13/11/2020
2020 is proving to be very difficult, and with the ongoing pandemic it is making it impossible to run a café with no customers visiting this region. This year has required us to make some incredibly tough decisions in order to fund all the projects run by ELIE, and as the Cafe is not covering its costs since covid started, ELIE has been supporting all the running expenses and salaries of the Hub.
However with the ongoing pandemic ELIE is struggling to find funding to look after the elephants at the EVP and to honor our commitments to the community. We are fundraising and looking at new projects as well as having already sold two of the NGO vehicles and a handful of moto's to cover staff salaries and food costs.
Unfortunately this is not enough and we all agreed that the next step would sadly be to shut down the Hefalump cafe - Mondulkiri's first responsible tourism information center. We will be closing the doors at the end of November, so come down to support the café in its final weeks.
We take pride and solace in what we all have achieved in the creation of the the Hub over the last six years. Together our partners at WWF, WCS & MIPAD, staff and customers made this center a wonderful place to visit. From supporting local coffee producers, artisans, bakers and students. To supporting the community with computer literacy classes to hospitality training, as well as promoting some of the best ecotourism sites across the province such as the WEHH project and Jahoo Gibbon camp. We upheld the belief that responsible tourism can be a force for good, used to bring positive change to the region and to support conservation of the forest ecosystems. We continue to believe this.
This is not the end. But merely a time to focus on what is important. Securing funding and ensuring a better life for Cambodia's last few captive elephants. When the world returns to some level of normality, we will try again.
Love from the Hefalump team x
