October 2017 Chiang Mai Monthly Achievement Report: Summer School and

Halloween Fundraiser

Objectives:
To increase and promote ethical elephant tourism
To support a stable herd of elephants living naturally in the forested area of the vil-
lage.
To improve standards of living and job opportunities for the people of Huay Pakoot
To create a viable, self-sustaining eco-tourism programme for the village.

The children in Huay Pakoot had 3 weeks off school so our community intern Jess, put
together a jam-packed summer school programme for them. This programme included a scavenger
hunt all around the village which involved the children building puzzles to pass onto the next
checkpoint! It was challenging but both children and volunteers had a lot of fun with it. Then there
was a science day where the children tested their creativity skills to build rockets out of arts and
crafts materials. They raced to build the best structure and parachute to drop their egg over the edge
of base in the hopes that their egg did not break. They also made their own playdough and played
with volcanoes made with baking soda. We then did a world cultures day where we had activities
and food made from each country that our volunteers were from. We played music from artists from
each place and enjoyed activities like the Mexican Pinata, American deep-fried oreos, British musical
bumps and Jamaican limbo. That same evening, we all cooked huge portions of spaghetti bolognese,
tomato sauce, home-made meatballs and french fries. It was a hit and the children needed it after
the full on activities they had been doing all day. There were many other activities throughout the
weeks including a sports/athletics day and a nature arts and crafts day.

This month our interns also planned a Halloween fundraiser aptly named the Horror Hike. Staff,
interns, volunteers and mahouts all got involved and the screams were definitely heard across the
village! The walk began with interns leading volunteers through a pumpkin field with the task of
finding 3 pumpkins to take back to base. Fortunately, they were guided by the light of the full moon
but this didn't stop them from being scared by the staff hidden amongst the pumpkin plants. The
village dogs also played a completely unintentional role but their running about the field making
noises added to the level of suspense and heightened tension. The next part involved walking down
a path where the mahouts were hidden and waiting to jump out and scare the volunteers. A Mahout
(elephant carer), Lek had his face painted like the Joker, Mahout Atit the face of a creepy clown and
Mahout Patti Syee the face of Jigsaw from the Saw movies. Mahouts Wynn and Duh Lur had painted
masks and were sneaking around the groups to scare them from behind. In total, our interns raised
1,500 baht for the GVI Trust going towards keeping our elephants Khum Suk, Sah Jah and Lulu here in
the forests of Huay Pakoot where they belong and their mahouts living with their families in the
village.

GVI.2017.1 Written By Internship Coordinator Freya Macintyre