Working as a registered veterinary technician provides many opportunities to meet new animals and new people. In 2017, I had the amazing opportunity to do so, by travelling to India on a mission’s trip with Christian Veterinary Missions. Last year, I travelled with a team to Northern India for 12 days; our team consisted of seven veterinarians from Canada and the United States, and I was the technician on the team.
I flew out on a Friday and arrived at my destination in India on the following Sunday; I was exhausted, but so excited to take in the new culture and to start working in the villages. The first two days, we spent at the base office in the city. We did some shopping and exploring, but also took that time to settle in and get organized for our trek out to treat the animals! On Tuesday, we travelled a couple of hours north to the mountains, to arrive at our camp that was central to the villages, where we would be serving. We stayed at the camp for several days, before heading back to the city and heading home.
Our camp consisted of steel shelters; one for the veterinarians to sleep in, one for our “cook” shelter, where we ate and a shelter for the local men on our team to use. For our bathroom, we had “squatty potties” and no shower (when we arrived back at our base camp six days later, it was a race to the showers). We had a wonderful local who was our cook for the week, and the food was delicious!
Our typical day started at about 5 am; we would have breakfast as a team, before breaking into smaller groups. We would hike out to the village we were working in at 7:30 am, and arrive back at camp for 4 p.m. to start our “in-clinic hours.” We would have supper at around 6:00 pm and hang out together until about 8:30 pm before it was time to for bed!
Mainly, we were providing deworming to sheep, goats, horses and cows. If there were an animal that required extra attention and care, we would see to those needs the best we could. Many of the families were so grateful for what we were doing, that they would invite us in for chai tea, where there was the choice of sweet or salt tea. They also loved to provide bread, cookies, and sweets for us to eat.
The hiking between villages and up in the mountains was long and tiring, but the scenery and the people made it so worth it. It was such an amazing experience, and I have connected with so many lovely people, who I still stay in contact with. Northern India has captured a part of my heart, and I hope to go back again soon to serve the people and their animals.
Written by Michelle Larkin, RVT
