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Palestinian vet Dr. Ehab Jaradat examines a baby camel belonging to Bedouin elder Salman Raheel Ka'abneh. In the Al Malih region of the Jordan Valley, Jaradat makes weekly rounds to monitor the health of the sheep, goats and camels of 170 Bedouin families are part of a project funded by the European Commission Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) and implemented by CARE International West Bank Gaza. September 2008. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images for CARE/ECHO)
Near the Palestinian village of Al Malih in the Jordan Valley, we join Dr. Ehab Jaradat, a private vet who is hired by CARE to treat the poorest Bedouin's flocks - a project which is funded by the European Commission Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO). He conducts his morning rounds in a harsh landscape where 170 Bedouin households eke out a living in barren hills and deserts.
Although the Bedouin are semi-nomadic, these indigenous people can no longer roam across districts and borders as they did in the past. Their access to land and essential services, particularly healthcare, veterinary services and children's education, is also squeezed. In an attempt to ensure its security, Israel has placed more than 620 obstacles in the West Bank which slow down the movement of Palestinians and disrupt everyday life. These Israeli-manned checkpoints, trenches, earth mounds, and road blocks combine with a network of 1,661 km of restricted roads, which are reserved largely for Israeli use, to chop the West Bank into fragments
Mahmoud Awad, Ali Zuhde, and Salman Raheel Ka'abneh, family elders, are expecting us in their nomad tents. Keeping their herds healthy is essential to raise quality meat to nourish their large, extended families and to sell at market. Because cattle, goats, sheep, and camels are all susceptible to disease outbreaks, vaccination is essential but until this project started, it was rarely available.
Dr. Jaradat says: "Like almost all Palestinians, the Bedouin fast for the month of Ramadan, but their animals still need to be fed and watered during the day. It's lambing season in Al Malih, so my veterinarian services are crucial right now. Without the vet service and medicine provided by the European Commission Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) through CARE, these animals would suffer and some would die. Flocks of 200 goats and sheep must be constantly tended, especially when there are dangers from explosives". Next to Al Malih is an Israeli army training base, which means access to the area is restricted, leaving the community isolated and vulnerable.
"After three years of drought, the pasture here is inadequate," says Dr. Jaradat. "The animals are prone to pick up internal parasites while grazing. Most need extra fodder and water brought by tanker from 7 km away.
"Any sudden change in temperature, like unseasonably cold nights in the Jordan valley, can cause problems with the sheep's lungs. I listen out for coughs. One frisky goat injured its leg by getting stuck between the slats of a fence, so I rechecked the bandages and taped it up again.
"With my battery-run ultrasound machine, I can confirm a ewe's pregnancy and predict when the birth will happen. Livestock deaths would be an enormous loss to a Bedouin family. This particular lamb I'm examining now isn't likely to be born for another two days. In total, there are almost a dozen new-born lambs here, including twins. Owning such a flock is a real asset to the family in terms of income from sales and they can make good cheese from the extra milk. Of course, it shows I am doing my job if the herd's in good health.
"Rehab and Yazan, two of Ali Zuhde's grandchildren, have squirmed underneath the corral gate to watch me work. Once, when I went to treat a sick animal, a little girl was hurt and I patched her up with my first aid kit. Another time, when a man was run over, I spotted spinal damage and forbade the family to move him. It saved him from paralysis. If there is an emergency, this place is so remote that any kind of help for either the Bedouin or their animals is not likely to reach quickly enough. Before the vet services were provided, the Bedouin would either put down a sick or injured animal or just leave it to die.
"See that big brown ram? It shows symptoms of listeriosis, or brain fever. If it is not treated immediately with antibiotics, it will start drooling and staggering around in circles until it dies. Because it is contagious to other livestock and even to humans, the ram needs to be isolated. I'll show the most dependable men in the community how to give it injections, and if they cannot read, I will mark the correct bottles with a cross. I can ring them on a mobile phone and talk them through the process as they do it.
"I love animals, so I adore my job. After I earned my degree in Damascus, I have been practicing for ten years in the West Bank. It's good to see a baby camel in such good condition out here."
As the 33-year old vet prepares to drive back across the checkpoint to his clinic in Jenin, a burst of machine gun fire and the rumble of tank treads are heard from the training course at the Israeli base on the next hilltop. The noise doesn't stampede the cattle or even startle the sheep. Somehow, the beasts must get used to it.
Bedouin shepherd Suleiman Ka'abneh tends his flocks next to a sign which warns tin three languages that the area is an Israeli army firing range. He can barely read. Vet visits to the vulnerable flocks in the Al Malih region of the Jordan Valley are part of a project funded by the European Commission Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) and implemented by CARE International. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images for CARE/ECHO)
Palestinian Bedouin children Yazan (R) and Rehab Zuhde play in their family's encampment September 15, 2008 in the Al Maleh region of the Jordan Valley in the West Bank. They await Palestinian vet, Dr. Ehab Jaradat, who makes weekly rounds to ensure the health of the sheep, goats and camels of the 170 Palestinian Bedouin families living in the area, as part of a project funded by the European Commission Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) and implemented by CARE International West Bank Gaza. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images for CARE/ECHO)
A Bedouin boy tends his family's cows near the Al Malih spring, which cannot provide his family and their flocks with sufficient water year round. He works as a cowherd and rarely attends school. Weekly health checks by a vet are part of a project funded by the European Commission Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) and implemented by CARE International. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images for CARE/ECHO)
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