The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
African veterinary school begins new chapter thanks to counterparts in Fife
Support: Staff from Dunfermline vets send textbooks to Malawi students
A Dunfermline-based vets is helping to transform the future of young veterinary students in Malawi.
Staff from Inglis Vets Hospital despatched more than 100 textbooks, lab coats, boiler suits and stationery to the veterinary school at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources in Malawi’s capital.
Several textbooks and other items were also donated by students and staff from the Royal Dick Vet School.
The gesture was co-funded by Inglis Vets and Lilongwe Society for the Protection and Care of Animals.
As a member of the Scotland-Malawi Partnership, Inglis first developed a relationship with Lilongwe SPCA in 2012 when chief executive Adam Tjolle and colleagues converted a very basic and ill-equipped clinic into a state-of-the-art facility.
Since the partnership began, the Inglis team has been back to help.
Quality assurance manager Audrey Kelly said: “Books are particularly important in Malawi, where internet access is slow and extremely patchy.
“Even something as basic as the supply of electricity cannot be guaranteed there.”
Lilongwe professor Melaku Tefera was “humbled” by the support of the Scottish vets.
He said the Malawi school of Veterinary Medicine was established in 2014, the first in its country’s history, with a few old editions of veterinary books.
“This was until we met Adam and the team at Inglis who kindly sent us emergency books for our students,” he added.
Adam said: “When we forged our relationship with Lilongwe SPCA Malawi, which has a population of 14 million, they had only nine registered vets and it’s great to see progress in developing an infrastructure to improve that situation.”