There was a boy named Wayan who lived in Indonesia, in a small village by the sea.

The sea was very important to the villagers. It was a place where the ancestors lived, and the villagers believed that when you died you returned to the sea.

Wayan's father and grandfather were fishermen. Most men in the village were fishermen. When Wayan grows up, he will probably be a fisherman too.

Every morning at sunrise, the men went fishing in the jukung boat. Every evening, at sunset, they came back with their boats full of fish.

Time passed and Wayan grew up. His grandfather died, and his father got older.

Things were changing. There were fewer fish these days so the fishermen had to stay out on the sea for longer.

Sometimes, the jukung boats came back empty, even after they had been out at sea all day.

When they did catch fish, they were small and they didn't taste good.

The beaches had also changed. They used to be clean and beautiful, but now there was plastic everywhere. There were plastic cups, water bottles, straws and bags – even flip flops!

here was so much trash that it was hard to see the black sand underneath! When the tide came in or it rained, it took all the trash away so the problem went away too. Or so people thought...

People in the village started getting sick but no one knew why. "Why was there no more fish? Why was everyone sick? How can we stop all these bad things from happening?" the villagers wondered.

One day, while Wayan was fishing, he fell overboard. He almost drowned, but a turtle saved him. The turtle's name was Bintang*. He said: "Climb onto my back. I'll take care of you."

"Thank you turtle," Wayan said. "How can I ever repay you for saving my life?" "Well, maybe you can help me. My grandfather is 200 years old. He is the wisest turtle I know. He is very sick and no one knows what to do. Maybe you can help him?" asked Bintang.

(*Bintang means 'star'.)

Bintang took Wayan to Turtle Town. Wayan thought that he would see lots of cute baby turtles, but no... he mostly saw plastic lying around everywhere.

Bintang introduced Wayan to his grandfather. He was very, very sick an found it difficult to speak or breathe.

Wayan saw something strange sticking out of Bintang's grandfather's nose.

He said: "Wait! I will try to pull this thing out, but it might hurt, okay?"

He pulled and pulled and pulled. Bintang's grandfather cried out in pain. Finally, the thing came out. What was it?! It looked like bone! But it wasn't bone.

It was a plastic straw! A plastic straw?! In a turtle's nose?! How did it get there?

"Oh, thank you Wayan! You saved my life. I can breathe again," he said. "I am Galih, King of the Turtles."

Wayan bowed to the King.

"I need to show you all the sick turtles in my kingdom. Please follow me," said King Galih.

They went to Turtle Hospital where many sick turtles, big and small, lay crying in pain. "What's wrong with them?" asked Wayan.

"We don't know," the King said. "They got sick after eating jellyfish, but we've been eating jellyfish since time began. No one has ever been sick before."

King Galih showed Wayan one of the jellyfish that they'd taken out of a sick turtle.

"That's not a jellyfish. That's a plastic bag!" said Wayan. "Why do you eat plastic, King Galih? It's not food!"

King Galih explained: "You see Wayan turtles can't see well. To us, a plastic bag looks just like a jellyfish."

Then, the King asked a favour: "Could you help us? Could you tell people not to use plastic bags and straws anymore? Could you tell them what you've seen here? Please. We need your help. Without it, we will die."

Wayan bowed to the King and promised that he would do his best to help the turtles. He held onto Bintang's back and returned to his village. On their journey, they saw lots of plastic bags in the water and YES! They DID look like jellyfish.

Wayan suddenly understood that the villagers had become blind to the plastic around them.

He realised that things needed to change. He called a meeting and told the villagers about his adventure and all the things he had seen.

That night, new rules were made:
• Plastic straws, bags, bottles and cups are banned.
• Don't burn plastic.
• Don't bury plastic in the ground.
• Clean the beaches, rice fields and village.
• Make useful things from the collected plastic trash.
• Collect plastic from the sea instead of fish.
• Don't catch or eat fish until the sea is clean.

It was hard work, and for a while, people didn't eat fish: only fruit, vegetables and rice. Finally, after three years of cleaning, there was no more plastic polluting the rice fields or sea.

People had turned plastic into useful things like tables and chairs. They no longer used single-use plastic straws or water bottles. Instead of plastic straws, they used bamboo straws. Instead of plastic bags, they used bags made from fabric that could be used again and again. Instead of plastic water bottles and cups, they used reusable ones, like glass.

The villagers understood that they were part of nature. If the animals and earth were healthy, the villagers would be healthy too. If the animals and earth were sick, they would also be sick.

After three years, there were thousands of fish again: big ones and small ones, grey ones and colourful ones.

The villagers stopped being sick. The fish and turtles were healthy too. The people were happy. The earth was happy. The ancestors were happy. And so was the ocean.

Activities: 1. Where does Wayan live? 2. What colour is the sand? 3. T rue or False. Wayan's grandfather and father are fishermen. 4. What does 'Bintang' mean? 5. Why is King Galih sick? 6. What does King Galih ask Wayan to do? 7. What rules do the villagers make? 8. How long do they stop fishing for? 9. Did you like the story? Why/ why not? 10. How can you help King Galih and the turtles?