Samarpan and I

Volunteering Program: Elephant Care
Volunteering Date and Duration: 02 Nov 2009 - 23 Nov 2009

There are so many wonderful things that I have been able to experience through the tireless effort of Samarpan + Rupa. I am honored to work as an elephant care taker. The whole experience was so surreal. Where should I start? First off Sakir is one, if not the, best elephant driver (Mahout) in the world. This patience, willingness to learn, sense of humor, love + compassion are second to none. He made my time here as easy as possible. On numerous occasions people at elephant bath have mentioned to me how they were drawn to him and the way he treat his elephant with extreme care. Sakir's little brother who works with Sakir brought a smile to my face every time I saw him. I will never forget the phrase "You tight koochie good" that hyderat hydroas I called him would say to me while I was preparing elephant food. Koochie after the initial shock of working with an elephant or better yet the awe of working side by side w/ an elephant faded I much appreciated the life of being w/ the mahouts the relationships built amongst the tight knit fraternity of mahouts was very special to me mornings around the time or enjoying tea + biscuits with them very powerful experiences. The real life of a mahout the staff or now family + friends of Chitwan park cottage made my stay extremely pleasant always looking after me making sure all was okay. They truly are a great bunch I now consider Santosh a dear friend. Recognizing familiar faces as the time went on. It was not uncommon to be invited to a new place for tea everyday. The people here are so welcoming + love to have conversation.

The most memorable experience for me has been the way I have been able to witness the world reveal herself to me day after day working up in the morning @ 4 enables you to see magnificent stars, the sunrise, the moonset, watching the mist disappear as the minuets go by throughout the day the temp rises to a comfortable level with clear day bringing amazing views of the Himalayas in the distance sunsets are breathtaking and are ever the same. One of my favorite things to do would be to flocet down the Rapti River during sunset hoping a crocodile would not eat me! :) From there seeing the sunset with all it brilliant colors red purple orange blue to the moon rising with complete darkness surrounding you. It’s unbelievable! Next has got to go to Sundarkali. I will miss her terribly. The nicest most beautiful, may be the slowest elephant ever, but I love her. I will think about her offer as she really was the reason I come here. There could not be a better duo than sundar kali + sakir. They will always have a special place in my heart. Finally a quick word on Samarpan. If you wanted a place where there is an intimate feel, a place where you are helping a fabulous volunteer organization get off the ground and overall one of a kind I ill never forget this kind of place this is it! rupa has put something very special together here in the Terai of Nepal. For those who read this feel honored be prepared for unparallel hospitality and most of all take it all in! It’s wonderful opportunity ahead of you thanks to rupa!

Blake Perez
Volunteer, Student
USA



My moments with Samarpan Nepal
The best week of my life

Volunteering Program: Elephant Care
Volunteering Date and Duration: 23 May 2009 - 01 June 2009

I also worked with the elephants at the same time as Hellen. Firstly thanks to gita & rupa. They took us into their homes when we were exhausted after 2 days of traveling and hellen was sick and were so hospitable kind and thoughtful. They made us feel us so happy and relaxed in their names.

Volunteering Program: Elephant Care
Voluntering Date and Duration: 23 May 2009 - 01 June 2009

Louisa and I were scared about the elephants, to be honest. In India we had visited elephants who were housed in a small enclosure and were anxious, trumpeting and seemed to have behavioural issues. It was a horrible experience and made us wonder whether we should continue with our plans to come to Samarpan Nepal.

I’m so glad we did! As soon as we met our Mahout, a fifteen year old boy (although he will insist he’s twenty!), Arjay he introduced us to Sunder Kali and then he pointed to Moti and said, “Danger elephant... No go”. It made us feel confident and safe under his instruction. He obviously respected us and the elephants enough to take our involvement with them seriously. It was also good to know that we would be assigned to just one elephant (the sweetest elephant in the world!). This definitely took some of the fear out of it for us.

On our first day we were thrown right into the kuchi-making lessons. The lessons did not stop all week! Everyone showed us a slightly different technique to roll the elephant food and everyone laughed when we struggled. Bt it was a lot of fun and pretty soon we were the kuchi masters. We sat on the straw practically right under Sunder Kali and Ive never felt happier. She would hold her trunk out to us when she was ready for more kuchi and would give us a little snort in our ear if we lost concentration on her food! So cute! My favourite moments were when Arjay would walk away and as soon as he turned his back her little trunk would pop out and steal the raw rice right from under our legs! She so knew we weren’t as strict as the mahouts! Another time I looked up at her and she was staring into my eyes while her trunk was undoing the rope around her leg, she stepped out and just started wandering off! So funny!

