Safeguarding Rivers with Bali Youths

Gary Bencheghib cannot bear to see the natural beauty of Bali he admires spoiled by rubbish. He has thus invited youths in Bali to take action to safeguard nature, starting with rivers.

ARSIP SUNGAI WATCH

Gary Bencheghib

He is a native of France, but Bali has long captured the heart of Gary Bencheghib, 26. He cannot bear to see the natural beauty of Bali he admires spoiled by rubbish. He has thus invited youths in Bali to take action to safeguard nature, starting with rivers.

If you don’t recognize his appearance yet, try to remember two youths from France who were paddling along the Citarum River, West Java, on two kayaks made from plastic bottles in 2017. They are Gary and his younger brother Sam. They were exploring the longest river in West Java for two weeks.

“The river water was dark and it stank. We were occasionally blocked by plastic waste that prevented us from passing through. It’s a reflection of one river in Indonesia. Several rivers are now in emergency condition,” said Gary when interviewed online on Friday (6/8/2021).

The kayak journey was not easy. While they had to get along amid the stench and the heat of the sun, they also risked their health in case they fell into the river. The brother Sam once plunged into the stream as his canoe capsized. He got an itch in the following days.

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Gary was fortunate for not falling into the Citarum. But luck was not on his side when he dropped into the water in the Pantai Bahagia coastal area (Bekasi). He was later sick for several days. “That part was not so fun,” he laughingly said.

The siblings’ exploration was documented through Make A Change, an environment-based platform and movement set up by Gary, Sam and their older brother Kelly, in 2009. The activity attracted public attention.

It was also highlighted by the media. Eventually, the adventure of Gary and Sam in one of the most contaminated rivers received government attention. The program for Citarum River revitalization was activated. Several targets were set to clean it up.

The Citarum River was polluted by household garbage, industrial waste and cattle muck. Kompas in 2017 recorded around 1,500 tons of waste dumped into the Citarum River daily.

ARSIP SUNGAI WATCH

Gary Bencheghib

The waste on the surface of the river has been reduced but domestic rubbish continues to pollute the river. The waste frequently mounts, especially during heavy rain (Kompas.id, 10/2/2020).

The Citarum River survey was inspired by Gary’s previous expedition across the Mississippi River, in the United States, in 2016. He along with five friends cruised along the river for two months on a boat built out of 800 plastic bottles. They aimed at raising public awareness of the environmental issue.

For Gary, the direct experience of river crossing and the perception of every sensation with his five senses have changed his life. River contamination is real and has a negative impact on humans. His spirit to safeguard the environment is also getting even more pronounced.

Childhood

His urge to protect the environment has in fact been cherished since a long time ago. As a child, Gary was already familiar with nature. When he still lived in Paris, France, he and his family always went to a rural house every weekend. The house was close to the woods, where Gary and his siblings would play.

“We built our own worlds of imagination. We made a fortress from dry leaves, also a sand castle,” he recalled.

His perspective of nature changed when he was vacationing in Bali in his childhood. He found beautiful nature on the Island of the Gods. His concern about the environment grew after perceiving the natural beauty.

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At the age of 9, Gary and family moved to Bali. His house was not far from the coast so that he could play on the beach every day. The activity continued until adolescence.

“In the rainy season, rubbish was heaping on the beach near my home. I was still 14 at the time. I could only weep,” said Gary. He described the condition as a plastic apocalypse.

The experience prompted Gary and his brothers to clean the beach every weekend. They also invited a lot of friends to join. With the passage of time, the activity became an environmental movement involving numerous people.

In the rainy season, rubbish was heaping on the beach near my home. I was still 14 at the time. I could only weep

After several beach cleanups, rubbish kept littering the area, meaning that the waste did not come from the beach or the sea. There must be another source. After researching it, Gary found that most of the waste in the sea was carried from rivers. The focus of waste removal was then shifted from the beach to rivers.

KOMPAS/dokumentasi Sungai Watch

A number of people from the Sungai Watch community clean up trash in a mangrove forest area, Denpasar, Bali, June 2021. Sungai Watch was initiated by Gary Bencheghib, a young man from France who has lived in Bali for a dozen years. Sungai Watch was created because of the concern of young people about the garbage carried from the river to the sea.

Sungai Watch

The fact encouraged Gary to form Sungai (River) Watch in 2020. Sungai Watch is a public movement focusing on river conservation in Bali by cleaning up waste. To date, Sungai Watch has only operated in Badung regency, Tabanan regency and Denpasar city. Gary wants to expand the movement to cover all parts of Bali.

Around 1,000 volunteers have joined Sungai Watch to clean up rivers. Most of them are young people aged 16-28. Gary conducts awareness-raising in villages, approaching young men and women to get them to take part in river protection. According to Gary, well-conserved rivers are the pride of Bali so that all residents should be involved.

He is convinced that the river cleanup experience can change people’s perspective of nature, It is because they have the opportunity to directly interact with rivers, notice the waste and perceive the filthy polluted streams. This experience is expected to make people more concerned about the environment.

However, going down to rivers and cleaning up waste together may be endless. The waste will remain present. That’s why Sungai Watch has adopted the strategy of fixing waste nets. Since October 2020, 84 nets have been placed in the rivers in Badung, Tabanan and Denpasar.

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The nets come from Sungai Watch’s cooperation with several parties that care for the environment, including companies, as well as with the regional administration.

“Our target is to install 100 nets. We may be able to reach the number within a month,” said Gary.

Furthermore, Gary has the ambition of fitting waste nets in the rivers throughout Bali in 2025. He and Bali youths hope to become protectors of rivers in Indonesia. “If we believe in something, just do it. We do hope we can achieve this target. We have three years to realize it,” he said.

Gary is no longer a 14-year-old child who weeps when watching rubbish on the beach. In his view, crying will not change the situation. A movement, however small it is, constitutes a solution to the environment. After recovering from Covid-19, Gary will work in full swing, installing waste nets.

The afternoon chat ended with prayers for the fulfillment of his dreams of the environment. It was the time to wind up the interview and let him take a rest. “I actually have a massive headache as you speak. But I’m positive we can get through this. It’s just a matter of time,” said the man who will appear at Kompasfest on Saturday (21/8/2021).

Gary Bencheghib

Place and date of birth: France, 23 October 1994

Education: New York Film Academy (2014 graduate)

Experience:

- Founder of Make A Change in Bali, Indonesia (2009)

- Founder and Creative Director of Make A Change Pte Ltd in Singapore (2019)

- Founder of Sungai Watch in Bali (2020)

Awards:

- Outstanding Achievement from The Bali Ball (2012)

- Global Teen Leader from We Are Family Foundation (2011)

This article was translated by Aris Prawira