Tech wizards give back by mucking in for a day at Donkey Dreamland on the Costa

The majority of them are computer programmers who normally spend their working day in front of a screen and, in many cases, working remotely. They are the gifted brains who work with artificial intelligence, in charge of creating programmes similar to the renowned ChatGPT. They all work for a tech company called RavenPack, based in Marbella but with people spread across Europe and the US (the sales headquarters is in New York).

On Wednesday this week 200 of these workmates all got together at a sanctuary for mistreated donkeys in Mijas. They came from all over the world for a team-building day with an emphasis on giving back to the community. This involved cleaning, painting and, ultimately, improving the Donkey Dreamland rescue centre and sanctuary, based in the hills behind La Cala de Mijas.

The bonding between the team and the donkeys could not have gone better: "I have fallen in love," said Violeta while hugging a donkey. This project manager, who had swapped her computer and meetings "for nature" for the day, could not have been happier with the experience.

"Every year we have a day where all of our employees meet up and this time we wanted to do something for our community. We knew that the sanctuary and these animals needed help, and so we decided to go with this," explained RavenPack CEO Armando González.

"It is a way for people who have not crossed paths all year to meet up. Here there are no positions or hierarchy, we are all equal and we are all working for our community," he said.

"I still can't believe it," said founder and director of the sanctuary Amaya Isert. She explained that Donkey Dreamland barely has funding. Although they have always had financial difficulties, the last year has been harder than normal because of the amount of donkeys they have had to take in; a situation which makes it difficult to improve the facilities.

"We have not had enough help," she said, adding that everyone who works at the sanctuary is a volunteer, rescuing donkeys from all over Andalucía from dangerous situations, whether it be abandonment or mistreatment.

Donkey Dreamland is a temporary sanctuary which helps donkeys recover, and once these are well again they put are put up for adoption. Since it was created they have managed to organise 37 adoptions.