Trailblazer Foundation

This is Ratanak, pictured with school children in Siem Reap

After multiple trips to Cambodia, founders Chris and Scott Coats decided to move to Siem Reap, Cambodia to dedicate their lives to improving the water quality for local Cambodians. They began Trailblazer Foundation (TF) after seeing that some basic needs were not being met, such as clean water. Their first project was the building of a school but quickly shifted their focus to well digging and water filter installations once they saw they could serve more this way. Now they do branch out to things such as appropriate agriculture projects and micro financing, but it all started with water.  Weekly, they are still installing up to 14 filters in one of the 3 provinces in they work in Cambodia. 

The onsite staff for TF is made up of 12 Cambodians and 1 American. Although the foundations members of TF are all American, they have been intentional of hiring local staff to run their Angkor location. This way they can continue to reach rural communities through local Cambodians who know the culture and NGO landscape. 

Ratanak has been working for Trailblazer for 5 years as the field manager. Here is oversees the many projects that TF Angkor take on. He is responsible for the over 200 volunteers that come to TF to help assemble the water filters for as short as just a day or as long as multiple months. They rely on this volunteer support to ensure enough water filters can go out to the many villages they serve. Ratanak says that he not only enjoyed the work but the compensation allows him to provide for his family. Ratanak along with the other employees at TF Angkor have dedicated individuals that are trying to answer the needs of their community and continually giving back. 

Started by an American couple, TF’s on the ground crew is solely made of Cambodians. They are a passionate group of young people that feel empowered to work with local communities on the group to make their daily lives better. With guidance from their founders, Ratanak, and his crew have autonomy to manage their projects in ways that are fit for the community. With the high intake of volunteers and interns, they also create a space for voluntourism to thrive. The volunteers work for both the benefit of themselves as they experience a new country and also the communities that receive TF’s services. 

Elephant Nature Park

This is Ten

The Elephant Nature Park (ENP) was established in the 1990s to house elephants saved from the tourist or circus industry in Thailand. Located in the north of the country, ENP provides space for the elephants to wander, interact and explore their surroundings without being forced to perform. Co-founded by Lek Chailert, a Thai woman, who has been working in elephant conservation since 1996. 

ENP now also has become a home for other animals including hundreds of start cats and dogs, and a herd of water buffalo. They invite volunteers to come out to ENP for day trips or long-term volunteer opportunities. These volunteers get to work with elephants in multiple capacities and learn about how to care for them and some of their dark pasts. Elephants come to ENP in many ways. Most of the time it required ENP to purchase the elephant for between $2,000 - $10,000 USD from private owners. Many times these elephants have worked for local circuses, have been used to ride by thousands of tourists, used in the illegal logging industry and/or been used in local urban spaces to solicit donations. Sometimes these elephants are injured with broken legs, backs or have been victims of landmines. 

Once ENP receives an elephant, they are medically cared for and then they are given (or sometimes choose) a mahout. Mahouts are people or are paired with elephants. Many times these elephants have grown up with humans and feel very “at home” hear humans. It is important to ENP to keep their level of comfort and security high, therefore having a mahout is necessary for each elephant. This is often a lifelong bond, but maybe the first human bond that the elephant has had that doesn't include abuse. it is clear that each mahout cared deeply about their elephant, and I like to think the elephant feels the same way-way.

Ten was a tour guide for the park. He has been working at the park for almost 5 years and enjoys teaching visitors about the elephants. He is very knowledgeable about the history of elephant abuse in the country and believes strongly in ENPs mission. He explained that most of their funding comes from tourism. Visitors pay to visit the park and get to do things like pet, feed and bathe the elephants. These gentle giants look very comfortable around people but are not put through the physical strain of carrying them or performing for them. 

ENP is a wonderful story of local citizens identifying a wrong within their culture and trying to change by setting an example. Ten said that since ENP opened, other elephant tourist attractions have copied their model by not allowing tourists to ride the elephants and increasing the educational components of their programs. Hopefully, this continues to trickle through the rest of the country and one day Thailand can be free of elephant cruelty.