Our campaign to ban plastic bags in Bali | Melati and Isabel Wijsen

Translator: Heli Paudel Reviewer: Deepak Basyal

Melati Wijsen: Bali -- island of gods.

मेलाती विज्सेन: बाली . . .भगवानहरुको टापू

Isabel Wijsen: A green paradise.

इसाबेल विज्सेन: हरियालीको स्वर्ग

MW: Or ...

मेला: अथवा.....

a paradise lost.

हराएको स्वर्ग ।

Bali:

बाली:

island of garbage.

फोहोर मैलाको टापू ।

IW: In Bali,

इसा: बालीमा

we generate 680 cubic meters of plastic garbage a day.

हामी दैनिक ६८० क्युबिक मीटर प्लास्टिकका फोहर उत्पन्न गर्छौं ।

That's about a 14-story building.

झन्डै १४ तला अग्लो बिल्डिंग जत्रै ।

And when it comes to plastic bags,

५% भन्दा कम प्लास्टिकका ब्यागहरु मात्रै

less than five percent gets recycled.

पुनः प्रयोगमा आउछन् ।

MW: We know that changes the image you may have of our island.

मेला: थाहा छ, हाम्रो टापूप्रतिको तपाईंको धारणामा परिवर्तन आउने छ ।

It changed ours, too, when we learned about it,

यो कुरा जानेपछि हाम्रै सोच पनि परिवर्तन भयो-

when we learned that almost all plastic bags in Bali end up in our drains

जब हामीले बुझ्यौं - लगभग सबै प्लास्टिक ब्यागहरु ढलमा

and then in our rivers

ढल बाट नदिमा,

and then in our ocean.

र नदिहुँदै समुद्रमा पुग्छन्।

And those that don't even make it to the ocean,

समुद्रसम्म नपुग्नेहरु

they're either burned or littered.

या त पोलीन्छन् या जथाभावी छरिन्छन् ।

IW: So we decided to do something about it.

इसा: हामीले यो विषयमा केहि गर्ने निर्णय गर्यौं

And we've been working for almost three years now

लगभग ३ बर्षदेखि, हामी टापुमा प्लास्टिकका झोलाको

to try to say no to plastic bags on our home island.

प्रयोग बन्द गराउन प्रयत्नरत छौं ।

And we have had some significant successes.

यस क्रममा केहि महत्वपूर्ण सफलता प्राप्त गरेका छौं ।

MW: We are sisters,

मेला: हामी दिदी बहिनी हौँ

and we go to the best school on earth:

र हामी पृथ्वीकै सबै भन्दा राम्रो स्कूल

Green School, Bali.

ग्रीन स्कूल, बालीमा पढ़दछौँ ।

Green School is not only different in the way that it is built out of bamboo,

ग्रीन स्कूल बाँसले बनेको कारणले मात्रै अरु भन्दा भिन्न भएको होइन,

but also in the way that it teaches.

शिक्षा दिने तरिकाको कारण भिन्न भएको हो ।

We are taught to become leaders of today,

यहाँ हामीलाईआजको नेतृत्वकर्ता बन्न सिकाइन्छ,

something a normal textbook cannot match.

जून् अरु साधारण पाठ्यक्रमले सिकाउदैन ।

IW: One day we had a lesson in class

इसा: एकदिन क्लासमा महत्वपूर्ण

where we learned about significant people,

व्यक्तिहरुको बारेमा पढाई भयो, जस्तै:

like Nelson Mandela,

नेल्सन मण्डेला,

Lady Diana

लेडी डायना र

and Mahatma Gandhi.

महात्मा गान्धी ।

Walking home that day,

त्यो दिन घर फर्किंदा,

we agreed that we also wanted to be significant.

हामीलाई पनि चर्चित व्यक्ति बन्ने अभिलाषा पलायो ।

Why should we wait until we were grown up

तर चर्चित व्यक्ति बन्न ठुलो

to be significant?

हुदासम्म किन कुर्ने ?

We wanted to do something now.

