Country: Kenya
Position: Farm Management Advisor
International Partner: MERU Dairy
Placement Date: June 2018
Maggie is a PhD student at the University of Guelph in the Population Medicine Department. Maggie's research focuses on using therapeutic levels of the amino acid tryptophan to decrease behaviour issues in growing pigs. Maggie was raised on her family's dairy farm in Eastern Ontario and has loved all things dairy cows from a very early age.
Maggie has just returned from a placement in Meru, Kenya, where she worked as a Farm Management Advisor. During her placement, Maggie visited several small-scale dairy farmers and their farms and helped conduct seminars on increasing milk production, improving cow and calf nutrition and improving cow and calf welfare. During her placement, Maggie was able to explore different national parks and see many of the incredible animals and scenes that Kenya has to offer!
In this edition of #VETSVolunteerVoices, we shift perspective — from volunteer reflections to the voice of a local leader shaping change on the ground. Dr. Victoria Norgbey has dedicated over four decades to strengthening Ghana’s poultry sector and empowering women through WIPVaC-Apex Ghana, a key VETS partner.
As the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists unfolds, VWB explores why mobility is not a barrier to care — but a blueprint for designing resilient, equitable animal health systems in rangeland and remote communities.
Khadia Diallo’s story reveals how women Community Animal Health Workers in rural Senegal are strengthening disease prevention from the ground up — caring for animals, supporting families, and translating One Health principles into everyday practice through the COHERS program.
