Indian vet brings 'healing touch' to south Lebanon

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

HELTA, Lebanon, Feb 18, 2008 (AFP) — The ground is peppered with pellets of goat dung and the stench of manure fills the air as an Indian vet with a UN peacekeeping force tends to sick animals in south Lebanon.

Lieutenant Colonel Satvir Singh, who goes to work in full uniform, is a veterinary surgeon serving under the UN flag who makes house calls in remote impoverished villages.

His presence is a godsend in a country where, according to official estimates, 32 percent of the four million population are farmers and where only 31 of the 142 registered vets are employed by the government.

It is even more vital in parts of the troubled south where there are no vets.

"Part of our job is to reach out to the people and to contribute to peace. We call it the...