हामीले अहिले नै केहि गर्ने विचार गर्यौं ।

MW: Sitting on the sofa that night,

मेला: त्यो रात सोफामा बसेर हामीले,

we brainstormed and thought of all the issues facing Bali.

बालीले झेलिरहेका समस्याका विषयमा धेरै सोच विचार गर्यौं ।

And one thing that stood out to us the most

बारम्बार मनमा एउटा विचार आयो-

was the plastic garbage.

प्लास्टिकका फोहरहरु ।

But that is a huge problem.

तर यो भयङ्कर ठुलो समस्या हो ।

So we looked into what was a realistic target for us kids:

हामीले सोच्यौं, केटाकेटीहरुको लागि सम्भव लक्ष्य के होला:

plastic bags.

जवाफ आयो-प्लास्टिक ब्याग

And the idea was born.

एउटा विचार उत्पन्न भयो ।

IW: We started researching,

इसा: हामीले अनुसन्धान सुरु गर्यौं,

and let's just say, the more we learned,

बास्तवमा, जति बढी बुझ्दै गयौं, उतिनै

there was nothing good about plastic bags.

प्लास्टिक ब्यागको सकारात्मक पक्ष भेटेनौं

And you know what?

तपाईंलाइ थाहा छ,

We don't even need them.

यो नभएर पनि फरक पर्दैन ।

MW: We were really inspired by the efforts to say no to plastic bags

मेला: प्लास्टिक ब्याग हटाउने बिभिन्न ठाउंहरुको प्रयत्नले

in many other places,

हामीलाई प्रभावित गर्यो, जस्तै :

from Hawaii to Rwanda

हवाईदेखि रुवान्डा

and to severals cities like Oakland and Dublin.

र अन्य कयौं शहरहरु जस्तै : अक्ल्यांड र डब्लिन ।

IW: And so the idea turned into the launch of "Bye Bye Plastic Bags."

इसा: हाम्रो विचार “बिदा प्लास्टिक ब्याग“ अभियानको रुपमा शुभारम्भ भयो ।

MW: In the years that we have been campaigning,

मेला: अभियानको क्रममा

we have learned a lot.

हामीले निकै कुराहरु सिक्यौं ।

Lesson number one:

पाठ नम्बर १ :

you cannot do it all by yourself.

सबै काम एक्लै गर्न सकिन्न ।

You need a big team of like-minded kids,

उस्तै विचार भएका साथीहरुको समूह चाहिन्छ

and so we formed the Bye Bye Plastic Bags crew.

त्यसैले हामीले प्लास्टिक ब्याग बिदाई समूह बनायौं ।

The volunteer team includes children from all over the island,

स्वयंसेवकहरुको यो समूहमा टापुमा रहेका राष्ट्रिय र अन्तर्रास्ट्रिय

from both international and local schools.

स्कूलका केटाकेटिहरु सामेल भए ।

And together with them,

सबैसंग मिलेर हामीले

we started a multi-layered approach,

निवेदन दिनु पर्ने र नपर्ने

based on an on- and off-line signature petition,

विभिन्न तहका योजना सुरु गर्यौं,

educational and inspirational presentations at schools

स्कूलहरुमा शैक्षिक र प्रेरणात्मक प्रस्तुतिहरु,

and we raise general awareness at markets, festivals, beach clean-ups.

र बजार, चाडपर्ब, सरसफाईआदि कार्यमा सामूहिक जानकारी गराउन थाल्यौं ।

And last but not least,

त्यस्तै अन्य कार्यहरु :

we distribute alternative bags,

स्थानीय तहमै उत्पादन भएका बैकल्पिक ब्याग

bags like net bags,

जस्तै: जालीको ब्याग,

recycled newspaper bags

पत्रिकाबाट बनेको ब्याग

or 100 percent organic material bags,

१००% जैविक सामग्रीबाट बनेका ब्याग,

all made by local initiatives on the island.

वितरण गर्न थाल्यौं ।

IW: We run a pilot village,

इसा: हामीले ८०० घर भएको

home of 800 families.

नमूना गाउँ शुरु गर्यौं ।

The village mayor was our first friend

गाउँ अध्यक्ष हाम्रो पहिलो साथी बने,

and he loved our T-shirts, so that helped.

