BABY ELEPHANTS NEVER FORGET

In late 2001, we lived in Concord, Massachusetts. In the shadow of the recent destruction from what has become known as September 11th, we had been planning a major trip with our two children, aged 13 and 8 at the time. We took our two children out of school, and began a circumnavigation of the Earth, as a way to do two things: One, was to reassure them that the larger world was a place to be discovered, and secondly, despite rising terrorism we needed a way to engage the next generation to know that the world was not to be feared or scorned.

18 countries and 70,000 miles later we were a bit weary of traveling, but a tighter family unit, and the comfort of learning about new places was firmly implanted.

While on trek in Northern Thailand, we met a remarkable woman Lek, who was helping to resuscitate the ELEPHANT population. The Elephant had long been a symbol of her country, so her efforts were based on conservation, the way Dr. Jane Goodall did with the apes. There we also met KINGMAI, an orphaned baby elephant. He was orphaned because a mahoot, a traditional elephant handler, had cruelly blinded the calf’s mother forcing KINGMAI to run away. Ultimately the calf would get wedged in between two trees until Lek rescued him and brought him to her sanctuary where she and others nursed him back to health.

BABY ELEPHANTS NEVER FORGET reflects that experience and the importance of direct kindness and empathy for the animal world.

From My 2002 sketchbook in Thailand