What do kindergarteners, strawberries, coffee and elephants have in common? More than you could ever imagine.
Back in October of 2018 I spent a week in the jungles of the northern province of Chiang Mai Thailand with Elephant Nature Parks “Journey to Freedom” program for the second time . The program strives to reintroduce elephants that have been forced to work back into their natural habitat of the jungle. It takes place about 3 hours out of Chiang Mai city near the village of a local Karen Hill Tribe. We slept in bamboo huts, ate traditional Thai meals, and hung out with 6 beautiful elephants.
During this program volunteers trek through the jungle to find a herd of 6 elephants; Mae Yui, Mae Boi (mother and daughter); Mae Boonsi and Gili (mother and daughter); Mae Boonjan, and Arawan (the only male). They spend time with the elephants learning about what the eat, how much they eat, and how they interact with each other and their environment. Volunteers also help cut grass that is high in protein for the elephants, as well as interact with kindergarteners of a local Hmong tribe.
Mae Boi, 6 years old
However, that is not what this post is about. It is about much, much more. (If you want more info on this topic, please check out my post Ride Bikes, Not Elephants).
Our guide for the week, Yo, is a member of the local Karen people (a minority hill tribe located in several countries around Southeast Asia, including where we were located). He studied law, and previously worked in the Thai government as a liaison between Karen Hill Tribes and government projects. However, Yo’s knowledge stems from something much greater. He comes from an elephant owning family, and has been around them his whole life. While we would like to believe that before tourism boomed elephants were just minding their own business in the jungle, the truth is that they have been used for work by locals for many generations.
Jaycie, Myself, and our guides Yo and Joe
Our group for the week was only 3 people: a 16 year old boy from China named David, my best friend Jaycie, and myself. This made for an extremely intimate and exclusive experience (especially since David had 0% interest in the program and opted out of a lot of the activities).
One of our mornings was spent with children at a local kindergarten playing games and practicing English with them before serving them lunch (which is paid for by volunteers). The children of the kindergarten are those of the farmers that work near the Journey to Freedom land. Yo explained that it’s important to have a good relationship with the farmers because they have the power to clear cut trees for more farmland. In exchange for visiting, playing with, and providing two lunches a week for their children, the farmers have agreed to grow coffee instead of strawberries.
Why does this matter?
Strawberries require a lot of sunshine to grow, so all trees in the area must be cut down for them to grow successfully
Strawberries are not native to Thailand, so in addition to clear cutting forests, they also require a lot of pesticides to grow. This not only pollutes the strawberries themselves, but the land and rivers around them
Coffee grows underneath big trees, so no clear cutting is required
Coffee grows naturally in Thailand's climate, so no pesticides are required
Coffee is a low maintenance crop with a high yield (it can produce a lot of in a short amount of time). Not to mention coffee has one of the highest markups in the world, which means the farmer can sell it for much more than he could strawberries
And the best part? Elephants don’t like coffee plants, so the farmers don’t have to worry about their crop being destroyed
One of the most enriching days however was our last day in the jungle. Once again, David opted out, so it was just Yo, Jaycie and myself. Situated in the mountains of Chiang Mai, we drove up a windy road lined with lush green trees into Doi Inthanon National Park. I had visited this place 2 years ago, but what I learned from this trip with Yo exceeded anything I could have imagined.
As we drove, Yo pointed out several different farms that were growing flowers. He explained to us that these flowers were not native to this area and required pesticides to grow. Not only this, but in order to grow the flowers quicker, farmers installed lights to be turned on at night so the flowers have 24/7 sunshine. He explained that the government was complaining that there wasn't enough energy, yet they were allowing the complete unnecessary expenditure of energy in a national park. Seems a bit fishy right? Turns out you can get away with almost anything if you have the money for it. We stopped at one of the farms to examine the situation a little bit closer. Some of the workers were cutting and packaging flowers and they gave one to Yo and he handed it to us to smell. Nothing. The pesticides had destroyed the flowers scent, and left it with white spots on the stem and leaves.