हाम्रो टी-शर्ट पनि मन पराए ।

We focused on making the customers aware,

हामी ग्राहकचेतना अभियानमा केन्द्रित भयौं,

because that's where the change needs to happen.

किनकि त्यहींबाट नै परिवर्तनको सुरुवात हुन सक्छ ।

The village is already two-thirds along the way

छोटो अवधिमै २/३ गाउँ, प्लास्टिक ब्याग

of becoming plastic bag free.

मुक्त भैसकेको थियो ।

Our first attempts to get the government of Bali on board failed.

बालीको गवर्नरलाइ भेट्ने हाम्रो पहिलो प्रयास असफल भयो ।

So we thought,

हामीले सोच्यौं -

"Hmm ... a petition with one million signatures.

१० लाख हस्ताक्षर सहितको निवेदन ।

They can't ignore us, right?"

पक्कै अस्वीकार गर्न सक्दैनन् । कि कसो ?

MW: Right!

मेला: कुरा ठिक हो !!

IW: But, who would have guessed

इसा: कसले सोचेको थियो

one million signatures is, like, a thousand times a thousand?

१० लाख भनेको १००० गुणा १००० । थोरै हो त ?

(Laughter)

(हाँसो)

We got stuck --

हामी रोकियौं ---

till we learned lesson number two:

जबसम्म हामीले पाठ नम्बर २ सिकेनौं :

think outside the box.

“फरक ढंगले सोच“ ।

Someone mentioned

कसैले भन्यो -

that the Bali airport handles 16 million arrivals and departures a year.

बाली एअरपोर्टमा बार्षिक १ करोड ६० लाख मानिस ओहर दोहर गर्छन् ।

MW: But how do we get into the airport?

मेला: तर एअरपोर्ट भित्र छिर्ने कसरी ?

And here comes lesson number three:

यहां आउंछ पाठ नम्बर ३ :

persistence.

अनुरोध ।

Off we headed to the airport.

हामी लाग्यौं एअरपोर्ट तिर ।

We got past the janitor.

सबैभन्दा पहिले कुचीकारलाइ भेट्यौं

And then it was his boss's boss,

तेस्पछि उसको हाकिमको पनि हाकिमलाइ ,

and then the assistant office manager,

अनि, सहायक म्यानेजरलाइ

and then the office manager,

त्यसपछि अफिस म्यानेजरलाइ,

and then ...

अनि फेरी,

we got shuffled down two levels and thought,

२ तह तल झर्यौं र सोच्यौं

well, here comes the janitor again.

आयो फेरी कुचिकार ।

And after several days knocking on doors

यसरी कयौं दिन ढोका ढक ढकाउन परेपनि

and just being kids on a mission,

हामीले हरेस खाएनौं,

we finally got to the commercial manager of Bali airports.

र अन्त्यमा बाली एअरपोर्टको बजार व्यवस्थापकसंग भेट भयो ।

And we gave him the "Bali of plastic bags" speech, and being a very nice man,

हामीले बालीको प्लास्टिक ब्यागको बारेमा प्रवचन दियौं

he said, [imitating the man's voice] "I cannot believe what I'm about say,

उनले भने (आवाजको नक्कल गर्दै) आफ्नो निर्णय प्रतिआफैं अचम्मित हुँदै

but I'm going to give authorization

म तिमीहरुलाई भन्सार र आगमन कक्षको

to collect signatures behind customs and immigrations."

पछाडी रहेर हस्ताक्षर बटुल्ने अनुमति दिन्छु ।

(Laughter)

(हाँसो)

(Applause)

(ताली)

IW: In our first hour and a half there,

इसा: हामीले लगभग डेड घन्टाको बिचमा

we got almost 1,000 signatures.

१००० हस्ताक्षर जम्मा गरीसकेका थियौं ।

How cool is that?

गज्ज़ब होइन त ?

Lesson number four:

पाठ नम्बर ४:

you need champions at all levels of society,

बिद्यार्थीदेखि ब्यापारिक म्यानेजर सम्म समाजका हरेक तहका

from students to commercial managers to famous people.

