NZ vets to help Timor Leste vets
NZ vets, Dr Angela Park, Dr Sue Blaikie, and Dr Pietre Allan with Joanita (left)
A group of New Zealand vets have been inspired to help vets in Timor Leste as a result of a talk given by Ms Joanita Bendita Da Costa. She is a Timor Leste veterinarian working for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries there, currently in Wellington studying at Victoria on the ELTO Programme.
“I did a presentation to the New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) on the animal health situation in Timor Leste, especially the problems and the challenges we face. They really appreciated all the information and they decided to support us by donating equipment, medicines and information. This will help us keep up with the latest disease treatments,” said Joanita.
She explained that the main area of need is in caring for large livestock like cows, buffalos and horses.
“Many vets here mainly deal with cats and dogs but they appreciate the fact that the animals we treat are essential to our country’s economy. Also they can see that our lives as vets are much harder. We have to travel long distances and know every disease. The farmers want us to treat all their animals and the medicines are often not available. Because we have to know how to treat every animal we have to keep learning.”
The group from NZVA will raise money from colleagues and get company sponsorship. They are also very keen to go to Timor Leste and do some voluntary work. One of them, Dr Angela Park has already spent time in East Timor as a vet with the NZ Army in 2001.
Joanita’s friendship with the vets began before she was as student on the ELTO Progamme.
“In 2008 I was nominated to attend a Commonwealth Veterinary Association Conference in Samoa for veterinarians from the Pacific and Australasia. Among the people we met were two women from New Zealand. They gave me their email addresses on a piece of paper but unfortunately I lost the paper. In my mind I thought that it is impossible that I would go to New Zealand in the future.
But luckily this year, I gained a place on the ELTO Programme to study in New Zealand for five months so the first thing that I did here was to search for two of my friends that I had met in Samoa. With the help of the Singapore Veterinary Association President who gave a New Zealand vet my email, I heard from Dr Sue Blaikie. She came to the campus but at first I didn’t realize that this is the woman that I was looking for. While we had our lunch I’ve told her that I had been in Samoa and amazingly she said that she had been there too. It was clear that she was the one that I was looking for during my stay in Wellington. After this first meeting she sent me information regularly about NZVA activities and invited me to speak, resulting in this ongoing relationship with our country. I do hope that this relationship between the TLVA and NZVA will bring a bright future for our association especially, and our country in general.”
Joanita and fellow vets from Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos also visited the NZVA as part of the ELTO Programme to learn about veterinary practice in New Zealand and about the association’s activities.