Volunteer Work With Elephants

Here are some photos we took during our unforgetable experience with Elephant Program.
It wasn't hard to wake up twice a week at 4:30 am to go to Elephant Village. We enjoyed leaving so early because we knew that we will see "our" elephants still sleeping or just awoken. It's a magical experience to look at them wake up gently at dawn. It's also very interesting to learn how to feed them (especially by making chapati ! It's a hard job !)

My wife and I stayed one week in Jaipur in September 2018. We choosed the Elephant Program of VWI. It was an unforgetable and a life time experience. It was beyond our expectations and we were very sad to leave after spending one week with the elephants and their mahout. Before staying there, we couldn't imagine how elephants are intelligent and also very sensitive animals.
We would like to thank Sukret and Govind for their kindness and availability.
It is a really wonderful experience for those who want learn more about elephants. But it's also an unforgetable human experience.

It is simply one of the best experiences you can have traveling abroad. Not only is it an authentic experience but you also get to give back and travel with a purpose and I loved every minute of it.

The organizers Sukret and Govind were just wonderful, and of course the guest house family. When I arrived as a solo traveler during November 2016, the black money crisis was going on and I was quite worried about withdrawing cash. I had only been in India 1 night and Sukret came to pick me up and covered the cost of my guest house expenses since I had no cash at the time. It was a large problem across the country. That gesture right from the beginning really wow'd me. Everyone went over and beyond to help me during my stay to ensure that I had enough cash to cover the basics and enjoy some of the tourism too. I am so grateful for their gracious hospitality. Also the food is fabulous

Furthermore, I clearly didn't read all the details but was pleasantly surprised with the activities taking place every weekend ( monkey temple, amber fort, bollywood movies, etc). However, if you are abit of a yogi Sukrets father does his morning yoga and is a great teacher. A great opportunity to start your day off right after you finish with the elephants first of course. They live not far from the guest house, but is still a drive away.

I spent a total of 2 weeks with the project and did 1 week teaching at the orphanage and the other with the elephants. A nice balance of being exposed to both projects.

I thought the accommodations were perfect since it is a guest house after all, you are a guest in their home so don't forget it. The family is very accommodating and look after you well. No need to hesitate to speak up though either if you need something. I would definitely recommend staying here, the location is seriously in a prime spot, you can walk to most things or are a short tuk tuk ride away:)

I actually volunteered twice for the Elephant program, once in 2014, and again in Feb 2015. It is a super fun program that not only gives you a once in a lifetime experience up close and personal with Elephants, but also gives you a window into the life of the people who own and care for these animals and their families.
You can expect to wake up early (4 or 5am.) And take a 20min tuk tuk ride to the Elephant Village. There is some dirty work involved, such as picking up the poop (they give you gloves) and emptying the poop in a field. But the experience is great, the elephants are friendly and love treats such as bananas, apples, oranges...after all your hard work, you'll enjoy a nice cup of chai and a chat with the mahouts. Maybe even an elephant ride or two!
***Be advised going into this program that this is not an Elephant rescue program, or a Elephant Reserve. These elephants WORK. They are used to give tours up to Amber Fort and other places around Jaipur. Sometimes they are used for weddings. Some of these elephants were rescued from circuses or other abusive settings and brought to the elephant village. They still are used for tours however. In this program I can tell you first hand that these elephants are properly cared for. They are provided with veterinarian care regularly (one had an ear infection and was visited by a vet and treated daily with topical ointment as well as antibiotics while I was there.) They are fed properly (probably excessively! They get lots of treats!) and all are provided shelter and bedding to sleep on. They are chained when inside their shelter, and they are chained while you are cleaning up around them. This is for the protection of the people working near them. Although elephants are friendly and peaceful, they are still a huge animal with a lot of power and capable of severe damage, even if it is unintentional. As far as other reports of use of a bull hook go, I have seen a bull hook in one location. I have never seen it used on any of the elephants. None of the elephants I was around ever had wounds indicating bull hook use, or any other kind of abuse. Some of the elephants, that came from previous circumstances, have old scars around their ears and top of their head. These are obviously very old, and have been healed many years. Never have I seen any elephant with any fresh wound anywhere.
Volunteers help in two ways in this program: 1) The fee you pay to do this program goes to help the families who own the elephants, as well as provide food and care for the elephants themselves. These families are poor. The elephant tours are their sole source of income for many of them. Some of them can hardly afford to feed themselves, let alone an elephant. This program ensures that the elephant is properly fed, cared for, sheltered, and has access to medical attention.
2) Helping the family clean and take care of the elephant in the morning gives the family extra time to take care of children, spend time together, eat breakfast together etc. before they go out to make their money for the day.
I enjoyed this program so much I came back a year later and did it again. I think it does a lot of good for these people, as well as the elephants. But if you're looking for an experience working at an elephant sanctuary or reserve for rescued elephants, this is not it.

I traveled alone to India and worked 2 weeks with the elephants in the month of February. It was a life changing experience for sure and I feel blessed to have been able to work so closely with these magnificent animals. Totoram, the tuk tuk driver is a wonderful man who I felt safe with and well cared for. All the employees of VWI made me feel looked after as they checked in with me regularly to see how I was doing. The program is very affordable. The guest house was good. Living there was an authentic Indian experience that I will never forget. Although I am not a morning person, getting up at 0430 hours and being the first person the elephants saw in the morning made my day. I took bananas as a treat so they could start their day off happy. It was pretty cool to see the city come alive during the morning tuk tuk rides. Having the afternoons off to sight see or shop or hang out was perfect. I highly recommend this program to everyone. The work was not hard and the memories will be in my heart forever. Good Job VWI!

I was there 1 week in January 2015. Working days started at 5:00am. We cleaned the enclosures and fed the elephants before they went to work. Then we had a nice Masala Tea at the fire. Around 8:30am we were back and the rest of the day was free.
Accommodation with host family was basic but ok. Also food was good.
I hope I can manage to go there again. Would recommend this Project to everyone.

We got up every morning at 4.30 and got picked up by the most amazing tuk tuk driver - Totoram. Then we drove for about half an hour to where the six lady elephants were waiting for us to wake them up :) We were back at the guest house around 8.00 every morning, and then we had the rest of the day off (except for two days a week when we went back to work in the afternoon to feed the elephants).

The work was not hard at all, and there was chai time (tea time) almost every 15 minutes :P The animals are huge, and in the beginning I was a little scared, but after the second day I trusted them completely. I also got the chance to "play" a little bit with them by asking the guys who worked with the elephants to teach me how to climb one. That was probably the highlight of the week, along with washing them and riding them.

The family we lived with was also fantastic (they even invited us to a wedding while we were there), but the food could have been better. Sometimes we only got chapati for breakfast, or we didn't get breakfast or lunch at all.

I had an great time working with the elephants. Even within the one week they were there we got to know them and their personalities. The mahouts who care for the elephants are all extremely nice and feed you up with chai. Sukret kept in contact with us from the moment we booked the experience right until the very end (we now even have him and Govind on facebook). Our tuk tuk driver was the loveliest man in the world. My friend Megan spilt coffee on herself as we were sightseeing and he pulled over and rinsed her down! The host family were extremely accommodating and made us feel at home. Although while we were there, the daughter-in-law was basically in labour and one of the daughters was getting engaged, so it was a bit hectic.
I can assure you that this project and all the people are legitimate. We have a very near miss. Our driver for around Rajisthan tooko us to who we thought was Sukret, but the guy claimed to be Sukret's cousin. After attempting to take our money several times, we rang Sukret just to double check, and he said he had no idea who that man was and didn't have a cousin that worked at the elephant village. It was a close call!