Experience of a Baby Elephant

N.Kwar (LS)

Ten years ago, a baby elephant lived with his mother, deep in the jungles of the Karen State of Burma. When the baby elephant was three months old, his mother was shot by a group of hunters. The baby elephant didn’t understand that his mother had been shot. He moved behind his mother and tried to wake her up. “Mum,” he said, “get up! Get up, Mum Get up quickly; there are a lot of people coming!” He called to his mother again and again, but when his mother didn’t get up, he knew that she had died.

He went and hid in the bushes, and there he cried alone. Unfortunately, he wasn’t safe there, and the group of hunters captured him and sent him to Thailand. There, his new owner had the mahouts train him. The baby elephant was trained all day long without any food. He knew that, if he didn’t behave for his owner, he would not be fed, and he would be killed. So, he worked very hard, and when the mahouts were finished training him, he could understand their language and do everything. His owner forced him to work all day in the heat. Every day, he had to walk and sell vegetables and fruit, such as papayas, oranges, and bananas, but he was not fed any of it. To earn his food, he had to dance and play football for people who bought his fruits and vegetables; He sold fruits and vegetables from early in the morning until night. One day during the summer, it was very hot, and he was very thirsty. He could hardly walk to sell his fruits and vegetables, and his tears fell as he walked along the highway. Near the road, he saw a pool of water by a teashop. He was very glad and moved to it quickly. As he drank the water, the shopkeeper picked up a kettle and scalded the baby elephant with boiling water. Frightened and hurt, the elephant ran across the highway and collided with a truck, He lay bleeding on the road, and no one helped him. Finally, when his owner arrived, he told the baby elephant to get up and go home. After the incident, the baby elephant was allowed to rest and he felt very lucky. However, after only three days, even though his injuries had not healed, he had to sell the fruits and vegetables again. He now had to work even harder than before, selling fruits and vegetables in the whole city, all day and night. One day, in the middle of the city, he walked the wrong direction and became lost. He couldn’t find his owner and didn’t know the way home, so he continued walking through the city, He was very hungry, and he sat beside the road and cried. Several people saw him and called the police. They arrived to capture the baby elephant, and they sent him to the zoo. When he arrived in the zoo, he was finally safe. There, he was given enough food to eat, and people came to see him every day. Like the baby elephant, Karen people lived happily at home in Burma, on the flatland or in the mountains. There, they caught fish and grew rice and vegetables, and wove their clothes from their own cotton that they grew and dyed with leaves and bark. Most of them were happy with their simple village life. During World War II, many Karen were killed by Japanese soldiers with encouragement from the Burmese government. However, our good leader, Saw Ba U Gyi, tried to help his people and explained the lives of the Karen to the Japanese leaders, who understood and stopped his solders from killing the Karen. After the war, Saw Ba U Gyi was shot by Burmese soldiers, and many more Karens were killed. The Karens were put under the complete jurisdiction of SPDC. Some can’t stay in their homeland and have to flee to Thailand. When they arrived in Thailand, they can’t work to buy food. In these cases, they must become refugee. Someday we, the Karen in the refugee camps, will go back to our homeland, Karen State. Unfortunately, we don’t know when that day will be. In briefly, in the past, we lived in our homeland peacefully, but for now we can live safely only in the camp, where we can have food and education, much like the baby elephant in the Zoo. It is an easy life, but we are not free.