चर्चित व्यक्तित्वहरुसंगको चिनापर्चीको आवश्यकता पर्दछ ।

And thanks to the attraction of Green School,

ग्रीन स्कूलको आकर्षणलाइ धन्यवाद,

we had access to a steady stream of celebrities.

हामीले सेलिब्रेटीहरुको साथ् पाईराख्यौं ।

Ban Ki Moon taught us

बान की मुनले सिकाउनुभयो

that Secretary-Generals of the United Nations

संयुक्त राष्ट्रसंघका महासचिबले

don't sign petitions --

निबेदनमा हस्तक्षर गर्दैनन्,

(Laughter)

(हाँसो)

even if kids ask nicely.

चाहे केटाकेटी जति नै नम्र बनुन् ।

But he promised to spread the word,

तर हाम्रो प्रचारगरिदिने बचन दिनुभयो

and now we work closely with the United Nations.

र अहिले हामी संयुक्त राष्ट्रसंघसँग सहकार्य गर्दै छौं

MW: Jane Goodall taught us the power of a people's network.

मेला: जेन गोड्लबाट हामीले नेटवर्किंगको शक्तिबारेमा जान्यौं

She started with just one Roots & Shoots group

उनले रुट्स एंड शुट्सको एउटा समूहबाट शुरु गरेकीहुन्,

and now she has 4,000 groups around the world.

र अहिले संसारभरी गरेर उनको ४००० भन्दा बढी समूह छन ।

We are one of them.

जसमा हामी पनि एक हौँ ।

She's a real inspiration.

उनी प्रेरणाकी श्रोत हुन् ।

If you're a fellow Rotarian,

यदि तपाईं रोटरीको सदस्य हो भने,

nice to meet you.

भेटेर खुशी लाग्यो ।

We're Interactors,

हामी रोटरीको सबैभन्दा

the youngest department of Rotary International.

यूवा समूह हौँ ।

IW: But we have also learned much about patience,

इसा: हामीले धैर्यताको बारेमा पनि धेरै नै सिकेका छौं

MW: how to deal with frustrations,

मेला: निराशाबाट कसरी बच्ने,

IW: leadership,

इसा: नेतृत्व,

MW: teamwork,

मेला: सामुहिककार्य,

IW: friendship,

इसा: मित्रता,

MW: we learned more about the Balinese and their culture

मेला: हामीले बाली र बालीको संस्कारको बारेमा अझ जान्यौं

IW: and we learned about the importance of commitment.

इसा: प्रतिबद्धताको महत्व जान्यौं ।

MW: It's not always easy.

मेला: यो सधैं सहज थिएन ।

Sometimes it does get a little bit hard to walk your talk.

कहिले कहीं आफ्नो कुरा सम्झाउन निकै कठिन हुन्छ ।

IW: But last year, we did exactly that.

इसा: गत बर्ष ठ्याक्कै त्यस्तै भयो ।

We went to India to give a talk,

हामी इंडिया गएका थियौं

and our parents took us to visit

हाम्रा अविभावकहरुले हामीलाई

the former private house of Mahatma Gandhi.

म. गान्धीको पुरानो घर देखाउन लग्नुभो

We learned about the power of hunger strikes

आफ्नो लक्ष्य प्राप्तिको लागि, भोक हड्तालको

he did to reach his goals.

शक्ति हामीले बुझ्यौं ।

Yes, by the end of the tour,

यात्राको अन्तिमतिर जब हामीले

when we met our parents again,

अभिभावकलाइ फेरी भेट्यौं,

we both made a decision and said,

हामीले एउटा निर्णय गर्यौं र भन्यौं

"We're going on a hunger strike!"

"हामी भोक हड्ताल गर्दै छौं"

(Laughter)

(हाँसो)

MW: And you can probably imagine their faces.

मेला: वहाँहरुको अनुहार कस्तो भो होला,

It took a lot of convincing,

हाम्रो अविभावक मात्र होइन,

and not only to our parents

साथीहरु र शिक्षकहरु समेतलाइ

but to our friends and to our teachers as well.

