Celebrating Lucky Kali’s 2 years of retirement!
As it is the monsoon here which bring heavy rains, we were very fortunate to have beautiful clear skies to celebrate Lucky Kali second year of retirement. The ceremony was led by our head mahout Ratan, anointing Lucky on her forehead with the tikka blessing, then drawing a beautiful mandala of his inspiration in the sand at her feet. Incense was burned to purify her shelter, lots of fresh bamboo and delicious bananas were brought as offerings to make Lucky happy and satisfied!
Her anniversary was also the opportunity to invite many friends living here in Sauraha, some of whom have played an important role in her life.
Our mahouts Ratan and Sanjay, with children and grandchildren.
Our team is growing!
We are happy to announce that we have hired Nepali Sweta Shrestha trekking guide and nature lover, who has a bachelor degree from the Institute of Forestry from Hetauda.
Sweta, being a strong, independent, motivated young woman is a great addition to our team. She can oversee everything and lead walks with Lucky when our founder Lena Quénard is not in Sauraha.
It’s time for our yearly monsoon flood adventure!
Middle July came with the usual heavy monsoon and once again there has been much flooding in our area. Long days of non-stop rains caused the Rapti River to rise to a dangerous level, close to overflowing. Thanks to our experience from 2 years ago, we organized Lucky’s move quickly before the roads were submerged and night descended. We first needed to rent a jeep which was not easy due to the emergency situation. We then collected Lucky’s food and Ratan’s supplies for the night then headed to the temple, the car full of bananas and grass.
Driving was treacherous so we were very fortunate to find someone who accepted to transport us to a safe place. Once the car was unpacked, some kind people kept an eye on our belongings and we went back to get Lucky. Being a westerner, I was very stressed and wanted Lucky to reach the temple and safety as soon as possible to avoid any accidents or problems. It was early evening, around dinner time, but in my mind, Lucky came first and dinner second. I urged Ratan, Lucky’s mahout to quickly prepare to leave before night falls, but Ratan had different priorities. His wish was to be full and content before this night shift began. (People who are familiar with the culture of Nepal will know how difficult it is for Nepali people to wait to eat their dal bhat!) Ratan could not believe I would ask such a thing, he smiled sheepishly in disbelief…. But thankfully he complied with my request and we were soon on the move.
Dal bhat is the ultimate vegetarian Nepalese dish. This is the basic meal for the country, consisting of rice and lentils.
Ratan, Lucky and I walked along the road to the next village an hour away, me with my torch to signal our presence to cars. We reached the village temple safely, joining others who had already taken refuge for the night. The locals seemed not too surprised to see an elephant there, or a westerner for that matter. People were busy preparing for the night, the lucky ones under mosquito nets. While Ratan was finally having his beloved dal bhat at a small food stall, I stayed alone with Lucky who was busy covering herself with mud. Soon she looked like a dark chocolate elephant.
I was finally sitting down to have a snack and relax a bit when several dogs came to surround me. Of course, I could not eat my cookies in front of those skinny dogs with such kind eyes. They ate quickly, thankful for my generosity and were soon sleeping contentedly near me.
Later in the night, still soaking wet, I was thrilled to see a biker come to bring me back to Sauraha. My friend Raju had sent one of his friends to pick me up and as the roads were blocked by the water, he had to take many detours. At one point he braked suddenly and we drifted – just avoiding running over a huge snake!
I sat there on his motorbike caught in the moment, smelling the air of this night which was calm once again, asking myself if all this was not just a dream.
Lucky was safe, Ratan was fed and I felt I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
The next morning as the rain stopped, we brought Lucky back to her shelter.
The week before Lucky 2 years celebration, we had been busy with the extension of her corral’s roof. Heavy rain, sometimes hail can lead to restless nights and unsanitary ground for the elephants to lay on or just to stand on. We ordered few trucks of good soil to be added in her corral to keep it dry, high and secure. When we arrived, I was delighted to see that under Lucky’s new extended roof, her area was indeed dry!