She also developed a signal to me when she was thirsty so I would go to the well and pump water for her to drink most afternoons. The work itself was very physical (which was great because it made us feel fit and healthy); thrashing the straw to remove the dust, rolling the kuchi, carting massive piles of straw around the yard (thankfully we were not on elephant poo duty! Thank you thank you!), cleaning the elephant house, putting on and off the safari equipment, riding them and, of course, the elephant washing... my absolute favourite part of the day!!

Every morning after the morning safari we would ride Sunder Kali and Moti Kali to the river. We felt confident with our Mahouts, they taught us how to stay on, how to direct the elephants and were always close at hand to keep us safe. After a few days we were allowed to ‘drive ‘ them by ourselves and it was amazing! The elephants loved bath-time. You could really tell. On our first day we just didn’t know what to expect... we soon found out... absolutely saturated but loving every moment! We would ride sunder Kali right into the river where she would spray us with the river water over and over. Then Arjay would ask her to wobble from side to side and we tried desperately to stay on but eventually we wold get tipped right off into the water (the boys assured us before hand that it was leech and croc-free... phew!) Then over and over we would climb back on her where the boys would push us off again or make us dive. We really just played and played for about 2 hours every morning! I LOVED it. Sunder Kali always seemed conscious of our presence so we felt safe with her in the water and the mahouts were very good about guiding us to safe locations when there were other elephants close. It was also the perfect place to practice getting up on the elephants (it’s a lot easier falling off in the water!) so we learnt to climb up her trunk (by holding her ears) and standing up on her back. During this time there were often other tourists watching from the cafe on the river bank so we were lucky enough to have plenty of people able to take photos for us. Most days we would return the favour, which everyone seemed to appreciate. I think our presence at the river encouraged a lot of tourists to try the elephant washing because we were just having so much fun! It was also nice to be able to help contribute to our mahouts finances in some small way. After playing Arjay would ask sunder Kali to lie down in the water and we would give her an all-over massage using beach stones. Her little trunk would just poke out of the water and she would make little grumbly noises in her throat while we scrubbed away all the dust, chalk and mud from the safaris. She seemed so happy and didn’t appear to mind at all that we were climbing all over her!

Next we would climb back on her in the water, she would stand up and walk up the bank. The mahouts would patiently collect our belongings and then we would ‘drive’ home. After just a few days all the locals would come out, watch us go past and yell out “Mahoutini! Mahoutini!”. It was so cool! I think if I could, I would be a Mahoutini forever.

When we got back home we would feed Sunder Kali the kuchi we had been rolling all morning and paint her trunk and ears for her afternoon safari. She really was a beautiful girl! She would even stay still for the painting and photos! So clever. After that we would have our afternoon break, shower, change clothes (so so many times), eat lunch and then usually wander through the town. I was amazed by Sauraha. The people were so friendly and knowledgeable. It was a beautiful thing to be involved in a community that was so environmentally conscious and actively trying to promote local products and skills. We met bee-keepers, flower growers, recyclers, environmental lecturers... and just some really nice people. We were also thrilled to find out that we had time to explore other aspects of town during our lunchbreaks. One day we hired bikes and went on a lovely ride through villages to the Elephant Breeding Centre. Babies babies babies!! We even saw twins and a new baby that was just 10 days old. What a treat! The best thing about them was that they didn’t stray far from their mummies so they were just allowed to roam free. There were a couple that seemed to just love chasing the tourists for fun... so cute. We had forgotten that elephants can be scary after working with Sunder Kali so closely and it was funny watching everyone feak out and run away. Again, it was so fantastic to see the elphants looking happy and healthy... there was none of the aggression or anxiety we had seen previously in other places.

Another highlight of our time there was the safari. We asked if we could go with Arjay and Sunder Kali on a morning safari and it was one of the best things Ive ever done. The animals just weren’t scared of us because we were on an elephant so we really got to see them in their natural environment. We saw monkeys, wild boars and pig babies, many types of deer, some crazy birds, and best yet 9 rhinos! (Apparently this is very good luck!) No tigers, which was ok with us because apparently tigers eat elephants here. There were however, reports of a bear sighting that morning. Cool. Anyway, Arjay was a brilliant guide and Sunder Kali would give a little growl in her throat when she knew something was close. What a team! She would even move branches out of the way if they posed a threat to us. It was 2 hours of awesomeness and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Although the elephants were incredible, our volunteering time was also brilliant because of the people. Ajay and Mobara were so delightful. I was amazed by them every day... they were just two little boys and yet so knowledgeable, so friendly, so careful, and so much fun! It’s inspiring what can be communicated with very little language... their communication with us was clearer than most people who speak English! Hapejun was also amazing. Somehow he managed to be everywhere at all times - I felt happy and comforted in his presence and we noticed he was always watching that we were safe. The other mahouts and locals were so welcoming and interested in what we were doing that we soon made many friends. So many photos! It was like we had lived there for years!

