Mission accomplished

We have had a great time writing our blogs, learning new things about donkeys and computers, like learning how to use AutoCollage, PowerPoint presentations, PhotoStory and Movie Maker.

But this will be our last post. We completed our goal, raising R3100 in the Adopt-A-Donkey raffle, allowing us to adopt Ziggy and pay for food and vet bills for a whole year. We have the adoption certificate, as well as a report about Ziggy, to prove this.

I hope Eseltjiesrus get support from many more people. and get more adoptions. Hopefully the people we gave flyers to at the mall are among them.

I hope we can start another project soon.

Bye!

The Beginning to the End

Thank You Letter

Thank You

The best of the rest

After the grooming, it was time to get dirty... picking up poo was our next thing to do. Luckily we were given gloves and the poo wasn't fresh... well, most of it. Kieran picked up lots of fresh poo and threw it back down in disgust. We threw the bits in the sack we were given. After this we cleaned the donkeys trough (an old bath tub). It was very crowded so I didn't get cleaning. After this there was an interviewing session where we asked questions like " Who started the sanctuary? When? " They were very open and we got a lot of information.

It had all been fun and games but no school outing would be complete without worksheets. We wrote about the differences between donkeys and horses. After that we went home.

Grooming the donkeys

After our meeting of the donkeys we were given a chance to groom the donkeys. We brushed their coats (some shaggy, some thin), but there is much more than that. Their hooves have to be cleaned and trimmed. The person who deals with the donkeys feet is called a farrier. Their eyes also need to be cleaned to get rid of stuff that builds up there. Thr vet and the people take care of this and other issues such as sores and diseases.

The donkey that I groomed was well behaved. It was a great experience. It was a great success.

Meeting the donkeys

When we first met the donkeys, walking past in single file, I was impressed. From what I heard of their previous lives, spent pulling carts, being ridden contiously, and worse, I was pretty impressed. Some were still scared of us, but others happily let us stroke them, even the two youngest donkeys, Ziggy and Kit-Kat were relaxed. Their fur was quite rough and some had a shaggy coat.




A head on view


                                                                    

Shaggy-coated



Thick coat

                                                                    A donkey duo

Road Trip!

On Saturday, at 7am I got into the car. It was the start of the trip to Eseltjiesrus Donkey Sanctuary near McGregor... a long, uneventful trip! I spent most of my time doing absolutely NOTHING (apart from a quick breakfast). Two and a half hours later we arrived. After being introduced to the staff we did some excercises mainly to relieve our stiff legs (or so I thought, it ended up becoming a focus excercise as well, much to my disappointment!) The excercises took place in a paddock filled with lots of green grass.