Lucky’s well-being and security always come first so that was a good thing done.
When you donate to Association Moey, your money goes towards these many repairs and efforts too.
The workers continue their job, despite rain and electricity cuts, so that we may give Lucky a safe and comfortable place to sleep.
Where is Lena?
Maybe some of you wonder why Lena is not in Nepal full time. There are many reasons, but the most important is that Lena has not one but two Luckys!
Originally Lena planned to help elephants in Thailand. When she was first staying there, she befriended a street dog who stayed on the same soi. One day she found this dog in terrible shape. She had been attacked by other dogs and needed medical care. Long story short, Lena was able to take this dog… named Lucky… to the vet and help her to recover. That was 4 years ago!
Until Lena has a permanent place in Nepal it is not safe or practical for her to take Lucky the dog to live with Lucky the elephant. For this reason, Lena splits her time between Thailand and Nepal. Lucky has problems related to her age and needs specialized care.
With older dogs time is precious, so today, spending quality time with Lucky is a priority for Lena.
Another very important reason is the visa issue. A non-Nepali person is allowed no more than 5 months inside the country. This means that Lena must keep the base in Thailand (which is only a 3 ½ hour flight to Nepal) until she finds a suitable place to begin her own project and get the proper visa to stay long term.
Lena would not be able to do this if she did not have a good team. She is thankful for those on the ground in Nepal taking care of Lucky the elephant.
Special thanks goes to her friend Floriane Blot who visits Lucky regularly to check her feet, providing foot care if needed.
Tellington Touch
We welcomed France Periat, Animalcontact, who is a practitioner of Tellington Touch to come to meet Lucky and teach the Tellington Touch process to use on Lucky if necessary and then only if she is comfortable with it.
T-touch has proven to be very effective on humans and smaller animals.
We feel this is a worthwhile practice to be familiar with and we are thankful that France was generous enough to share this knowledge. France stayed for one week and between sessions with Lucky we made sure she was able to experience the Chitwan National Park and see some deer, crocodile and rhinos!
If you have an interest in Tellington Touch, please watch the video and also go to the website, which provides more in-depth information. Tellington Touch.
Linda Tellington-Jones is the creator of the Tellington TTouch method. Here, she describes how the application of gentle touching can have a healing influence upon humans and animals.
Gigi travels to Thailand to find her forever home!
This update would not be complete without telling you about Gigi – a wonderful dog that I rescued from Nepal. Her hind legs are paralyzed, most likely caused by a vehicle accident. I first met Gigi last winter and it was love at first sight. I was determinate to give her a chance at a better life. Animal Nepal dog shelter in Katmandu hosted Gigi for a few months, while I was looking for someone to adopt her. During that time Gigi survived distemper and her will to live deeply moved me.
I finally was contacted by animal lovers Viv and her son Jack in Kanchanaburi Thailand, who offered to adopt Gigi. I created a campaign (help-nepali-street-dog-find-a-home ) to help me cover the travel costs and on July 20th Gigi and I flew to Thailand! All went nicely and after a long day of air travel and driving, we arrived at Gigi’s new loving home late in the evening.
Today, she is under Viv and Jack’s excellent care and surrounded by 10 other dogs. It appears that Gigi is a dominant dog with no fear at all! Even if she seems diminished and small, she moves really fast and makes her body bigger to look at other dogs from above! Gigi is such a brilliant dog and a perfect example of what we call resilience.
I would like to thank Gigi who encouraged me to work through my fears, for her sake. (here I mean, put a dog in a cage, go through customs, flight, stress, etc.)
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the one of you who donated for Gigi.
From Nepali streets to her new Thai life!
Gigi loves Game – family member – opening him up to caring for someone else.
Our warmest thanks for your support.
Lena and Team Lucky 💜
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Being free of human’s harassment, free of all kind of abuse and most of all, free of fears. This is what freedom is.
May dignity guide us always through all situations.
Namaste.