Vet Camp

This little piggy went skree! skree! skree!

March 30, 2002:  

The day after after Kathy's arrival, we set out for a three day trip to participate in a "vet camp" near Mae Hong Son, a small town west of Chiang Mai, next to the Burmese border. We arrived, dazed and tired, about 10:30pm, after 5 hours of stomach-churning turns through the mountains. The students had been waiting for us, and we immediately were ushered to a large open-air room where they sat in a semi-circle waiting to meet us. It was a bit daunting to know what to say or do, but we lucked out - we were introduced, then everyone had dessert. The next day the adventure began, but first, a bit of background on the vet camp.

Some Background on Vet Camp

"Vet Camp" is an semi-annual event, sponsored by Heifer and Chiang Mai University's vet school. The poor ethnic villages in the north  (with the exception of the Heifer-sponsored villages) are generally unaware of livestock disease/parasite causes and prevention, and can't afford veterinary care in any case. The Vet Camp takes about 35 volunteer CMU vet students to these remote areas to provide rudimentary animal health education and provide vaccinations, de-worming, and vitamins. The Camp site locations are selected to provide easy access to Heifer-sponsored villages, but all villages in the area are invited to participate.

For the students, the camp offers the opportunity to get real field (literally!) experience — also "pen", "corral", and "coop" :-)  For Heifer, it's an chance to visit their sponsored villages, check on Heifer cattle, swine and fowl placements, learn more about veterinary medicine and put the cornerstone model tenets into practice. For the villagers, their animals get needed vaccinations, nutritional supplements, de-worming etc. It's a win for all involved.

It's also very cost effective - Heifer provides some base-level funding for transportation and food. Heifer and CMU together solicit donations of drugs and other supplies. The vet students supply all the planning, labor, and logistics. We figured that a $2000 investment by Heifer leveraged about $20,000 worth of vaccinations and other care.  Over the course of the three day camp, several thousand pigs, buffalo, cows, chickens, dogs and cats received vaccinations, supplements, and de-wormings.

The program is all volunteer and entirely student-organized and run. They spend several months planning, and are incredibly organized. Students from all six years of the program participate, and they take care of all the mundane chores such as cooking and cleaning, as well as animal care. 

Kathy and Scott at Vet Camp

Not knowing a whit about administering vaccines or catching piglets, we performed the role of interested onlookers and photographers. First thing in the morning, we headed out to a Lahu village to vaccinate pigs and cows. The vet camp had gone there a year earlier for the first time, and this time the villagers were eager to have their animals vaccinated.  Kathy's favorite was the vaccination of the piglets - they are chased around by the students, then stuffed into a burlap bag when caught. They come out one at a time to get jabbed, and get a white mark spray-painted on their back to indicate they've been taken care of.

There was a soldier that accompanied us the whole time - there had been some unrest from Burma that spilled over the border into Thailand a few weeks ago (we were about 10 miles from the border), and the government in this area, which thinks very highly of this program, insisted on sending a soldier along. Things were entirely peaceful, and the soldier was very very bored.

By coincidence, the central village we were staying in had a big Buddhist celebration going on, and we took a break from animal husbandry during the afternoon to observe.  It is a tradition that boys spend a month at a Buddhist temple before they become adults. There is a big village-wide celebration for the three days before they are due to enter the temple. This ceremony is held only once every 3-5 years, so boys anywhere near the right age sign up when one comes around. During the three day celebration, their feet are not to touch the ground (outside).  And, as a group, they have to visit every house in the village in order to bless it. As they visit a house, they are given candy and cookies and soda pop; there are stronger refreshments laid out for the adults as well. The boys ride from house to house on their father's shoulders, and are accompanied by number of other male relatives and hangers-on as well as a small band playing  various drums and cymbals. (The wives are apparently back home cooking food for the big bash at the temple.) It takes three days to visit all the houses in the village.

We stopped on the way home to visit one of the many cave systems that riddle the area.  Nice cave - best part was in the middle, which one can only traverse by riding on a rickety raft done the river.

More photos (and there's a separate page of them, too)

Procession for the monks-to-be Boys stop by our "camp" Unhappy cow about to get vaccinated Breakdancing, Villager-style Youngest Monk in village Heifer's Aryuwath and Vet student (and bag full of piglets) Villager Boy's feet aren't allowed to touch the ground. Dad's Taxi service! "Pig condos" — pens go up the mountainside Our 2nd night's lodging Riding rickety raft through the cave Raft journey's end