义工体验--大象收容所,清迈,泰国My volunteer experience at BEES,(Chiang Mai)Mae Chaem, Thailand

老幺

十二月的一天，逃离北京的雾霾和寒冷，独自来到清迈。期待着于溪水山涧和大象🐘朝夕相处，收获一段不同的义工体验。

One day in December, I came by myself to Chiangmai anticipating the beautiful mountains, luscious rainforests, and interactions with elephants.

志愿者分别来自南非、葡萄牙、澳洲悉尼、美国华盛顿洲，加原籍中国的我共5人，于周一早上搭乘接应我们的小卡车，前往目的地 -- BEES。

The volunteers came from Portugal, Australia, Canada, and one from China (me!). Monday morning, a little truck came to pick us up and take us to our destination, BEES.

泰国是佛教国家，无论在城市和乡村，一路上漂亮的寺庙比比皆是，令人目不暇接。

Thailand is a Buddhist country and whether we were in the bustling city or the rural rainforests, there were gorgeous temples everywhere we looked.

来清迈接我们的Tan 是BEES 主人 Burm 的哥哥。英语有限但热情好客，途中为我们买水果呢。

The driver taking us was BEES' owner Burm's brother. Although his English was limited, his hospitality was not. Here he is buying us fresh fruit from a nearby stand.

穿过一段平坦的田园风光，就要进入山区了。

After passing through miles of flat fields, we finally entered the mountains.

大象收容所BEES 处在 Maechaem 县的山间，距离清迈有三个多小时的车程。途中要翻越海拔2500米的Inthanon （因他侬）国家公园。园区内有高山、森林、瀑布和温泉，主峰因他侬山是喜玛拉雅山的支脉，绵延自不丹、尼泊尔和缅甸，是泰国的第一高峰。

The elephant sanctuary, BEES, was located in the Maechaem district, which was more than three hours away from Chiang Mae by car. On our way to BEES, we passed by Inthanon, the summit of Thailand's tallest mountain at 2,500 ft above sea level.

途中小憩。瀑布边 Tan 取出为我们准备好的午餐盒饭，顿时觉得好有情调👌 

When we took a break from our drive, Tan brought us lunch that we ate by the waterfalls. It felt very romantic.

饭后 Tan 带我们开上一段颠簸的山路，原来为的是无限风光在险峰啊！

这里是避世绝尘，如链似带，层层叠叠，高低错落的梯田，散布在清迈大山深处。可惜在到达最为之倾倒的美景时，手机没电了。其他人的手机和摄影水平都在我之下，憾无他山之石可剽取矣！

In the midst of the mountainous terrain were breathtaking terraced fields that sprawled as far as the eye can see. Unfortunately, right when we reached the most impressive view, my phone died.

第一天出工上山，先向 Burm 讨个好彩头-- 留个影。

Before starting work the first day, I took a picture with Burm.

追随大象🐘的足迹和粪便，涉水爬山......

Following the elephants' footprints and their piles of poop, we hiked up the mountain in search of the elephants.

BEES 的狗狗每天都陪着我们出工。

The dogs of BEES came to work with us everyday.

Burm 一路给我们讲解当地人喜食善用的植物草木。

During the hike, Burm pointed out and talked about all the plants the local people ate and used as tools.

巨大的叶子用来做遮风挡雨的屋顶，每年要换新叶。

The giant leaves are used on the roofs of houses to block rain and wind. Every year they must be replaced.

Burm 发现一根不错的竹子，但不知他砍来作何使用？

Burm found a nice piece of bamboo, but I had no idea why he cut it off.

远远看到了忙着吃草的 Mae Chianpe 和 Mae Kam。

We found Mae Chianpe and Mae Kam eating grass afar.

聪明的大象，进口先把树干敲松，草根的土也要甩掉。

Before eating the branches, the elephant bangs them against the tree to soften them and shake out any dirt. So smart!

山不低还有点陡，上山还好。下山要来点儿真功夫了！

The mountain was rather high and rocky. Although climbing up the mountain wasn't too difficult, I worry that descending might be different.

这便是竹子的用场 .......

This is what the bamboo was used for....

我们的野餐-- 炒面。其实就是方便面，但竹饭碗让我食欲大增。

Our lunch was chowmein. The bamboo bowls seemed to give me a voracious appetite.

继续追踪，我们来到 Tonde 的觅食地。Tonde 有七十多岁了，牙都掉没了。她性格温顺，和人相处和睦亲近，生了十一个子女。去年，和她在旅游业一起辛劳工作三十多年的同伴突发心脏病去世，若不是 BEES 收养，恐怕就是牺牲在工作岗位了，而 Tonde 也逃不掉"蜡烛成灰泪始干"的命运。

Continuing our search, we found Tonde looking for food. Tonde is over 70 years old and has lost all her teeth. She has a gentle temperament and gets along with all people. She has 11 children. Last year, her partner that worked with her for over 30 years at a tourist site passed away. If they wasn't adopted by BEES, they both would have kept working until their death.

