Curiosity An unforgettable elephant adventure with Aaron Kwak
Year 12 student Aaron Kwak reflects on his Round Square International Service (RSIS) Project in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, Thailand. RSIS Projects bring students from Round Square schools across the globe together to support a community in need. RSIS Projects aim to develop students’ understanding of the needs of a partner community and work with that community to lend a hand on a practical project to address those needs, with students and staff living among the community for the duration of the project.
I board the plane to Sydney very early as the need to sleep finally catches up with me and overcomes my apprehension at flying alone for the first time. I spend a few hours at Sydney Airport before boarding the plane to Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand. On the flight, I happen to be sitting with a fellow student travelling to the project from Brisbane. After a few movies and conversation, the nine- hour flight is finally over. We are welcomed at the airport by Round Square staff, taken to a hotel, given a few briefings, and then – following dinner at a nearby restaurant – settled in. I record in my diary later that night that “a lot of people marvelled
at my passport and my accent”. The 24 hours of being awake, with only an hour-long nap in between, exhaust me, and I fall fast asleep despite the heat. The next day, we have a six-hour bus ride to our destination, Kui Buri National Park. On the bus, I stay awake just long enough to see a few monkeys on the power poles, and then fall asleep for the rest of the ride. (I end up regretting it – the decision to catch up on sleep means I am subjected to teasing a few days later when I become closer with my newfound friends.) We finally arrive at the national park and prepare for the days ahead. And so began my adventure to Thailand. Our home base was a couple of tents in Prachuap
Khiri Khan province, bordering the national park, with the girls’ camp 10 minutes or so down the road. We were split into two teams: The Big Build Team and The Environmental Team. The Big Build Team was in charge of building a community elephant education centre, and the Environmental Team was in charge of building hornbill nest boxes, and also gathering data on elephant identification, behaviour, and herd demographics. In the rural areas of Thailand bordering Kui Buri National Park, there is frequent human- elephant conflict as the elephants raid crops such as pineapples, destroying everything in the process. Sometimes this conflict
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