6/18/2015
All students have arrived safely and are ready for an amazing program!
6/19/2015
Thai Elephant Initiative: Session 1 Day 1 Orientation Tour
Sawadii ka! My name is Rowan. I am the International Director for GLA’s Thai Elephant Initiative and it is my great pleasure to be able to work with each of our students during the next two weeks. First of all I would like to thank each of you for allowing your child to embark on such an exciting opportunity to learn, make friends for life, and grow. I know it can be scary to say good-bye without really knowing where your child is going, who they are going with, and what exactly they will be doing. I will be updating this blog as frequently as possible so that you are continually informed about what your child is doing and how they are doing.
I would also like to introduce you to the wonderful mentors, Chelsea and Ash, your child will be working closely with for the next two weeks. They are both highly motivated, conscientious, and knowledgeable.
The local Thai staff is amazing and has worked so hard with us to design a program that is packed with cultural activities that highlight important aspects of Thai culture as well as service projects where your child will be helping local communities to do things like plant trees and cut grass for their elephant. Then of course there is a lot of fun fit in as well! It was so wonderful to see the local staff so excited to greet our GLA students at the airport! Their names are Mai, she is the local director, Joon, Honey, and Gai.
Today was a busy day. We started with orientation from 9-12 where students reviewed GLA safety policies and how to stay healthy and happy in Thailand. They also learned about Thai culture and language from Thai staff and participated in leadership and summer planning workshops with our mentors. It was packed!
Next we went to a nice restaurant for lunch and students were able to choose what they were brave enough to try from a buffet.
After that we all went to learn about the importance of elephants in Thai history by visiting the two main elephant temples in Chiang Mai: Wat Chiang Mun and Wat Chedi Luang. At Wat Chiang Mun Mai, our local director, taught students about the oldest temple in Chiang Mai and how to sit properly in a Buddhist temple.
We then went to Wat Chedi Luang where students learned about how to get a Buddhist blessing and we took an awesome group photo.
After that, students went inside Wat Chedi Luang and practiced how to sit in front of the image of Buddha.
Then we all went to the Thai Elephant Parade office in Chiang Mai were students learned about this important international elephant conservation project and they painted their own baby elephant. Students were super creative and came up with some truly original designs. It was awesome to watch them at work!
Kop koon ka! (Thank you!)
6/20/2015
Sawadii ka!
This is your International Director, Rowan Beraza, at the Thai Elephant Initiative again. Students will hopefully be taking over this blog starting today. The second day of our program was packed and students learned about how elephants were traditionally used in Thailand when they visited the Thai Elephant Conservation Center that was built and is maintained by the Thai royal family. Students enjoyed watching elephants show off their skills in logging, painting, and playing games. They then got up close and personal with the elephants while feeding them bananas, which are like candy for the elephants.
Next, students had lunch and met their first baby elephant. They were super excited to interact with such cuteness.
After that they met Motala, the world’s most famous elephant, and learned about how she was injured by a land mine and doctors worked to create the first prosthetic limb for an elephant for her.
Finally, students came back to the hotel and we went to a very Thai style restaurant to enjoy delicious Pad Thai. In the evening students played a getting to know you game and relaxed.
Kop koon ka! (Thank you!)
06/21/2015
Doi Suthep Temple and Huey Tung Taew Lake
Sawadii Ka! (Hello)
The day started with a yummy Thai breakfast at Imm Hotel. Following that, everybody piled into the vans and up the mountain we went to visit the historic Doi Suthep Temple. The 2-hour trip included dance parties in the backseat. After we were all blown away by the beauty of the temple, we drove to Muang Hilltribe Village and got a taste of a curry dish that was created in Chiang Mai, called Kao Soi. As we made our way down the hill towards the vans, we shopped and gazed at handmade jewelry, bags, and clothing.
After boarding the vans, we took off to the Huey Tung Taew Lake which is a reservoir in Northern Thailand. We splashed around the lake and played a few team building games as the sun sucked out our energy. Post-lake, we piled into the vans and took off to experience the craziness of the Sunday Night Walking Street Market in Chiang Mai. You could say we shopped till we dropped. It was an amazing day.
Kop koon ka! (Thank you!)
– Hannah Wagar and Josephine Holubkov
06/22/2015
Fun with Elephants!
Sawadii Ka! (Hello)
This day was absolutely amazing. We got up earlier than usual, and after our last Inn Hotel breakfast, we got into the vans for an hour and a half before arriving at Thai Elephant Home! After settling into our rooms and changing into mahout clothes, we grabbed baskets of bananas and went to go meet our elephants! We learned some simple command words, like how to get our elephants to lie down: map-long (body down). After a practice ride around the elephants’ quarters, we began our trek through the jungle. We enjoyed a lunch of Pad Thai, and then gave our elephants mud baths.