Flowers growing with 24 hour "sunlight"
Pesticide spots on flowers grown in flower tents
As we continued our journey through Doi Inthanon, we visited several different waterfalls. The first was close to the top of the mountain, located high above any of the farms. The water here was so cool and clear, it looked as if we could have taken a drink right from the pool. The next waterfall was located a bit farther down the mountain. As we hiked down to it, we noticed several flowers beds lining our path. We stopped for a moment and observed the lightbulbs lining the canvases for the flowers. As we continued walking, we began to hear the blaring roar of the water. As we approached we noticed a trickle of water streaming from the flower farm towards the waterfall. Runoff from the afternoons rain was draining pesticides into the waterfall below. Yo explained that 30 years ago there were thousands of fish in this particular area. And today? None. We approached the waterfall, and don’t get me wrong it was beautiful, but the water compared to the previous one was significantly darker, and there was an abundance of trash strung along the banks.
We emerged from the lush of the jungle and continued walking through fields of strawberries and flowers. The view beyond the strawberry fields was beautiful, but I was having a hard time enjoying it. The information from the day was beginning to weigh on me.
Clear cut area full of strawberries
Strawberry plant with blue pesticide spots
When we finally approached a sea of rice fields a sense of relief came over me. Rice is native to Thailand and grows abundantly during the rainy season. Knowing that I was looking at a crop that was natural and clean after seeing pesticide spots on strawberry leaves just moments before gave me a feeling of relief? Hope? I can’t put my finger on it. I didn't know how heavy this day would weigh on me when we left that morning. I was told we were going to see flowers in the jungle. That sounds like a beautiful day, right?
We continued walking and on our left, high above the the beautiful rice fields, were coffee trees. More relief. We made our way up to another Karen Hill Tribe where we stopped for a pot of fresh coffee and damn, it was good. I think the fact that we knew where it came from, how it was grown, and the fact that it was a pure crop made it taste even better. If you ever visit Elephant Nature Park, this is the coffee they sell. Local, clean, and delicious.
Feeling a bit exhausted from the long walk and the intensity of what we had learned, Jaycie and I were ready to call it a day, but Yo had other plans. He had one more waterfall for us. We drove for about 15 minutes down the mountain until we pulled into the parking lot of our final destination. It looked very familiar. I had been here before, 2 years ago. I came here on a tour, climbed a rock and got a really beautiful photo. This time however, I didn’t even pull out my camera. As we walked down the slippery steps to the bottom pool of the fall, I looked at the water and was disgusted by what I saw. Having collected pesticides from high on the mountain as it flowed down to this point, the water was pure brown. It screamed pollution. Pollution so bad that there were numerous no swimming signs warning people of the danger, and again, more rubbish had collected along the banks.
The drive back to camp was quiet. I was sitting in the back of the truck, making a billion notes about the day for this post, the weight of the day sitting heavy on my shoulders. I asked Yo what I could do to help and he told me the best thing I could do is to spread awareness. I thought about the day and everything I had learned as I stared out the window, the pink clouds sinking below the mountain tops. It was in that moment that everything I had learned from the week clicked together. To save the elephants, we have to save their environment. In order to save their environment, we have to stop destroying it for crops that require poison to survive. In order to convince farmers to do this, we have to build a relationship with them and their families. I knew there was a bigger picture, and I could finally see it.
It can be difficult to know what you as one person can do to help when the problem seems so daunting. Can you help the elephants in Thailand if you’re on the other side of the world? Maybe not directly, but if there’s one thing I learned from this week it’s that one person can make a big difference simply just by knowing what their buying. It’s no secret that there’s a lot of unnerving shit going on these days, but whatever it may be that you’re passionate about (cleaning the oceans, going plastic free, reducing your carbon footprint, helping a species to thrive), just know that your small actions make a big difference.
Maybe this isn’t something that has ever crossed your mind as a concern. Maybe this is the first time you’ve ever really thought about it as an issue or even thought about it at all. Regardless of if you’re not sure where to start, or have been practicing these ideas for years, it’s not hard to do your research on a product to find out of if it’s organic, GMO free, animal testing free, etc. The information is out there and it’s not hard to make small changes. It’s not hard to help save our planet. So if a man with local knowledge and huge heart tells me that the best thing I can do is spread awareness, you can bet I’m going to shout it from the rooftops (or my laptop).
I realize that not everyone has the time/ money to experience this program for themselves, but if you do, I cannot recommend it enough. The first time I did this program I walked away with a lot more knowledge about elephants in their natural habitat than I had before. This time I walked away with an understanding of the bigger picture as a whole.
Every decision we make has an impact. Make sure it's a positive one.
So what to kindergarteners, strawberries, coffee and elephants have in common? Now you know.
Caylie Smith
Not Your Average
Whatever is good for you soul, do that
Like what you see? Please subscribe below!