सम्झाउन गार्हो भयो

Isabel and I were serious about doing this.

इसाबेल र मैंले भने यसको मनस्थिति बनाईसकेका थियौं ।

So we met with a nutritionist,

हामीसबैले पोषणबिज्ञसंग छलफल गरेर

and we came up with a compromise

एउटा सम्झौतामा पुग्यौं -

of not eating from sunrise to sunset every day

जबसम्म, बालीको गवर्नर हामीलाइ भेटेर प्लास्टिकको ब्याग

until the governor of Bali would agree to meet with us

रोक्ने बिषयमा छलफल गर्न तयार हुँदैनन्,

to talk about how to stop plastic bags on Bali.

तबसम्म हामी सूर्योदय देखि सूर्यास्तसम्म केहि खादैनौं ।

IW: Our "mogak makan," as it is called in Bahasa Indonesia,

इसा: इन्डोनेसियन भाषामा "मोगा माकान" भनिने

started.

भोक हड्ताल शुरु भयो ।

We used social media to support our goal

यो कुरा सामाजिक संजालहरुमा फैलियो,

and already on day two,

दोश्रो दिनमै,

police started to come to our home and school.

पुलिसहरु हाम्रो घर र स्कुलमा आएर

What were these two girls doing?

हाम्रो सोध खोज गर्न थाले ।

We knew we weren't making the governor look his best

हामीलाई थाहा थियो, यसरी भोक हड्ताल गरेर

by doing this food strike --

गवर्नर खुशी हुने वाला छैनन् --

we could have gone to jail.

बरु हामी जेल चलान हुन सक्थ्यौं

But, hey, it worked.

तर अचम्मै भयो,

Twenty-four hours later,

२४ घन्टा पछि,

we were picked up from school

हामीलाई स्कूलबाट

and escorted to the office of the governor.

गवर्नरको अफिस लगियो ।

MW: And there he was --

मेला: र गवर्नरसंग भेट भयो

(Applause)

(ताली)

waiting for us to meet and speak,

छलफलको क्रममा गवर्नरले ,

being all supportive and thankful for our willingness

बालीको सुन्दरता र वातावरणप्रतिको हाम्रो

to care for the beauty and the environment of Bali.

लगन र अठोट देखेर आभार व्यक्त गर्नुभयो ।

He signed a promise

र बालीबाट प्लास्टिकहटाउन

to help the people of Bali say no to plastic bags.

मद्धत गर्ने पत्रमा हस्ताक्षर गर्नुभयो

And we are now friends,

अहिले हामी साथी भएकाछौं,

and on a regular basis,

बेला बेलामा वहांको र

we remind him and his team of the promises he has made.

वहांको समूहको प्रतिज्ञाको बारेमा झक झकाउछौँ

And indeed,

खुशीको कुरा, वहांले

recently he stated and committed

प्रतिज्ञापत्रमा हस्ताक्षर गर्नुभएको छ-

that Bali will be plastic bag free by 2018.

सन् २०१८ सम्ममा बाली प्लास्टिक ब्याग मुक्त हुनेछ

(Applause)

(ताली)

IW: Also, at the International Airport of Bali, one of our supporters

इसा: त्यस्तै बाली अन्तर्रास्ट्रिय एअरपोर्ट

is planning to start a plastic bag-free policy by 2016.

सन् २०१६ सम्ममा प्लास्टिक मुक्त क्षेत्र बन्ने तयारीमा छ

MW: Stop handing out free plastic bags

मेला: हाम्रो अबको संदेश छ -

and bring in your own reusable bag

प्लास्टिक ब्याग दिने नगरौं,

is our next message to change that mindset of the public.

पुन: प्रयोग गर्न मिल्ने ब्याग बोक्ने गरौँ

IW: Our short-term campaign,

इसा: हाम्रो अल्पकालीन अभियान-

"One Island / One Voice,"

"एक टापू, एक आवाज"

is all about this.

