Springing into 2079 B.S
CREASION'S January to March's Newsletter
The winter months are drawing to a close, and the spring season is approaching, with flowers and trees blooming.
In the last Nepali New Year, we launched a number of new initiatives, and this year we are kicking off the New Year with a bang. The activities were designed to teach us about the struggles, joys, and celebrations of Nepal's most vulnerable communities. The events that were carried out over the last quarter were interesting and enjoyable, and they were a great way to end the year.
Honoring Recycling Heroes on Hamro Cycle Yatra
CREASION has always strived for the inclusiveness and dignified representation of waste workers. An early initiative of ours was a cycle rally for waste workers that started back in 2010. The rally has now taken shape as the Hamro Cycle Yatra where we publicly honor waste workers for their remarkable contributions to the waste management sector, celebrated annually leading up to the Global Day of Recycling on March 18.
Hamro Cycle Yatra commenced on March 9 with a cycle rally from Belchowk, Bharatpur with waste workers along with our association partners, youths, and volunteers. Upon reaching Chaubiskothi, waste workers were honored in the presence of Mrs. Parbati Shah, Deputy Mayor of Bharatpur Municipality, who adorned the waste workers with tika.
After the formal address, the rally proceeded to the Recycler Saathi Center in Shivaghat where the ceremony continued with a short round of speeches from our association partners. Waste workers were then provided with a certificate and served lunch. Celebrations of the event followed with a drama/play on waste, and dance and music to mark the Global Recycling Week. The CREASION team, volunteers, and youths of Chitwan also enjoyed an early Holi celebration.
Hamro Cycle Yatra is organized by CREASION, supported by The Coca-Cola Foundation and Bottlers Nepal (Terai) Limited, with the help of our partners, Chitwan Scrap Association, Better Chitwan, Way Group, Ek Sapana Cycle Ra Safa Nepalko, Nepal Development Society, CESS, Hamro Drishti Ramro Drishti, Real Madrid Fan Club Chitwan, Chitwan Smart Scouts Crew, The United Chitwan, and Recovering Nepal.
Occupational Safety Training
Waste workers work relentlessly to keep our communities clean. Working in the waste sector, we take it as our responsibility to make sure that waste workers operate in a safe environment. Occupational Safety Training is a program designed to ensure that the waste workers are safe in their daily operations of handling waste and work in a safe environment away from workplace hazards such as a medical emergency or fire.
Recycler Saathi 3.0 incepted with an Occupational Safety Training and Health Camp for waste workers at बुढानिलकण्ठ महिला मञ्च दुवारा सञ्चलित हरितनगर आबियन, आर. पी. रिसाइकल संकलन तथा व्यस्वथापन and हलेसी सुवास कलेशन सेन्टर in a span of two days, supported by The Coca-Cola Foundation Nepal and Bottlers Nepal Limited. The safety training was conducted by Pratik Bajracharya and Monica Khadka from CREASION and the health camp was led by medical officer, Dr. Sandesh Ghimire.
The safety trainers demonstrated workplace etiquette and basic hygiene awareness such as washing hands and demonstration of safely removing gloves for the waste workers. Individual waste workers were provided with safety gears such as shoes, gloves, mask, reflector jacket, cap, first aid kit, dignity kit, and were also instructed on their proper use. The scrap centers were then presented with a bucket, shovel and fire extinguishers. In addition, infographics on how to use a fire extinguisher and basic safety protocols were installed. A health checkup was also provided to all waste workers at the sites by a medical professional.
Nepali Yuwa in Climate Action and Green Growth (NYCAGG)
The effects of climate change are becoming more evident year after year with increasing flash floods, droughts, and heat waves. More and more individuals, particularly youth and marginalized populations, are being harmed as a result of extreme climate events. It is more crucial than ever to have adequate measures in place to minimize and adapt to changing circumstances. In addition, a majority of Nepalese youths have difficulty finding job opportunities, and the effects of climate change on the economy are only making it more difficult.
Working with young people and empowering them by providing them with a platform to bring innovative ideas and make a living is essential. In this regard, we have launched the “Nepali Yuwa in Climate Action and Green Growth” project with Youth Innovation Lab as the lead partner, and Restless Development Nepal, and Center for Disaster and Management Studies as consortium partners. This project aims to target youths, women, and other disadvantaged groups in the age group of 15-29 from Madhesh, Karnali and Sudharpaschim provinces. The components of this project are Climate Fellowship, Climate Smart Entrepreneurship, Mentee-mentorship, Digital Advocacy, and Youth Sounding Board. They all work towards empowering youths, providing them employment opportunities, generating innovative ideas to address climate and environmental issues, and advocating for policy changes to promote environmental protection. CREASION will be leading the activities under Climate-Smart Entrepreneurship in all three targeted provinces.
To promote this project, the national project kick-off was organized by Youth Innovation Lab with its consortium partners Restless Development Nepal, CREASION, Center for Disaster and Management Studies in Kathmandu, with delegates from the Ministry of Federal Affairs & General Administration, NDRRMA, National Youth Council (NYC), the EU, Oxfam, Helvetas, and the media. At the meeting, three organizations recently funded by the EU, YI-Lab, Oxfam, and Helvetas with their consortium partners gave an overview of their projects supporting the youth in Nepal.
