How we helped a horse charity in Egypt raise $40,000

Through a family connection, I visited Egypt Equine Aid (EEA), an Australian not-for-profit operating in Cairo that is focussed on improving the lives of horses and donkeys in Egypt.

Background

Jill and her love for the horses of Egypt

Many Australians aren’t aware, but there is a very strong connection between Australia and Egypt because of the many service men and women who served in Egypt during the world wars.

Even less people know that around 10,000 horses were left behind by the troops that were stationed there, and many of their descendants are in daily use in Egypt, often under shocking conditions.

When Jill Barton saw the condition of the horses there, she was so moved, she and her husband sold their house in Perth and founded Egypt Equine Aid to educate local people about proper care for their animals, provide free veterinary care for the animals of the poverty-stricken Egyptians, and assist the local community.

Helping the Helpers

Hero was brought in with such a severe and extensive neck wound that Egypt Equine Aid did not think he would survive. He required weeks of care and could barely lift his head. He has now regained full use of his neck.

Hero had a severe neck injury when he was brought in, but recovered beyond expectations!

As part of my visit, I spent some time with Jill and her small but lovely team in Cairo to understand more about what they are doing and see how I could help.

Jill mentioned they had an opportunity to apply for a grant from the Australian embassy in Cairo for up to $40,000.

These funds would provide a huge boost for the charity as the charity was doing all its operations in an open-air concrete “surgery” because they didn’t have enough funds to even build a proper enclosure. As you’d imagine, farms attract a LOT of flies which irritate the horses while they’re being operated on, and also spread disease etc.

But Jill didn’t have the business background required to submit an effective application … so I volunteered to help.

I visited the farm a number of times, photographing the workers and the animals, learning about what they do, writing the grant application, putting together a simple spreadsheet to support this, and providing some guidance for the staff to finalise the application.

Success

A little while later, Jill contacted me with the fantastic news that her application had been accepted and she’d been granted the full $40,000!

Jill Barton, EEA Founder: Thank you from all our horses!

While EEA isn’t able to use the funds for day-to-day operations, the grant funds will provide a huge boost by enabling them acquire much-needed equipment and also build much better facilities to care for the animals.

I never would have thought that I’d be using my business and spreadsheeting skills to help save horses in Egypt … but I’m so glad I could play a part in improving the lives of people in that city.

You can help too!

Find out more about this charity by Liking EEA on Facebook or visiting their website.

Support their operational costs (which they can’t use the grant funds for) by donating. All donations over $2 are tax deductible in Australia.

Update

June 2016: I was so impressed by what Jill and her team were doing, I’ve now volunteered to be their Non-Executive Chairman of EEA & look forward to helping build the charity to save more horses in Egypt.