We then got back on the elephants and rode them down into the river, where we bathed them and had water fights, then were sprayed by our elephants. Before bed, we fed the elephants and said good night. It was a spectacular day and we’re all looking forward to bonding with our elephants.
Kop koon ka! (Thank you!)
– Hannah Wagar and Josephine Holubkov
06/23/2015
Community Tree Planting, team building & fun with elephants by Hailey & Morgan Photography by Jamie
Our day started early, promptly at 5:45 am, when we woke up to feed our elephants. After breakfast, we went to a tree planting ceremony in the village! Even though it was really hot, it was a lot of fun. We had the opportunity to meet the people living in and around the village, including the head of the agriculture department in all of Thailand! After hearing his speech and taking a few photos, we walked a bit until we found the perfect spot to plant our little trees. While we were planting our trees we had the opportunity to meet 7th graders from the local school. They were very cute, funny, and nice. After that we went back to home base to get ready to wash the elephants in the river (a daily activity for us, no big deal). While most of us went to the river, four from the group had the chance to cook a Thai dinner for us. Morgan, one of the chefs from dinner stated, “It was really interesting to learn about the preparation of our dinner. The kitchen was very different which made the experience more fascinating”.
At the river the students and the elephants jumped into the water, excited for another day in the river. The students were sprayed by the elephants and the elephants were splashed by students. All in all, it was a busy yet fantastic day.
6/25/2015
Thai Elephant Initiative: Session 1 Home Base and Daily Routine 06/25/2015 by Rowan Beraza (International Director)
Sawadii Ka! (Hello)
I hope you are all doing well! The students have been playing and working hard in the rain these past couple of days. As soon as we have some free time our student bloggers will be back but until then I wanted to inform you about our Home Base in the jungle. The staff at Thai Elephant Home have been kind enough to build new accommodations for us and students enjoyed making prayer flags their first day to set their goals for the trip and beautify the community space.
The space is great for mentor groups and presentations.
Every day students wake up at 5:45am to clean up their elephant’s space.
Then after community activities they either get up on or walk alongside their elephants to go down to the river where they bathe and play with them.
The real fun of the program is playing in the water with their elephants each evening.
Then after dinner they get their headlamps and head down to feed their elephant.
Kop koon ka! (Thank you!)
6/26-28/2015
Sawadii Ka! (Hello)
Day 8:
This morning everyone woke up to a heavy rainfall. For breakfast this morning one of our Thai staff members, Honey, who is responsible for the food, set out yogurt and peanut butter. It was a little taste of home. The GLA family was split into two groups based on their mentor groups. Team Ash went to the school while team Chelsey went to an elephant nursery. The team rode to the nursery in the back of a pickup truck, but don’t worry parents there were seats in the truck. When we first arrived at the nursery we met the two moms and their two babies. Both babies are six months old, their names were Dumbo and Aomgord. [It just started down pouring as I’m writing this.]
After the introduction to the elephants we started planting rice for the elephants. Chelsea’s group was cool and sang songs during our work. For lunch we had fried rice wrapped in banana leaves and played with the dogs and the baby kittens. When lunch ended the group went back to the elephants and gave them a mud bath. Me (Claire) and four other girls got in the mud pit with them and got in a mud fight. The babies were so cute, they needed help getting out of the mud pit.
We then took the elephants down to river and washed them off. In the river I (Claire) was playing in the water when Isabel looked me and started freaking out. I had a spider the size of a quarter on my forehead. I started freaking out and everyone got out of the water. It had rained so much that day that when we started to drive back everyone had to get out of the pickup trucks and walk until we got to the back to the normal road. When we were allowed to get back in the truck me (Mary) and 7 other girls sang songs as loud as we could the entire way home. We were probably really annoying, but it was a blast! All of us even made up a GLA cheer! When we arrived back at the home base Team Chelsea was soaking wet from the rain and the river so we stayed in our mahout clothing until it was time for us to bathe the elephants.
-by Claire and Mary
Day 9:
Team Chelsey went to the village school and Team Ash went to the elephant nursery. At first we had planned out lesson plans, but once we arrived we realized that we had to improvise. For the first hour our group of 12 split into two groups of 6. One group stayed with grade 1 kids and they taught the children songs and animals. The other group of 6 went into a big classroom and talked to a group of 15 and 16 year olds. With the 15 and 16 year olds we working on helping the Thai students hold conversations with us. We also taught them some games like Tic Tac Toe and Rock Paper Scissors. For the second hour, the first group of 6 came and joined the other group of 6 and they talked with the 15 and 16 year olds too. After those two hours we went back to the home base and had lunch. Then we went back to the school and talked to a group of mostly 14 year olds. We thought we were going to watch some sort of show at the Thai school, but we ended up watching a ceremony where the kids received money and art supplies for winning an art competition. It was really interesting to see how the school was different in Thailand compared to our schools in America.
