VANCOUVER, Wash. — One video changed Sundari SitaRam’s life.
SitaRam was content with her life as the owner of a Vancouver yoga studio until she heard the term “temple elephants” on a podcast two years ago and then found a video of an elephant chained outside a Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka.
SitaRam told The Columbian newspaper that she woke up the next day and knew her life had changed.
She decided to sell her studio and buy a plane ticket to Southeast Asia. She’s now executive director of Heart of Ganesh, a nonprofit that tries to educate people to make better choices for elephants.
Locally, she’s trying to bring awareness about elephant captivity in the circus and zoo industries. Heart of Ganesh is also working on a tourism program that provides travelers with an elephant experience that differs from models that result in abuse.
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