Mitri Wohns trained monkeys in the south of Thailand. In Thailand, monkeys have collected coconuts for plantation owners for centuries. A male monkey can collect around 1000 coconuts a day, whereas a human can collect about 80 a day by hand.
Mitri discovered the opportunity through World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, or Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF) -- a network that allows volunteers interested in learning about organic lifestyles the ability to connect with farms around the world. After paying a small fee, one gains access to a directory of farms to directly contact farmers, to negotiate a number of hours to work per day in exchange for room and board.
Mitri had been wanting to go to Asia for a while, and became interested in agriculture while in college in rural upstate New York. He thought it would be a fun adventure to head to Asia and spend some time on farms, so that he could contrast exposure to agriculture in the United States with agricultural practices in Asia.
Mitri also spent time harvesting beans and working on a composting project in a Lisu village near the Thai-Burmese border in Northwest Thailand. This little guy (above) is called Nui, the generic name for "little boy" in Thai. The monkeys are only at school for around 6 months, so they aren't given real names (like Max, Peaches, Sacha, Maia, Dolce or Brooklyn Cruz)!Till tomorrow,
Love,
Nua ("little girl") Maia
P.S. Photos courtesy Mitri, now Vice President/Marketing for www.recreatemynight.com in NYC at MediaMerx.
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