Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Children's Shelter Foundation

''For every child, there should be a warm and safe place in this world to spread their wings and fly.''  Children’s Shelter Foundation

Last year, we found a “bucket list” that Léah had written. On the list she had included, “do volunteer work in a poor country”.

Mélanie and I had travelled in Thailand years ago before the kids were born. Recently, we have had the desire to return to the country but also wanted to do more than just sightsee – we wanted to contribute to a local Thai community while gaining an in-depth cultural understanding not possible on the tourist trek. When we proposed the idea of a volunteer vacation to the kids, they were extremely enthusiastic about it.

After some extensive research, we came across the Children’s Shelter Foundation - a globally-funded children’s aid project in Northern Thailand founded in 2007 by Joy Hanfaifa (Thai) and Ulrike Meister (German).

The foundation’s farm “Lakeland” is located in the forest 30 minutes northeast of Chiang Mai and provides a home for orphans as well as poor, underprivileged, and deaf children.

Fence around the farm painted by the children
Sign indicating the road to the Children’s Shelter Foundation

Arriving at the farm with Dao

The children on the farm welcomed our kids into their “family” right away. The rope swing helped provide the icebreaker.

Barbie, Play-Doh, Jenga, Snakes and Ladders, and Trouble help to break down barriers and bring kids together.

Playing Trouble with Wayu
Snakes and Ladders
Playing Jenga with Levi
Levi discovering Play-Doh for the first time
Introducing Mélanie to their card games

Many of the foundation’s children come from the mountain villages in Northern Thailand and from neighboring Burma (a war-torn country plagued by genocide) . For some, it is the first time in their lives they have experienced love, stability, and security.

Léah with Bpee Mai
Bpee Mai
Levi giving the thumbs up while preparing dessert

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Elephant Nature Park

The Plight of Elephants in Thailand

A symbol of Thailand, elephants have played an integral role throughout the history of the country as beasts of burden, tanks during wartime, and currently as tourist attractions. At one point, elephants decorated the national flag and currency.

Sadly, elephants in Thailand are now officially classified as an endangered species. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were up to 100,000 elephants tramping through Thailand's forested land alone. Today, numbers in Thailand are around 2,500. It is estimated that the population is decreasing at 3 percent each year.

Prior to our travels to Thailand, the kids drew pictures of their perception of the country. Gabriel drew the following picture:

 

Notice the harness on the elephant to provide a seat for a tourist. Gabriel had seen pictures of the popular activity of “elephant trekking” in Northern Thailand and was expecting that we would be riding elephants. And why not? Even an 8-year-old sees an air of romance to riding an elephant.

However, if people were aware that in order to ride an elephant, you must first break its spirit through the training ritual “Phajaan”, they likely would not hop aboard these animals for the sake of being able to say “I rode an elephant”.

This post on TripAdvisor provides some insight:

“Between the age of 2-3, baby elephants are taken from their mothers for the training ritual ‘Phajaan’. During this ritual the elephant is put into a "crush" (a frame like cage that just fits the elephants body). The elephant is then starved and beaten for approximately 7-10 days. After the shaman feels the elephants spirit has been ‘crushed’, the elephant is dragged into town. If the elephant resists or does not listen, it will be beaten more. When the elephants do not do as asked when in training, they will be beaten, stabbed, starved and more.

Swaying and rocking elephants are showing distress and severe psychological damage. Look for eyes that have a glazed over look, a sign of amphetamines, a strategy used by the mahout to work the elephant longer hours. It is not uncommon for a trekking elephants to have a second job at night.

Elephants need to graze constantly for proper nutrition and trekking does not allow for this. Elephants are often punished for stopping to eat the greenery. Many trekking elephants are malnourished from poor diets.

You may read all of this and think oh well, its just once, but since Thailand gets over a million tourists a year that kind of thought is a problem.”

For additional information, I recommend reading “Why Elephant Riding Should Be Removed from Your Bucket List”.

If you have the stomach to view the horrors of the training ritual “Phajaan”, you can watch this video.

Elephant Sanctuary

Elephant Nature Park is a unique project set in Chiang Mai province, Northern Thailand. Established in the 1990's, their aim is to provide a sanctuary and rescue center for elephants. The park has provided a sanctuary for dozens of distressed elephants from all over Thailand. The founder, Sangduen “Lek” Chailert, was named Asian Hero of the Year by Time magazine in 2005, and the park has been featured in many international publications including National Geographic magazine, as well as feature documentaries from numerous film production companies including Animal Planet, BBC, National Geographic, CNN.

Set in a natural valley, bordered by a river, and surrounded by forested mountains, the area offers a timeless glimpse of rural life.

 

Volunteers and visitors contribute to the healing while learning about their lives past and present.

The kids spent time feeding the elephants,

and bathing them.

 

After bathing the elephants, Gabriel and Naimah decided to go for a swim.

But they only realized afterwards that there were big chunks of elephant droppings floating down the river,

and it became a game of “dodge the elephant dung”.  

The elephants getting muddy after their bath.

The mahouts at the park.

The park truly provides a natural environment for elephants and other animals under their care.