and devote their time - they are so full of passion.”
We are continuing to see the positive effects of this global youth programme, whose guiding principle is that knowledge leads to compassion and compassion leads to action.