The Rural Voice, 1985-09, Page 7i
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route. The vet, Jerry, comes from
Alabama and has been in Ethiopia
over 20 years. With him he had a
young vet, also from the U.S.A., who
was doing post -graduate work for
about ten months or so. Carol and I
had the back seat and in the truck box
was a large chest with drugs and
equipment.
Following our truck was a mini-
bus with ten veterinary students
who were apprentices. One was a
lady who wanted to be a medical
doctor, but the powers that be
decided she should be a vet. Jerry
told us that there were only 39 cer-
tified vets in Ethiopia — and nearly
half of them have desk jobs!
Finally we drove into this farm
lane past a large farm house built of
cut stone with a tile roof. There was
a large rose garden and vegetable
garden, but it was very dry. The farm
buildings were quite good — single
storey with the roof and some sides
made of corrugated steel. Some
sides were open as it never freezes.
The farmer is an old man and the
farm is managed by his youngest
daughter. She was about 45 years
old, I would guess. She told us that
the Ethiopia you see today is not the
real Ethiopia. It once was a very
beautiful country. If I remember cor-
rectly, she said the farm was about
160 hectares. She had 18 hired men
and more than 200 Holstein cows and
heifers plus calves. There were
separate sheds for cows, heifers, and
calves.
They use the AI method of
breeding. The cows are large and a bit
more beefy than Canadian Holsteins.
Jerry vaccinates for brucellosis, treats
mastitis, and tries to keep heart worm
and liver fluke under control. He also
tests for T.B. The cows are all
milked by hand, and the milk is put in
cans and water cooled. The milk goes
to a local dairy which makes and
packages butter, cheese, milk, and
cream. This farm supplies the Hilton
Hotel. Milk is packaged in one -litre
plastic bags.
One large shed contains baled hay
which is done with a wire tie baler.
There is no wire available so they
must do as all farmers do world-wide
— and that is improvise. They buy
worn-out truck tires, burn them to
salvage the wire in the bead of the
tire, and use this wire to bale the hay.
The sheds are well built with cut stone
foundations. Most of the cut stone is
basalt I think, and very good work.
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SEPTEMBER 1985 5