Help my friends through crisis & do good for ocean

--> UPDATE: 
More than 10 000 liters of plastic has been cleaned up so far, and a whole community has been getting food and other necessities of life from the donations given. But the situation in Bali is still serious, and we want to expand the project so we can help even more people and clean up even more plastic, as well as spread awareness. This project started with just Donny and me, and I'm so proud of where we've gotten so far. Please have a look under "updates" to see the latest video <--

My dear friend Donny and his family in Bali are struggling even just to survive through these extraordinary times. At the same time, he’s decided to use this challenge to do something good as Bali beaches get flooded with plastic waste, especially during this season.

Now, I'm asking for your help to get him through the next few months, and at the same time support his beach clean-up mission. If we succeed, we'll even be able to help other struggling families in Donny's community.

Even just 50 NOK is enough to get Donny some daily necessities AND get 1 full garbage bag of plastic cleaned up!

(For international friends: The amounts are set in Norwegian Kroners. 10NOK is approx. 1 Euro /50NOK is approx. 5 Euro)

Like countless others in Bali, Donny has lost his job due to the Corona situation. With no tourists, Donny (who used to be a chauffeur and guide) has now sold his only source of income, his car, in order to feed his daughter, wife, and mother, and to make sure Hesty can continue going to school. For months, he’s been looking for other types of work, but with no luck. 

I was lucky to get to know Donny some years back when visiting Bali, and we spend time with him almost every day for two weeks. After that, we’ve kept in touch and I’m so grateful for his friendship. Knowing him and his positive spirit, the fact that he’s using this time to do something good for the planet comes as no surprise, as he is just one of those incredibly optimistic, caring, and driven people. But it broke my heart to see how much he is struggling right now, so I decided to try and do something about it; this fundraiser. 

While he would have all the reasons to feel out of hope and paralyzed, Donny has decided to make some purpose out of this time. The beaches in and around his area get flooded with plastic every single day during this time of year. Plastic waste is actually a huge problem in Bali, with literally millions of tonnes ending up in the sea each year. To make matters worse, Indonesia is listed as second amongst the top 20 countries that poorly manage plastic waste. (For sources and more info, see the bottom of this text).

Donny still needs to feed himself, his daughter Hesty, his wife, and his old mother. Hesty also goes to school, and to continue she needs equipment like books and pens. 

Additionally, in order to do the work of cleaning up the beaches, Donny needs gloves, garbage bags, face masks, and resources to get the plastic to the recycling station. 

What can you do?
- Donate! Any amount makes a difference. 50NOK = 1 garbage bag of plastic cleaned up and help for Donny.
- Share this on social media. 
- Volunteer/share ideas: If you’d like to help out in any way or have ideas, get in touch with me. Any skill or idea you might have can come in handy!

The goals
Updated goal: We were hoping things would start getting closer to normal in Bali during the summer. However, life over there is still challenging with a high number of corona cases and tourism is still at a minimal. Therefore, I've chosen to continue this fundraiser until the end of the year, hoping we can reach 20 000 NOK in total. 

This amount will support Donny, his family, and the other families, getting them the most necessary things, as well as the resources for getting up to 400 garbage bags (40 000 liters) of plastic cleaned up. Every piece of garbage that they tidy up is one less piece that ends up back in the ocean! And every penny that you give will help them get through this challenge. 

We’ll keep posting updates from Donny, with pictures from the beaches, of his family, details on how it’s going, and where he’s been cleaning up. 



Info on plastic pollution in Bali
If you were as surprised as me by the plastic issue in Bali and want to know more about it, then here are some links and sources where I found my information (as well as from talking to people with first-hand experience):
National Geographic 
BBC 
Study by Science  on countries that poorly manage plastic waste

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Every penny that you donate will be collected and transferred to Donny by me personally. Once a donation comes in, Donny will receive that money within a week to spend on food and medicine, other volunteers, school equipment for his daughter, equipment for the clean-ups, and transportation to the recycling station.  
We wish to be completely transparent about this project, so you can be certain that your donation is spent as promised. Therefore, if you wish to know more about the budgets and cost details, transfers, hear more about Donny and his work, or read more about the plastic pollution or corona situation in Bali, then feel free to contact me here with your questions and I’ll be happy to share more information with you.

Thank you so much for your interest in this cause and for any donation or help! It's truly appreciated.