For dinner we had egg in banana leaf boats and they were really cool to eat. Kop koon ka! (Thank you!)
-by Claire and Mary
Sawadii Ka! (Hello)
Day 10:
We were supposed to grass cutting today, but there were some problems with scheduling, so we decided to go on a jungle trek! We divided into two groups and walked through the trees while our Thai staff pointed out certain plants and bugs to us. We learned a lot about jungle flora and fauna then did target practice with a few slingshots. Only five kids lost their eyes! (Just kidding, we’re fine.) After some complaining, we reached a point which gave us a beautiful view of the valley and mountains. We also saw some strange cows (with humps on their backs), as well as some buffalo and a few elephants from other camps. It was a very fun and pretty easy hike, and I’m sure everybody enjoyed it at some level.
Day 11:
This day we went to cut grass for the elephants. We had to wear long sleeves and long pants so the grass wouldn’t cut us up, so of course this is the day the sun came out. We had to walk to the grass site for about half an hour, then we took a small break and tried to stop sweating while we rehydrated. We then received our machetes and started cutting the grass. Within two minutes, one of our team members had cut herself accidentally on the knee and was taken to the clinic, where she received two stitches (without anesthesia, because she is brave). She is doing well now and is currently riding her elephant through the mountains. Meanwhile, the other students cut grass and bundled it up so the mahouts could load it into their truck. Although it was an extremely hot day, grass cutting was a popular activity and it also allowed us to see what our mahouts do for their elephants every day.
Following this theme, we had an ice cream party with our mahouts and presented them with gifts we had previously purchased from Chiang Mai. We really wished we had brought our mahouts something from America to remember us by because they do not have a lot. It was amazing to see how happy they were to be with us and how much they appreciated our gifts.
This morning (Day 12) our Thai staff and some students surprised us with delicious pancakes!!! Most students are currently whitewater rafting. I’m blogging and hanging out with Rowan because I’m not feeling well. Tonight we are having our farewell dinner, which will mark our last night at Thai Elephant Home.
Kop koon ka! (Thank you!)
Village Tour – Flashback Blog
Sawadii Ka! (Hello)
The students have been very busy and the internet has not been available due to large rain storms, so this is your friendly International Director Rowan again! On day 7 of our program, students went on a village tour where they visited a local market and tried some Thai snacks. We then visited the local clinic where the doctor told students about traditional Thai medicine techniques. Students then had an opportunity to try out Thai therapies such as massage and cupping. At the end, the doctors and masseuses wanted to take a group photo with us.
Kop koon ka! (Thank you!)
Sawadii Ka! (Hello)
Day 10: We were supposed to grass cutting today, but rain was suspected which would have increased the safety risk, so we decided to go on a jungle trek! We divided into two groups and walked through the trees while our Thai staff pointed out certain plants and bugs to us. We learned a lot about jungle flora and fauna then did target practice with a few slingshots. Only five kids lost their eyes! (Just kidding, we’re fine.) After some complaining, we reached a point which gave us a beautiful view of the valley and mountains. We also saw some strange cows (with humps on their backs), as well as some buffalo and a few elephants from other camps. It was a very fun and pretty easy hike, and I’m sure everybody enjoyed it at some level.
Day 11: This day we went to cut grass for the elephants. We had to wear long sleeves and long pants so the grass wouldn’t cut us up, so of course this is the day the sun came out. We had to walk to the grass site for about half an hour, then we took a small break and tried to stop sweating while we rehydrated. We then received our machetes and started cutting the grass. Within two minutes, one of our team members had cut herself accidentally on the knee and was taken to the clinic, where she received two stitches. She is doing well now and is currently riding her elephant through the mountains. Meanwhile, the other students cut grass and bundled it up so the mahouts could load it into their truck. Although it was an extremely hot day, grass cutting was a popular activity and it also allowed us to see what our mahouts do for their elephants every day.
Following this theme, we had an ice cream party with our mahouts and presented them with gifts we had previously purchased from Chiang Mai. We really wished we had brought our mahouts something from America to remember us by because they do not have a lot. It was amazing to see how happy they were to be with us and how much they appreciated our gifts.
This morning (Day 12) our Thai staff and some students surprised us with delicious pancakes!!!
Most students are currently whitewater rafting. I’m blogging and hanging out with Rowan because I’m not feeling well. Tonight we are having our farewell dinner, which will mark our last night at Thai Elephant Home.
Kop koon ka! (Thank you!)
7/1/2015
All students for Thai Elephant Village Initiative session 1 have safely left Chiang Mai! Woohoo!!! Such a great bunch. We’re going to miss them!
Rowan
