Nepal and Thailand April 2010
Nepal and Elephant Nature Park Thailand April 2010
I am more committed than ever to trying to make people understand that the beautiful things that World Women Work sells often come from the most chaotic places in the world. One such being , Nepal. I have just spent 4 days there and it is hard to describe what was once such an idyllic place is today so polluted, overwhelmed with cars, buses, motorcycles all spewing forth horrible fumes and too many people whose garbage is everywhere with a few sacred cows mixed in. The magnificent pashmina sweaters and shawls that I buy are made by untouchables. The creator of them is deeply involved in human rights. The constitution is being written and who knows what is going to happen. But out of this come magnificent things for World Women Work which have been created by the hands of women and men who are empowered because you buy them. I had lunch with the girls from Dolpo who I met 4 years ago two of whom are recipients of WWW scholarships and are now studying in Kathmandu.
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And then the abused elephants at The Elephant Nature Park tell their own stories of horror at the hands of men. One weeps looking into the eyes of another being that is so ancient, magnificent and full of wisdom. Bua Loi with the broken back leg rescued a year and a half ago is thriving with her new friend. I hope that she has forgotten the tortuous years of logging, forced breeding and begging on the streets of Bangkok. Lanna, another World Women Work rescue, is the constant companion of Medo, whose pelvis was broken by forced breeding. Today they walk unchained probably for the first time in their lives under the constant watchful eyes of their mahouts being elephants. The last night in Chiang Mai after dinner a begging elephant walks the street by the restaurant among buses, cars and motorbikes in a stew of pollution..
