In times like these were many of us can’t go out to work, we can turn inward and tap into one of our most valuable resources: creativity. Just as our human ingenuity allows us to solve and simplify complex problems throughout our lives, creativity helps cope with our emotions and feelings and it gives us an opportunity to connect with others.

In this week’s blog post I talk about using our creativity to help animals in times of COVID-19. Whether we want to raise funds for a specific organization or campaign or to increase awareness about the plight of elephants in Asia, creativity allows us to reach a broader audience through a more personal and imaginative approach.

How does our creativity help animals?

Creativity is a positive outlet. It has the power to help us deal constructively with fear and to help us overcome anxiety. After surviving Nepal’s earthquake of 2015, turning to photography and doing creative work were some of the activities that helped me deal with what was happening around me.

I still remember that first outing with my camera. It was both exciting and distressing: I was happy to be finally out on the streets, but was sad to see all the destruction around me.

It was during those gloomy days that the idea of using creativity to help working elephants in Nepal was born. The rubble from buildings and temples was still very visible around the streets of Kathmandu, but I felt like I had found my purpose.

Creativity has helped me not only tell the story of Nepal’s (and frankly Asia’s) working elephants, but it has also given me the opportunity for self-expression. In the past few years, I have hosted annual events for me and other international artists to show their artwork and it has allowed me to raise funds for elephant welfare organizations like Elephant Aid International and Association Moey.

Aside from spreading awareness, creativity also allows us to make artwork that people who care about the same causes will want to support. This 2017 CSR study shows that 87% of the consumers who were surveyed would acquire products from companies that support a cause or an issue they deeply cared about. And this article by Forbes states that nine in ten millennials would switch brands to one that supports a cause, according to research from the Haas School of Business at Berkeley in California. The tendency towards giving back is only growing stronger.

What are Some Ways We Could Help?

Aside from the great psychological benefit creativity and art provide, doing something for the cause we want to support will help you feel better during these times in which our movements are restricted. So here are 5 fun ways in which we could help:

Donate our time to help fundraise for an animal shelter or rescue organization.

Create fun ads on fb and Instagram to support an animal welfare organization that needs volunteers.

Share one of our pieces on a dedicated platform that supports artists and market it in different sites.

Write for like-minded organizations and donate the proceeds of our work.

Start an online shop to share our artwork and tell the story behind our work.

How are other Artists and Companies Helping Animals?

My research has been mostly focused in those helping elephants in captivity. These are five artists and companies that I have followed throughout the years. If you want to know about other companies helping animals, see Peta’s list here.

1. ecojot - 50% of the net proceeds from the sale of their elephant journals and weekly planners go to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi, Kenya

2. One Tribe Apparel -  Donates $1.00 of every item of apparel sold to the Elephant Nature Park in Chiangmai, Thailand.

3. Tusk Books - Donates $1.00 of every book sold to Boon Lot’s Elephant Sanctuary (BLES) in Sukhothai, Thailand and to The Mondulkiri Project in Monourom, Cambodia

4. Arte for Elephants - 20% from the sales of their prints is donated to four different elephant sanctuaries and a reforestation project. Check the organizations they partner with here.

5. The Elephant Soul - I donate 10% of all local sales to Association Moey, a Swiss nonprofit working to alleviate the suffering of captive elephants in the South of Nepal

What are Some Elephant Organizations that Need Help in 2020?

As someone who has spent several years raising awareness on the plight of captive elephants, I have met or been in contact with most of the wonderful people running these organizations. I personally donate to most of them regularly, as I believe in their work and in the way they use the funds raised. So here are 5 organizations that are promoting the humane treatment of elephants in Asia.

1.     Save the Asian Elephants (STAE) – This UK-based organization has an assertive and defined approach to the demand on elephant tourism: sensitize visitors on the brutality behind the rides, work with governments to increase protection and welfare and dissuade travel companies from offering touristy activities that promote (and perpetuate) elephant cruelty. Its ongoing campaigns and strong lobbying were brought forth to the European Parliament Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals. Their supporters include celebrities and influential patrons.

2.     Elephant Aid International (EAI) – This US registered non-profit organization has revolutionized the ways elephants are kept in some parts of Asia, including the Banerghatta Biological Park in India, Boon Lott’s Elephant Sanctuary and the hospital at Friends of the Asian Elephant in Thailand and Tiger Tops Elephant Camp in Nepal. EAI has also recently built the Elephant Refuge North America (ERNA) which will be home to elephants that have been rescued from zoos and circuses.

3.    Association Moey – Touched by a personal encounter with an exhausted working elephant in Thailand, this organization was formed to honor the life and short freedom that Moey the elephant was able to enjoy.  For the past seven years, Association Moey has brought relief to dying and sick elephants and to those still working for tourists. Now in Nepal, they have been able to save a 60-year old elephant named Lucky Kali from the burdens of work. Lucky Kali is Nepal’s first privately owned elephant to retire in Sauraha, Chitwan.

4. Wildlife S.O.S. -  As a leading conservation organization in South Asia, Wildlife S.O.S is dedicated to helping injured and abused elephants. They provide medical care to wounded and dehydrated elephants still working and begging on the streets as a result of their exploitation.  Additionally, they work closely together with some of the government institutions in different parts of India to ensure a way to promote a better treatment of elephants living in captivity.

In 2018, Wildlife SOS inaugurated the first Elephant Hospital in India, where elephants are already receiving treatment.

5. Mandalao Elephant Conservation – Featured in CNN, Forbes and Vanity Fair  and promoted by World Animal Protection, Mandalo Tours was founded by Michael Vogler, an environmentalist whose background in wildlife and environmental conservation gave him the tools to start the project close to Lao’s capital, Luang Prabang. Thanks to their understanding on the importance of elephant bonds, they were able to bring and keep together a group of seven former working elephants to their camp, including a mother and her son Baby Kit who is two now.

I hope you find these resources useful. There is no doubt that we are facing a very difficult phase at the moment. If we are struggling with our current situation, doing something for others will help us get out of our heads and emerge from a place of anxiety to a place of purpose and solutions.

Is there a creative project you are working on? Do you have another way of helping animals during times of COVID-19? Please leave your comments below. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for being here.

Namaste.

Diana