And photographs, if you have any.
Horseytalk.net Special Interview
Fiona Too Chelagat
Says Freya Dowson (Online and video officer), The Brooke
While editing the video of Fiona Too Chelagat, the 18 year old farrier I met
in Kenya, the memories of the two days I spent filming with her have been
popping up like it was only yesterday.
I remember first meeting Fiona and getting an overwhelming feeling of excitement that only comes when you meet someone who is equally as passionate about equines and their welfare as you are.
The flow of conversation suddenly becomes both intense and exciting as we swapped stories and comments about the animals we have met and cared about.
As we walked to our second filming location and I overheard the cameraman asking Fiona how she came to be a farrier - those first few stolen glimpses into her story made me almost rush to do the interview.
Chatting with her was really inspiring. She left both myself and the Kendat staff almost speechless with her passion for animal welfare and the
I remember that I had to keep reminding myself that she was only 18 and had just finished her O-levels.
She lives at home with her family in Kericho, a Kendat Heshimu Punda Programme project area. Unlike many parts of Kenya, the donkeys in this
The Brooke and Kendat first started working in Kericho in 2010. A lack of trained farriers was immediately recognised as a major welfare concern.
To help address this problem the Heshimu Punda Programme stared to work in collaboration with the District Veterinary Officer to run community education and awareness sessions, training local animal health providers and
These farriers are taken through a series of training modules before they are qualified and allowed to carry out farriery procedures. In Kericho there are 10 farriers that have been trained and qualified.
Fiona is incredibly determined, I think partly because she is so passionate about the wellbeing of her community's donkeys but also because she has ignored the tradition that only men are suited to do things like hoof trimming.
She talks almost jokingly about defying convention, but having spent two days within her community, even though everyone is more than welcoming and friendly, I imagine that such defiance could not have been easy. She is braver than she lets on.
Fiona's dream is to go to university. She wants to be a vet, or if that is not possible she wants to do anything that will allow her to make a living out of helping working equines - she only needs the opportunity.
She really is an inspiration, as you will see in the video, both to her community and very much to me.
Interview by Freya Dowson (Online and video officer) sourced from The Brooke