Save and Rescue an Asian Elephant Today

Dear Supporters, 

This quarter we have tackled our most challenging fundraiser yet, seen fluctuating weather with some very wet hikes followed by very hot hikes, participated in a village celebration, and spent time with our elephants in new and beautiful parts of the forest.

A huge thank you to everyone who participated in, or donated to, our July fundraiser; Walk the path of the Huay Pakoot elephants. This involved 2 full days of walking from our village Huay Pakoot to the nearest town of Mae Chaem; 57km in total. Before transportation, elephants were used to transport supplies between Mae Chaem and the village - after walking the distance, we had a great deal of appreciation for these huge animals - it was not an easy feat! Over 20 staff, interns and volunteers took on this challenge, not only raising nearly $2000 for our elephants Khum Suk, Sadja and Lulu, but also having a great deal of fun. Speakers, good music, good company and breathtaking views made the blisters and aching feet more bearable. We spent the first night in a campsite before a gruelling second day of walking to meet our destination; being rewarded with a swimming pool and some Thai food upon arrival into Mae Chaem.

Our interns in Chiang Mai have been busy learning all about leadership so they can start planning their own Trust fundraisers here, as well as taking an active role in collecting data on our elephants. We have recently compiled all our elephant data into readable graphs and are very pleased to see that the elephants are displaying natural behaviours, which is mostly feeding and food prep, as well as a small amount of time spent walking. All of our elephants have previously been in camps and it has taken some of them a while to get used to life in the forest, so it’s very positive to see that they are now at home in the forest. Funds from the GVI Trust enable us to keep these elephants in the wild where they are able to roam freely and eat a varied diet.

Volunteers regularly check the elephants’ health, and recent analysis of this data has shown that all of our elephants are either consistently healthy or their health is improving over time. Despite Khum Suk’s old age of 68, she still has the same health score as Lulu, our youngest elephant!

We are excited about our upcoming plans for the last few months of the year; we are working on an online store, where we can sell trinkets from our hub like volunteer-designed T-shirts and traditional Karen bracelets. We are also working on recruiting ambassadors to promote our new ‘Adopt an Elephant’ campaign - each elephant costs $600 per month to keep in the forest, so we really need all the help we can get! Feel free to get in touch with the Chiang Mai team if you are interested in joining our Fundraiser Army!

The rainy season finally seems to be coming to a close and the village is relaxing after the official End of Planting celebration. Now we just wait for the harvest! The celebration in August involved visiting many different houses in the village and eating a lot of food. We try to be involved as much as possible in village life; the elephants have been a part of the Karen culture for many years, so immersing ourselves in the culture here helps us to understand the elephants too!

We still have our two Community Liaisons working for us; Dee and Don. They are both from the village and started out as scholars with GVI - funded through the Trust. They are invaluable in maintaining our good relationship with the villagers and mahouts. The last month Dee has successfully participated in the GVI staff trainings including First Aid, so he can begin to take a more active role in our project. Don’s English and confidence has also improved noticeably over the last few months and he enjoys teaching the volunteers the language Pakinyaw as well as helping out in English classes at the school. Hopefully one day he will also be able to pass the GVI trainings; this is in line with our objectives to give the villagers more job opportunities and to have a sustainable project which the village can take ownership of.

Look out for our new online store and for more fundraising events in the coming months. We hope to continue supporting our three elephants Sadja, Lulu and Khum Suk, as well as continuing to create opportunities for the villagers here to take an active role in our project. Thanks to everyone who has supported the Trust this quarter and for keeping up-to-date with all the happenings at our Chiang Mai hub.

Thank you so much for your continued support! 

All our best, 

GVI Chiang Mai

Dear Supporters, 

This past quarter has seen its share of unique experiences. Two of our GVI volunteers spent seven days studying Buddhism as novice monks, while another spent his time creating a database of new insects, spiders and snakes brought to the area due to the approaching rainy season. The team celebrated World Environment Day with a village-wide litter pick and a pledge to ‘change one thing’ to improve our environment.

Recent donations from the GVI Trust have helped three majestic elephants - Khum Suk, Lulu and Sadja - to stay in their natural habitat during the first half of 2018. Last month saw us meeting with the mahouts to renew elephant contracts, meaning we have all of our elephants (five from the volunteer project and three from the Trust fundraising) in the forest for another two years! Our good relationship with the mahouts and villagers here - based on effective communications and working together - means that our elephant owners are happy to renew their contracts with GVI, giving their elephant a consistently free life in the forest.

A new season allows us to explore new areas on hikes, as the elephants are moving into deeper forest and away from the roads and fields. The times of year and amount of food available dictates where the elephants choose to roam, and it’s very interesting to see the variation in their habitats. Being allowed to roam freely in the forest means they get a varied diet; the data we take on our elephants shows the large variety of food they eat, from banana trees to bamboo to tree bark. Having a huge territory in which to explore means these animals can head to the areas of the forest which have the food they are craving that day!

With a few memorable days recently, most notably World Environment Day, we have tried to become a more eco-friendly hub. To acknowledge the day - the theme being Beat Plastic Pollution - volunteers took part in a village litter pick where we filled a total of 27 bags! The same day, all volunteers made a pledge to ‘change one thing’ to improve their environment. Since then, we have introduced litter picks during our elephant hikes, to provide them and other forest-dwellers with a healthier and safer environment.

After Khum Suk was injured by a falling branch, the villagers turned to our base for medical assistance. No to worry, the elephant is healing up quite nicely. Maybe them seeking us out was due to our Mahout First Aid lessons that started merely weeks before, or from the evolving relationship growing from our evening Mahout English lessons. Our National Scholars-turned-Community Liaisons, Dee and Don, play a huge part in organising and helping out with both of these classes. They are integral to our GVI team, and it is thanks to the Trust’s supporters that we have them both with us.

Two volunteers, being inspired by the local Monks, decided to partake in a seven-day novice Monk-hood study at the Huay Pakoot temple. Our associated fundraiser - raising $290 - inspired other volunteers to learn more about the religion in this area. Proceeds from the Trust, as well as supporting our three elephants in the forest, go towards community efforts such as temple donations; religion is a big part of life here and it’s great that we can also be involved in celebrating and supporting this unique part of their culture.

Our elephants here are pretty special and leave their mark on many of our volunteers. It’s great to see volunteers returning home and continuing to help our elephants through fundraisers for the GVI Trust. A huge thanks has to go to Michelle Bickford who has initiated some very successful fundraisers since returning home earlier this year. In total she has raised well over $2000 for our three Trust elephants! We are always more than happy to assist fundraising efforts in any way we can, and are eternally grateful for people’s support.

The staff team have been coming up with some ideas to raise a little more cash for our elephants. This includes volunteers making some Karen-inspired jewellery using local beads, as well as purchasing t-shirts, postcards and stickers! Our Trust donation box is a big hit as well; with volunteers unleashing their spare change into it before their return home.

The next Trust fundraiser is set to happen in July; we plan to retrace the path of the elephants from Mae Chaem (a town 57km away) back to our village Huay Pakoot. Before motor transportation was readily available, elephants were used to transport supplies and people back and forth from Huay Pakoot and Mae Chaem. For volunteers and staff, it is a 57-kilometre walk, which will take two full days! The goal is to spread awareness and increase appreciation for these gentle giants.

In short, in the last few months we’ve seen a volunteer inspired fundraiser, an increase of biodiversity sighting and projects, an increased relationship between us and the villagers, and continued support from former volunteers and the outside world. The goal for the next quarter is to promote more SDG related projects, host one large fundraiser and continue growth within the community.

With Love and Gratitude, 

GVI Chiang Mai