Last month, 6 Level 3 Animal Management students went to Aruba for two weeks as work experience at The Aruban Donkey Sanctuary near Santa Cruz.
Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Colombia.
During their residential, they provided day to day care for the donkeys like feeding and cleaning, and also any medical treatments that they needed like wound cleaning and giving oral medication.
The students also spent time in a local vet surgery observing and supporting the veterinary staff with operations, anaesthesia and injections and in a local dog groomers where they gained experience in washing and drying dogs, clipping nails, cleaning ears and grooming.
The students also got involved in an art project where they painted driftwood to show what Aruba meant to them and they took lessons in one of the islands commonly spoken languages, Papiamento.
In the students’ free time they went to the beach, visited local tourist attractions like The Natural Bridge, and most evenings they ate at restaurants commonly frequented by local people in Aruba.
Cat Lewis, Lecturer in land-based studies, said:
“The experiences that the students had in Aruba at the veterinary practice and Aruban Donkey Sanctuary are invaluable and will help them to develop their job prospects in the sector. During the residential, the students were provided with the opportunity to build on personal skills including self-reliance and independence. The Aruba residential is a truly unique experience for Kirklees College students.”
If you are interested in Animal Care and Land-based Courses at Kirklees College, visit Animal Care, Equine & Land Based – Kirklees College
