Speaking of donkeys, I believe that many people's first reaction is the familiar children's song:
I have a little donkey that I never ride. One day I rode to the market on a whim, and I was holding a small leather whip in my hand, and I was proud of it, and somehow I fell into the mud.
Writing and writing, I didn't hum it, what a magical childhood memory!
The little donkey is even cuter. Image source: dw.com
Donkeys are generally used for farming or riding, and now with the improvement of the economic level, the traditional use of donkeys has little significance in China. In general, people can only see donkeys in remote areas, scenic spots and professional farmers' homes, or in the form of ejiao or donkey meat.
Ejiao products. Image source: suoyanzi.com
But on the other side of the world, invisible to us, and often overlooked, africa, donkeys are one of the indispensable members of the local people's lives and even survival.
The protagonists of our story today are Fantu Hamia, a freight forwarder from Northeast Africa and Ethiopia, and her little donkey Gray.
No country in the world has more donkeys than Ethiopia. These animals are especially indispensable to local women. They affectionately call these cute little donkeys gray animals.
With the help of donkeys, freight merchant Fantu Hamia earned a better life for himself and his children. But donkeys in Africa are currently in danger.
African woman Fantu Hamia and her grey animal "Gray". Image credit: Bernd Hauser
The donkey in Ethiopian parables
Once upon a time, lions, leopards, hyenas and donkeys got together. It hadn't rained in the sky for a long time, and the whole earth was smoking. 'Could it be that one of them made a mistake and God punished them all?' They guessed.
Maybe they should ask for forgiveness? One by one, predators confessed: lions tore a cow, leopards bit through the throats of goats, hyenas stole a chicken from the village. But they comforted each other: 'No, no, it's not a sin!'"
It was the donkey's turn, and it thought for a long time. He said, ''Once my master met a friend and made small talk: This donkey's resting kung fu has nibbled on a few flowers on the side of the road. Lions, leopards, and hyenas shook their heads in anger: "'This is a grave sin!'' You are responsible for our misfortune! ''
Then they rushed toward it and tore the poor donkey apart.
Little African boy with little donkey. Source: Deutsches Rotes Kreuz
There is wisdom hidden in this ancient Ethiopian fable, but it is also full of great injustice:
The grey animal donkey, contrary to its image of wisdom and kindness in social life, has not been considered a glorious character since ancient times.
Donkeys are important to some people in some places
Today, they are important to some 500 million people. One of them is Fantu Hamiyah, the wife of a farmer in Abaya, southern Ethiopia.
The 40-year-old mother received a microcredit through a charitable organization and bought a donkey equivalent to 140 francs.
Note: Due to france's colonial history of Africa, there are still many countries in Africa that use French and francs, etc., and the exchange rate here is about 1 franc = 7.1 yuan, and 140 francs is converted into less than 1000 yuan.
''We call it'' 'Gray',' she said in her mud hut. At this time, it was raining heavily outside, and the rain dripped on the tin roof and made a deafening sound. ''It eats barley, and we also collect fresh grass for it, and sometimes corn on the cob.' ''
Hamia shouted at the height of a loud noise, "'Gray deserves to be treated well!'" Unlike other donkey owners in Ethiopia, Fantu Hamia took good care of her faithful grey companion.
Local women are laboriously loading cargo onto the gray animal's back. Image source: dw.com
The success of grey animals
This success is self-evident in Ethiopia, where some 9 million donkeys – more than any other country in the world – have to endure harsh lives.
Owners demand that they transport 50 kilograms of heavy loads, sometimes as high as 150 kilograms. Carrying wood, grain bags and water cans, the animals often take the frail sick to distant health clinics. Even with such a load, they will still walk 20 kilometers in 4 hours.
On rough paths and streets, they pull grumbling pallets, at which point their transport capacity increases tenfold, sometimes moving loads of more than 1 ton.
In Africa, the freight value of donkeys is fully utilized. Image source: dw.com
Many donkey owners abuse their most important possessions – donkeys. The result of the incapacity of the livestock on board is that the human hand is on top and then sacrifices the health of the person.
There's a saying in Ethiopia: ''If you don't have a donkey, you're a donkey!' Then the woman took on the role of a donkey. In local society, women's duties are to carry water home from distant water points, bring firewood to huts, or transport produce to markets.
Fetching water is one of the heavy daily tasks of African women. Image source: Frankfurter Rundschau
Hamia's freight business
For Fantu Hamia, this is all in the past tense. Thanks to her ''Gray'', she went from housewife to a successful freight merchant.
The donkey pulls a pallet made of old bearings and wheel hubs. A cushion made of jute bags protects the back of ''Gray''' It should not be abrasive from a rut.
Hamia's son was a coachman. He was in the loading area, like the operator of an ancient chariot: he used his knees as a cushion when he passed a small pothole in the ground, which made his bones hurt when he sat down.
Donkey pulls a simple board cart. Image source: shop.caritas.at
Especially during the three-month harvest season, Hamia transports corn and coffee from the village to the market every day, which translates to 3.5 francs per day. In an area with a daily salary of only 1 franc, that's a lot of money.
''I don't have to work too hard to repay the loan.'' ''Hamiya said. ''Now, my full income can afford daily food and daily necessities, and I can send my children to school!''
How the donkey has become expensive
But Africa's grey animals — and their owners — are under threat. Our medical and healthcare industry needs a lot of donkey skins to make ejiao.
Every year we produce about 5,000 tons of donkey skins, which requires the consumption of more than 4 million donkeys. This pushes up the price of African donkeys. As a result, many families can no longer afford to buy a donkey.
Donkeys run on rough paths. Image source: faz.net
In Ethiopia, however, resistance to donkey exports appears to have had some success. The local dignitaries explained: "Slaughtering donkeys is not in line with our culture. The Ethiopian government has imposed an export ban. As a result, donkeys continue to benefit poor families.
The future of the Hamias
In the steppes of the Afar Triangle, women of pastoralist families buy donkeys through microcredit. They began the retail trade, bringing sugar, salt, coffee, soap and other everyday items from the cities to widely dispersed nomadic huts.
The goods lay on the backs of their faithful grey animals, and they patiently and contentedly crossed the vast savannahs.
The majestic African savannah. Image source: Justdiggit
As a successful small freight merchant, Hamia gained prestige in the village. She also received training in family planning, a charity.
Now she spreads contraceptive knowledge to her neighbors: ''In the past, the more children the better. But that's wrong! You have to plan the number of children and give them a future! Those who earn money can confidently represent their and their daughters' interests.
The little donkey gave Fantu Hamia the possibility of fulfilling his wish. ''Are you white now why we treat our grey partners well?' Saying that she evoked Gray's name, the gray animal meekly walked in and ate the barley grain in her hand.
Dear readers, when was the last time you saw a donkey?