We have just returned from five days away on community service. What an amazing time- to hit the ground running with jet lag and tiredness straight into the jungle! First we went to the Elephant Nature Park set up by a Thai woman called Lek- a pioneer for the rights and treatment of Elephants in Thailand. Here there are two types of Elephants- domestic and wild. The wild Elephants are quickly losing their habitat due to logging and farming and the domestic Elephants have the same rights here as any farm animal- none. So the domestic Elephants are subjected to gross cruelty in how they are trained to work and carry people and are badly abused. Lek has rescued many Elephants and they now reside a the Nature Park- free to roam and fed and cared for by the volunteer staff.
The girls fed the elephants first, got kisses from them and went down to the river to wash them. It was pouring rain again at this stage so we all got wetter and wetter as we scrubbed away at these beautiful animals. Being so close was awe inspiring and touching them seemed to transmit joy. Of course a water fight followed and the Elephants didn't seem to mind!
We then watched them undo all of our good work by sloshing about in the mud and this was followed by a documentary on Lek and her work saving Thai Elephants. Some of the footage was quite disturbing but we noted that the Buddhist Monks were helping to save the Elephants too and had placed blessed orange scarves around trees to stop people from logging. It has been fascinating to see these scarves everywhere we go, tied to trees as a sign of protection.
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