The Not so Average Life of a Not so Average Kid: My Easter Vacation

I went on an Easter break and at my school they sadly only give one full week to enjoy yourself. My family and I headed out to Chang Mia, Thailand. On our first day there, we went to an elephant park. I think of it as dealing with elephants that have post traumatic stress disorder and for those readers that do not know what that means, it is basically when someone undergoes so much mental of emotional stress or pain, the brain shuts everything out and often gives the victim horrid nightmares, short term memory loss, or halusinations.

These elephants suffered this because of their hateful owners who do not understand how intelligent elephants are. They are full of life and awareness. Their eyes speak more than they words they could say. As I heard every story behind those few lucky elephants, my hear reached out to them. I truly felt their pain and sadness. See, they were the lucky ones because they had been rescued. A few orphans had been rescued before they had to go through the Thai ritual, the Phajaan.

This ritual occurs in an elephants life then he or she is only about a year or two old. This is the first time they are away from their mother and have no comfort from their own kind. The baby elephant is dragged into a very small cage and is beaten with sharpened stakes and poles. Then they are kept there for about three days, no food or water. The owners and towns folk come to mock, beat, and try to break the elephant's individual spirit, making it submissive and more venerable to a working environment. The owners try to instruct the elephant to place it's feet into very small and inflexible circles made out of rope. If the elephant misses or does not respond to a command, they are beaten or hit more in very sensitive areas such as the eyes, inner ears, or under the feet. Also, people can sit on the elephant's back, training it to get used to it's rider or owner. This is the first time it has had someone treat it this way and without the comfort from its mother, the elephant's brain tries to shut out the horrible experience. They become submissive and fearful of humans due to the trauma they have went through and developed as an after effect.

The Phajaan

After the Phajaan, the baby elephant is dragged through the town's main street and the people still can strike out at it if it goes the wrong way or misbehaves. This is very difficult for the elephant because all of the people are around it and a screaming and shouting, causing it extreme confusion and stress. After all this, it is reunited with it's mother, its spirit already broken.

I saw a video of the Phajaan actually taking place. My heart almost gave out at a sight like this. Through all the pain and horror, the baby elephant kept calling out, almost as though it was calling it's mother. You could really hear the pain and trauma the elephant was suffering. Many people can tell the difference between a cry of unaware pain and real terror and understanding of ones own suffering. This elephant really understood it was alone, uncared for, not understood, and helpless. It was sheer inhumanity and cruelty.

While at the park, I got to work with and assist the caretakers, one for each elephant. These are not owners of the elephant but like it's helper or voice. These young people dedicate their lives to tie a tight bond with their assigned elephant. These Thai people usually stay with the same elephant for the rest of its life. This builds a solid relationship between the two, a human and an elephant. This helps the creature start to trust humans once again. These good people help the elephants socialise with other elephants and begin to reintegrate themselves into the wild life. There are no fences, no chains, no boundaries to restrict these elephants to. Their lives are quite free. They only return because they are fed and their 'keepers' will better look after them. When I looked into the eyes of one elephant, I could really see the eternal suffering this creature went through. See, she was pregnant when she was working for a tourist company that gave rides. One day she was marched up a mountain and towards the top she gave birth. Her rider urged her forwards, not allowing her to stop to nurture the newly born elephant. Her maternal instinct went overdrive and she was torn between her instinct and her brutal owner's wrath if she did not obey. He forced her forwards and she obliged eventually after a small struggle to stay with her child. Sadly, she witnessed her child fall down the hill, dying. As any mother, one would want to mourn their loss quietly and rest but her rider forced her to keep working until the tourists were brought back the correct location. After the tourists got off and payed their money, unaware of the brutal punishment the elephant would receive, they left, quite satisfied with their encounter with an elephant. The elephant's rider marches her to the back of a line to wait for more business. When new tourists get on, the elephant refuses to move. Her rider beats and screams at her harshly but she still does not move, replaying the death of her child in her head. Her rider beats her over and over again in the eyes and inner ears until she can no longer see. Thus, not able to work. Her rider abandons her and a few days later, members of the Elephant Save Foundation find her, bringing her to a elephant sanctuary known as Elephant Heaven to the locals.

At Elephant Heaven, all of the elephants were happy and content, although some of them were still feeling sad and you could see this in their eyes. They looked at the world differently for their perception has been altered.

Today I am going to talk about the soul. The soul is a necissary part of our body. It gives emotions, a purpose in life, and our faith in a higher power. Animals have a very strong connection with their own should because they have resented their own comforts and have chose to live as their God created them. I believe this is their way to obtain eternal peace with creation and the creatures we are so close to.

I believe that the animals of this world are at one with their own souls. This gives them a lesser understanding of the world today but allows them to connect with each other and creation, therefore knowing why they were created. The animals of this world know the elements better than any living thing. They have lives by them and know their power. The animal's soul is delicate and can be crushed by humans for we have not learned this important lesson. When animals are young, they learn that life must be preserved but not everything lives forever. Life can be unfair but that is the way of the animal kingdom. Humans have always thought that since we have separated ourselves from the animal kingdom, it is a good thing, representing our superiority over the animal race. I think it is just the opposite! We need to reconnect ourselves with the creatures we call our cousins. We are all connected by on creator and one purpose, to live on and thrive, together in peace and happiness. Who wouldn't want that but instead, we have only caused the animals pain and that is why some are trying to remove that, like a young lady names Lek does with these elephants. She was the creator of the elephant park and looks after these elephants with all her hours and mind. She has rescued aggressive and timid elephants, fearful of humans from the Phajaan but she has not lashed out of shown any fear of the gentle giants. She said it was like raising a child. If they do something bad, you correct them but not is a way to hurt them. She has suffered many injuries from dealing with her live's work but this never has stopped her. In the end, even the most bad behaved elephant named Hope, an orphan, saw her good and true intensions. Now Hope is learning to behave, even though he is a young teen. This is the kind of goodness all humans need to recognise sooner or later. We all are a part of the same thing. Why should we let our animal siblings suffer for what we have done wrong?