The echos of elephants in the distance

Myself and Susan have just got back from an excellent time with Echo Three. Just an hour's drive from Field base in Karnataka, their project site is set amongst the crops they're creating the elephant proof trench and solar powered fence to protect, on the outskirts of Basava Pura.

The campsite is well set up with their bashas set out in a L formation around their communal kitchen/living room and their campfire.

Rising early at 5.45am the group slog it out on the trench, a mere 200m from their campsite, in the morning getting their work done in the coolest part of the day. The group have had a fantastic phase, improving nearly 500m of trench from 4ft to 7ft deep.

Whilst we were there getting stuck into the digging we were treated to some top quality trench games, singsongs and banter which keep the group motivated throughout their hard labour.

Two and a half weeks into the phase they are now a well oiled machine and the team I was working in the trench with were were fantastic to observe; David with his farming background has great digging technique, Kirsten's a complete Trojan in the trench, Jess is a enthusiastic motivational singer, Ajee goes at it like a machine and has incredible trench acrobatics, Fiona's a consistently hard worker, while Hubertus and Simon are a comedy duo with chirpiness and humour to keep the group's spirits up and Kavita's fantastic stamina is always accompained by a beaming smile! Susan and myself certainly had our work cut out to keep up with them.


Afternoons are free time where the group chill out, some choosing to take a much needed siesta, or read a book, whilst others play with the children from Basava Pura who come to visit. Cards games are also high on the agenda at Echo Three, especially amongst the boys who are very competitive with Hubertus a particular sore loser when playing President (known to the group by a different but unrepeatable name!)


Evenings are centered round an evening meal where all left over scraps are hoovered up by David, the resident human dustbin, more cards and campfire chats before early to bed ahead of the dawnbreak wake up the following morning.


At night the group are protected by local men from the village who keep the fire going all night to ward off the elephants who can be heard trumpeting in the distance. It really highlights how important the work is that Echo Three are doing for this local community, who are constantly at risk of crop damage, human death and injuries caused by the elephants.


Susan and I had timed our visit well as on Friday the group had a day trip to a local town Sargur. They stocked up on fresh vegetables at the market and enjoyed a lunch of pakoras and chapatis.

Some of the group also enjoyed the local delicacy of coconut prepared fresh by the passing salesman on his bike.

The group also visited the Town's hospital, Vivekananda Memorial Hospital, which is part of SVYM, a NGO set up in 1984 by a group of dedicated young doctors. The SVYM foundation has also undertaken community based health and education projects and also several Community Development initiatives for both tribals and non-tribals in the region. These include a school, a eco-sanitation programme for which they host a show room on site and an eco-farm which were privileged to be given a tour of.

The afternoon was then spent down by the reservoir, splashing about in the refreshing water as the local women washing their clothes looked on in bemusement. 



Kirsten and Amy collecting water

We were also treated to a beautiful sunset that rounded off a wonderful day.





Too soon our time with Echo Three was up as The Loop swung by to pick us up on Sunday morning. We bid our farewells and thanks to he group for making us feel so welcome. Over their final few days this phase they'll finish off the last few metres of the trench and have a ceremony with the local community before heading back for Changeover on Wednesday.

All text and photos by Polly Carpenter (unless stated otherwise).