The mule was old and blind … he couldn’t serve anymore. How could his family survive?
A long life of hard work … years of honorable service to his owner’s family … but now, it was over. His owner, whom I’ll call Adnan, was downhearted as he brought the old mule, blind in both eyes, to us. Adnan’s aged friend could no longer work.
Here in North Africa, many families depend for their very lives on their working animals. When a mule comes to the end of his life, it’s heartbreaking. And for the mule’s human family, it’s a crisis.
But there was another friend ready to step into this sad story. This friend made a donation to the American Fondouk, and sent me to a “souk,” a market. There I found another mule, much younger, completely healthy, ready to work.
I wish you could have been there, to see Adnan’s face, as he met his new friend. He was deeply moved … truly overwhelmed … offering prayers of gratitude for such a life-changing gift … a gift that would keep his family alive.
When I shared the news about Adnan’s new mule, the friend who provided the funds was as happy and grateful as Adnan himself! I’ll call her Sandra. “I have tears in my eyes,” she said — not just for Adnan’s family, but “knowing in my heart how fortunate I am in my life. These people have to struggle to survive. And the animals are so pivotal to their survival.”
Sandra has seen, over the years, the power of a simple gift of compassion. She longs to spread the word! The American Fondouk is “a win-win situation for both animal lovers and others who wish to donate more to humans,” Sandra says.
In fact, as a widow and a retired nurse, living on a fixed income, Sandra had to save for several months in order to make her donation. “If I can do it, many others can too,” she says. “The best part is that their donation is not ‘swallowed up’ in a large charity, but they can see and experience this good deed for themselves.”
Certainly the impact a gift can’t be measured in dollars. As Sandra puts it, anyone who gives to this cause will “know that they, themselves, have made a HUGE difference in someone’s life. The very right to survive! Just the thought of this is making me smile!”
