Jarjeer Mules was founded by Susan Machin and her husband Charles Hantom who were both lawyers in the United Kingdom. After retiring, they decided to move to Morocco. The Jarjeer centre can be found in the village of Oumnass, about 24km south of Marrakech in the foothills of the High Atlas and is a sanctuary and home to many animals.

Susan

Since 2014, Jarjeer has strived to create a sanctuary for working equines in Morocco. The mission has been made possible by local men and women who have supported Jarjeer from the beginning. In particular, Jarjeer provides a sanctuary where mules and donkeys can live the twilight years of their life with dignity, after retirement or when injured.

The refuge’s central objective is “to relieve the suffering of working animals in Morocco in need of care and to encourage and assist owners of equines to maintain standards required to keep animals in safe and in good health.”

Donkey and mule rescues are the focus of the mission, however Jarjeer also contributes to providing a secure work place for local staff, which in turn benefits the local area and their families. The refuge employs 14 people which supports 14 families in the local village. In addition, the centre purchases wheat locally, which enables locals to gainfully grow wheat at home, rather than traveling to Marrakech for work.

The Kingdom of Morocco’s equines have been an important and crucial part of society both in terms the success of both cities and rural areas from the northern Rif mountains to the Medinas of the imperial cities down to the dunes of the Sahara. Education and understanding of the importance these animals bring to local society will allow for a positive change. Jarjeer are committed to not only care for the injured and malnourished working equines but also to ensure that new equine generations are cared for throughout their life, to the benefit of not only the animal but the whole community. 

In the time of COVID-19, the organization houses many additional equines whose owners abandoned them in a dire state, reaching 130 donkeys and mules at the refuge. The organization also took in Caleche horses that were suffering from starvation, recovering them to good health and returning them to their owners.