यहि नै योजना हो ।

We check and recognize the shops and restaurants

हामी, प्लास्टिक मुक्त घोषणा गरेका

that have declared themselves a plastic bag-free zone,

पसल र रेस्टुरेन्टहरुमा जांच गर्छौं र

and we put this sticker at their entrance

प्रवेश द्वारमा गएर यस्तो स्टिकर टास्छौँ र

and publish their names on social media

उनीहरुको नाम सामाजिक संजाल

and some important magazines on Bali.

र बालीका मुख्य पत्रिकाहरुमा प्रचार गर्छौं

And conversely,

यस्तो स्टिकर नहुनेलाई

that highlights those who do not have the sticker.

ठिक बिपरित गर्छौं ।

(Laughter)

(हाँसो)

MW: So, why are we actually telling you all of this?

मेला: हामी तपाईंहरुलाई यो कथा किन सुनाईरहेका छौं ?

Well, partly, it is because we are proud

एउटा कारण त, हामी गौरवान्नित छौं,

of the results that, together with our team,

हामी र हाम्रो समूहले संयुक्तरुपमा

we have been able to reach.

प्राप्त गरेको उपलब्धि सुनाउन

But also because along the way,

अर्को कारण, यो परियोजनाको क्रममा

we have learned that kids can do things.

हामीले बुझ्यौं, समूहमा मिलेर केटाकेटीले

We can make things happen.

पनि गरेर देखाउन सक्छौं

Isabel and I were only 10 and 12 years old

जतिखेर हामीले यो काम सुरु गर्यौं,

when we started this.

इसाबेल र म १० र १२ बर्षका थियौं

We never had a business plan,

हामीसंग कुनै व्यापारको योजना थिएन,

nor a fixed strategy,

न योजना र नीति थिए,

nor any hidden agendas --

न त कुनै अदृश्य कार्यक्रम नै थिए--

just the idea in front of us

केवल अगाडी विचार थियो--

and a group of friends working with us.

र केहि गरौँ भन्ने साथीहरुको समूह ।

All we wanted to do was stop those plastic bags

हाम्रो प्रयाश, हाम्रो घरको सुन्दरतालाइ बाँधेर

from wrapping and suffocating our beautiful home.

उकुस मुकुस बनाउने प्लास्टिक ब्यागको प्रयोग रोक्नु हो

Kids have a boundless energy

केटाकेटीहरु संग, अथाह शक्ति र

and a motivation to be the change the world needs.

संसारले चाहेको परिवर्तन गर्न सक्ने सामर्थ्य हुन्छ ।

IW: So to all the kids of this beautiful but challenging world:

इसा: सुन्दर तर चुनौतिपूर्ण यस संसारका सबै यूवावर्गलाइ हामी भन्न चाहन्छौं -

go for it!

प्रयास गर्नुहोस !!

Make that difference.

आफूलाई भिन्न प्रमाणित गर्नुहोस !!

We're not telling you it's going to be easy.

हामी भन्दैनौं यो बाटो सजिलो छ ।

We're telling you it's going to be worth it.

तर भन्न चाहन्छौं, यसको धेरै महत्व छ ।

Us kids may only be 25 percent of the world's population,

हामी केटा केटि कुल जनसंख्याको केवल २५% मात्रै हौला,

but we are 100 percent of the future.

तर भविष्यको १००%, हामी नै हौँ ।

MW: We still have a lot of work to do,

मेला: अझै धेरै काम गर्न बाँकि छ

but know that we still not stop

तर हामी रोकिनेवाला छैनौं ,

until the first question asked when arriving at the Bali airports will be

तब सम्म, जबसम्म बाली एअरपोर्टमा उत्रने हरेक यात्रुलाई सोधिने पहिलो प्रश्न हुनेछ:

Both: "Welcome to Bali,

दुवै: बालीमा स्वागत छ,

do you have nay plastic bags to declare?"

तपाईंसंग कुनै प्लास्टिकका ब्याग त छैनन् ?

(Laughter)

(हाँसो)

Om shanti shanti shanti om.

ऊं शान्ति शान्ति शान्ति ऊं

Thank you.

धन्यवाद

(Applause)

(ताली)