每天我们要清扫象的粪便，下午为吃了一天草的大象准备营养餐，有南瓜香蕉柚子，并为她们洗澡。

Everyday we had to clean up the elephant's poop, prepare their nutritious meals of mangos, pumpkin, bananas, and grapefruit, and bathe them.

大家都带上了瓜皮帽

Everyone wore grapefruit peel hats.

为 Tonde 换药

Giving Tonde medicine

巨大的粪坨

Huge poop

秒拍大象🐘

看清了吗？大象在便便哦😉

Can you see it? The elephant is pooping!

洗泥浆澡 -- 大象在溪水边挖个坑，再把溪水吸到坑里拌成糊，喷在身上。

Taking a mud bath

好吃好吃！Yummy yummy ! 乐得她们小尾巴直甩。

趣拍生活

一脸甜美笑容的厨娘

Our adorable little chef.

Burm 是个浑身充满大爱大能量的人，不仅立志动物保护，社区乡邻致富，还是一流的大厨👍 

那温暖的笑容，强大的内心，加上幽默风趣的谈吐 -- 无法让人不动容，不钦佩🌹

Burm has a huge heart and is extremely hard-working. He not only protects the animals and he helps out the local people, but he's an amazing chef as well.

瞧瞧这美味

Check out this delicious food

餐厅活动室

Dining / activity room

早餐--水果很丰盛

Breakfast--lots of fruit

山里没有Wi-Fi，晚餐后就无聊了。睡眠时间很充足哦😌

With no wifi in the mountains, we chatted a bit after dinner and soon went to bed.

闲时

Spare time

卫生间简陋而洁净，只是热水不畅。一周下来，我最想念的不是家人不是Wi-Fi，是一个痛快的热水浴😄

Our bathrooms were simple and clean, but we rarely had hot water. After a few days, the thing I missed most wasn't my family or wifi, but a nice hot shower!

倒霉的我行李没有随机到达，也懒得问别人要防蚊剂，第一天果然来了个下马威。

Unfortunately for me, my suitcase didn't arrive with me and I was stung by a mosquito on the first day.

小院坐落在一个小小的池塘边

The complex is located by a small pond.

BEES的热情果园，生产自助。

BEES' orchard of passionfruit

守着筐子，吃啊……

Devouring them next to the basket

美拍风景

闻鸡起，踏珠露；揽清风，看日出……

一池水静，莲为谁开？

百年老藤，冲天而落。

小草不争，独立彩石中。

渺小平淡，其美自在。

没见过这么大的千足虫，展开有近尺长🐛

树节上的衍生物

社区支持

在僧徒学校教英语

Teaching English in a school

请学生和我们一起做圣诞节装饰

Inviting students to make Christmas decorations with us

小恋人

Little lovers

Burm 曾在此学习三年，虽然没有选择做僧侣，但是虔诚的佛教徒。

Burm used to study here. Though he didn't choose to be a monk, he is a devout Buddhist.

背后的故事

 七年前，做导游的 Burm 认识了从悉尼来清迈做义工的十六岁的Emily。两年后又一次邂逅相逢，对 大山，对自然和动物的热爱和强烈的责任意识，让他们克服了重重困难走到一起，并开创了BEES -- Burm and Emily Elephant Sanctuary。

7 years ago, Burm, who was working as a tourist guide, met Emily, a 16-year-old volunteer from Sydney. Two years later they randomly bumped into each other. Their love of the environment and animals, in addition to their feeling of responsibility to help, brought them together to form BEES -- Burm and Emily Elephant Sanctuary.

他们四个月大的儿子-- Leo 

Their 4month old son

生产后，Emily不常来大象基地。她轻轻地抚摸着 Tonde ，喃喃自语诉说思念。

After giving birth, Emily no longer comes out to the work site very often. She speaks to Tonde gently.

这边厢，里外繁忙的 Burm 抓紧时间享受做父亲的喜悦。

Here is Burm squeezing in some father-son time.

一晃七天过去，该是我告别的时候了。狗狗们照例陪着我，似乎又多了些依依不舍。

Before I knew it, my seven days were over and it's time for me to say goodbye. The dogs didn't seem to want me to leave.

因为只有我一人离开，就留 Tonde 和我单独相处一会儿。

Before leaving, I spend some alone time with Tonde.

Tonde，知道吗？我要走了，我会想你，想BEES的。

感谢像 Burm 和 Emily 这群人们的努力，你们不必被猎杀，被镣铐，被奴役终生。你们是幸运的，青山绿水就是你们颐养天年的家园。

再见 Tonde！再见 BEES！

Tonde, I am leaving. I will miss you, miss BEES.

Thanks to Burm, Emily and people like them, you don't have to be hunted, chained and slaved until death. You are lucky to live in the mountains for the rest of your life.

Goodbye Tonde! Goodbye BEES!

机窗外的洛杉矶披着落日余晖，点燃了万家灯火。

想起清迈匆匆几日，想起BEES，想起那山那水、那人那象，心生念念。

Outside the were the glowing lights of Los Angeles in the sunset.

I thought of my days in Chiangmai, I thought of BEES, I thought of the mountains and the rivers, the people and the elephants. My heart is full.