Saying goodbye was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. The boys were amazing and accepted our small gifts with honest and surprised faces. It was so nice not to be treated like a dollar sign (as had unfortunately been the case in a lot of other parts of Asia). Sunder Kali reached out to each one of us to say goodbye. If I could have I would have stolen the boys on Sunder Kali and ‘driven’ off into the Sauraha sunset for ever and ever.

Samarpan Nepal I can never thank you enough but thank you thank you thank you thank you!

Helen King (Mahoutini)
Volunteer, Entrepreneur, Hospitality Advisor
New Zealand


Samarpan Nepal & I
A Flourishing Beauty

Volunteering Program: Elephant Care
Volunteering Date and Duration: 2 Dec 2008 - 29 Dec 2008

As I stepped out of the airport main building and into the car park I vividly remembered stories of a terrible taxi ride and warnings from others not to hop into the wrong cab! After many no’s’ & lag my eyes on an A4 piece of paper which symbolized my ……… a Samarpan member was waiting for me.

After a 5hr bus ride I had arrived in Bhararpur, Chitwan district. I was finally with my host family & in a beautiful, yet completely unknown-to-me country. As much as I had enjoyed my first several hours in Nepal, I was completely unaware of the amazing experience to come.

Bones protrude through mangey skin & fur. A malnourished dog. An elderly man waddles down the street, side to side he sways; hands behind his back. His cap floats gently aloft his silver hair. A car flies by. A car plies by. Horrs sound. The dong is nearly saved from it’s hunger. Suddenly the old man’s world is plunged into the darkness. The pore is cut. As the sense of vision is lost, smell & hearing flourish. A local daal-bhat & curry smell floats on the air. The sound of children’s feet pitter-pattering as they return from the fields fills the ears: This is Nepal. Beautiful. Amazing. Inevitably astonishing.

My experiences within Nepal and Samarpan Nepal have indeed been astonishing. Working with elephants not only let me learn about animal welfare; it opened my eyes to offer things. The way workers are treated, the way locals welcome you to their village with delicious ‘chiya’ & invite you to their homes. The way children’s mouth drop open & eyes wide like they’ve just t..ded electricity (when they see you). It also showed me the way some people care for others, especially Aps & Rupa. The world needs more Pandey’s! And of course the experience was insightful to oneself. Most importantly I have enjoyed giving to the community, people, environment, and every other aspect & object without regret, without hesitation.

I have so many memories it would be impossible to describe all. So I shall give a synopsis of the wonderful opportunities I’ve had through Samarpan Nepal.

Falling in love with my host family & daal-bhat.
Seeing Rupa’s face, both happy & appreciative when she first saw my face as I for the first time in my life saw elephants.
Numerous meals at different village houses.
Bis Hajar Tal (twenty thousand lake) visits & seeing monkeys!
Making food, feeding, cleaning & washing & everything to do with our elephant Sundar Kali! THE most beautiful elephant in Asia!
Hiring a motorbike & driving to Lumbini, after not having ridden for 7 years & crashing the last time (no license). Great roads, amazing temples! + freedom!
Eating fish with Danni & Nikky at a recommended village home.
Elephant polo, racing & soccer! Nuts I tell ya!
Riding a rick-shaw through a village & being encouraged by everyone! ‘Good work’ they’d say. Then getting help from kids to fill 2 hessian bags with soil & returning to fill & fix the urine & faces filled hole in Sundar Kali’s stable.
& many more brilliant memories!

Thank you!!!

I forgot – giving the 2 other Mahutes presents. A radio clock to Ajay (15 yrs) & Guide uniform to Sakir. Ajay didn’t know what to do with the wrapped gift. They thought it may have been food! Sad, but I will never forget these people.
Picnic with the kids! Elephant dancing!

To my Samarpan Nepal family. Thank you, good luck with your efforts!
To future Samarpan Nepal family, make the most of this opportunity!

My love & peace.

Brian Ross
Volunteer, Student, Child Sponsor
Queensland, Australia