We have been trying for several years to provide fresh, clean drinking water for the working animals of Marrakech. ‘Not very difficult, that,’ you might say, ‘Build a couple of good, old-fashioned water-troughs’.
Ah, but you haven’t reckoned with the bureaucracy of the Moroccan authorities, nor the cunning of its citizens.

After several months of petitioning, we did indeed finally get permission to build a couple of troughs around the city. ‘Water is expensive’, they said. ‘No bother’, we replied, ‘SPANA’s supporters will happily pay to quench the thirst of horses, mules and donkeys, toiling under a pitiless sun’.

But within a couple of weeks, one trough had been turned into a car-wash, and the other into a launderette. They certainly weren’t going to waste good water on donkeys! So, back to the drawing board. We then built a huge trough on the outside wall of our animal hospital in one of the poorest parts of the city. The tap is inside, so we could control its use easily.

Even that was a struggle. The horses and mules had only ever drunk out of a bucket before, so their reflections in the water frightened them, and they wouldn’t go near it.

But there is a Berber saying in Morocco – “If a horse has a problem, he goes to a donkey for advice”, and it was no time at all before the city’s donkeys were taking advantage of the cool, clean water available on demand.

The horses eventually followed.

Now it is well established in the equine psyche – whenever a mule or donkey is let out of its traces, they up sticks and head for the trough. It’s great to stand there in the mid-day heat, and watch mules threading their way across busy roads, and through the nightmarish Marrakech traffic, and wander up to the trough and help themselves. And probably have a bit of a chat with the other chaps there at the same time. Like going down the pub for a quick lunchtime beer, really.

The other members of the animal fraternity also take advantage – a grey-muzzled street dog stands up on his back legs to get a drink, while the local cats perch on the sides. The bird population has to look out for a safe opportunity to have a quick bath at the same time as a drink.

We haven’t given up on the bigger picture either. We’ve now built nine other troughs around the city, and we’re going to use our own horse-drawn water cart to fill them twice a day. Gives us a chance to keep an eye on them, and clean them as well.

Maybe that will outwit the city’s car washers and other entrepreneurs – but don’t bet on it !