The second provincial project kick-off was held in Janakpurdham of Madhesh Province in the presence of Hon’ble Chief Minister of Madhesh Province, Mr. Mohammad Lalbabu Raut Gaddhi, and Ms. Chandra Thapa, Under Secretary of the National Youth Council. The event highlighted the launch of idea-call posters for Climate Smart Entrepreneurship in Nepali, English, Maithili and Bhojpuri. The minister encouraged all the youths to participate in the project and develop innovative green enterprises. Mrs. Chandra Thapa also shared how she learned about the importance of climate action through this kick-off event, and stressed the need to establish Innovation Labs across all provinces.
Strengthening the Alliance
Besides working for the welfare of waste workers in Nepal and formalization of the waste sector, we have collaborated with the Alliance of Indian Waste pickers to conduct a research study titled “Study of Waste Workers in Nepal”. We invited delegates of the alliance to Nepal to learn about the different organizations that were mapped during the study.
Kabir Arora, Coordinator of the Alliance of Indian Waste pickers, Anuradha Bhosale, Chairman of Avani Organization, and Sangeeta Anil Lakhe, waste picker and member of Ekati organization, Maharashtra were the delegates who visited Nepal between March 12 to 18. During the visit, they interacted with eight organizations in Nepal from Balmiki Samaj Nepal in Nepalgunj to Himalayan Life Plastics in Pokhara, to informal waste workers association, SASAJA, in Kathmandu.
This was a learning exchange program in which ideas, stories, and struggles were shared between the partners in their journey of turning the waste sector into a glorified occupation.
Green Initiatives Felicitated with How Green Are You?
#How Green are you? 2022 was launched by CREASION and Recycler Saathi to encourage self-awareness among consumers regarding sustainable practices as well as to celebrate local and individual efforts towards sustainability. More than 40+ participants from all over Nepal took part in this initiative and showcased their individual efforts to achieve a sustainable future. The initiative was sponsored and supported by leading eco-business ventures in Nepal like Leklekk, Dhaasoo, Ecosathi Nepal, Samsara Creation, and Deego Nepal.
A webinar was conducted on March 15th, 2022 to formally conclude the How Green Are You contest. The keynote speakers for the webinar were leading eco-entrepreneurs of Nepal representing various eco-business ventures.
Ms. Yajaswi Rai, Founder of Leklekk Nepal.
Kushal Achhami, CEO and Co-Founder of Samsaara Creation.
Ms. Rajani Gurung, Co-founder and Operations Manager of Deego Nepal.
The webinar highlighted insightful conversations between the participants and our keynote speakers regarding Nepal’s green business market, sustainability issues, and personal experiences towards sustainability. The winner of the How Green Are You? contest was also announced by our judges and, all other entries were featured in a collage.
The webinar concluded with a speech from our winner, Ms. Shreejana Bajracharya. Here’s a video link for the webinar broadcasted live on the official Facebook page of CREASION: https://fb.watch/bPWaAavVW8/ .
The Quest for the smartest Waste Smart School
Since the initiation of Waste Smart Schools initiative under Recycler Saathi, we’ve engaged young students from Sauraha, Kasara, and Bharatpur in various environmental activities. Oftentimes, we provide them with workshops or engage them in waste segregation and tree plantation activities. However, this time we thought we could test their knowledge of the environment and the results were impressive.
We organized the virtual ‘Waste Smart Schools Quiz’ on the occasion of World Eco Club Day on February 14, bringing together 5 Waste Smart Schools and quizzing them on the environment, pollution, biodiversity and conservation. All students of the participating schools performed well with a competitive spirit. Shree Bachyauli Madhyamik Vidhyalaya impressed us by answering 8 out of 10 questions to win the first prize.
Shree Kadam Aadharbhut Vidhyalaya Kasara and Shree Madhyamik Vidhyalaya, Chitrasari, came close to each other with 60 and 40 points a piece and won the second and third prize respectively. The other two schools participating in the event were Shree Chameli Devi Piya Madhyamik School and Shree Madhyamik Vidhyalaya Baraghare.
A Dialogue to Transform Education
On the occasion of International Day of Education 2022 on January 24, we organized a webinar titled ‘Changing Course, Transforming Education’—also the theme of this day—bringing in professionals with great experience working in education. The theme focused on changes through education and a need for significant transformation in education. Furthermore, the theme emphasized building relationships with each other, nature, and adapting to technology.
We had six panelists speaking on various themes:
1. Niharika Mainali, Changing Stories Nepal: Remedial Education to Mitigate Learning Loss
2. Krishna Kumar K.C., Teach for Nepal: Academic Gap, Education Access and Educational Aspiration
3. Bhawana Shrestha, My Emotions Matter: Embracing Vulnerability and Championing Empathy for Transformative Learning
4. Binod Shahi, Sir of the Himalayas: Making Rural Education Accessible
5. Vikram Upadhyay, CREASION: Issues Around Public Education in Nepal
6. Mahabir Pun, National Innovation Centre: Innovation in Education
Over the course of an hour, each speaker briefly talked about their involvement and experiences in education, the problems in education, and possible solutions or way forward for transforming education in Nepal.
Facebook Live video of the program: https://www.facebook.com/creasion.nepal/videos/1172588573276451