Sameeksha Bhattarai, founder of Project Compassionate Nepal, says that veganism—and her quest to help others in her community of Kathmandu choose a plant-based lifestyle–has been one of the biggest battles of her life. Despite the hardship, however, she refuses to shy away from the effort.
“I love doing this battle because it’s something I believe in and I know I will be able to save innocent animals, protect nature, and also the health of people. I believe a just world can only exist when speciesism ends. All beings in this planet stand equal. No one has the right to hurt another sentient being. A just world can only be created when we all become equal through compassion. It will only happen when [we] become a voice for the voiceless.”
Bhattarai’s incredible passion for veganism—so apparent in the quote above—stems from her deep love of animals and the environment.
“This project is very important to me because I have always been a huge animal lover and an environmentalist. My project focuses on the end goal of veganism, which is the only way animals are saved and the environment is protected.”
In particular, Bhattarai is committed to educating her fellow Nepalese about the dairy industry, since many of them do not believe the industry has cruel practices.
“Most people in Nepal believe dairy is totally cruelty free, while I know how cruel it is. My project is needed to save humanity, save the planet, and save the lives of people and animals.
I know this need exists because if it didn’t, there wouldn’t be growing rates of veganism all across the globe. And this awareness [needs to be brought] to the people of my country, too.”
In addition to handing out leaflets, Bhattarai and her followers support “Cubes of Truth” with Anonymous for the Voiceless, a group of activists in Guy Fawkes masks that stand in a square shape in the middle of Kathmandu showing videos of cruelty from Nepal’s dairy industry on laptops.
This supports Bhattarai’s secondary goal of amplifying the voices of young animal rights activists, in hopes of creating new activists. The project also raises awareness among teachers and students through presentations about animal rights, the growing trend of veganism, as well as its benefits to people’s health and the environment. In addition, the project helps vegan tourists who want to visit Nepal and are looking for vegan food options.
“I have witnessed many positive changes in people through [the work] myself…[Though] we cannot force people to change their lifestyle, we can at least make them know what’s happening.”
With her grant from TPP, which was awarded to Bhattarai in September of last year, she started developing a website, filmed documentaries about the dairy industry, and continued to make presentations in schools and distribute leaflets.
Bhattarai recently shared how much being a part of TPP means to her:
“The Pollination Project is an amazing project with supportive and amazing people. For them, it’s mostly about the positive outcome. It’s amazing how they understand the problems that are occurring in the personal lives of grantees as well. Honestly, The Pollination Project feels like being home with amazing family.”
We are so happy to have supported Bhattarai and Project Compassionate Nepal in their efforts to spread compassion to all animals—both human and non-human—in Kathmandu.
For more information about Project Compassionate Nepal, please visit https://www.facebook.com/PCompassionatenepal/