Youth WASH Concern Workshop- VII series

Youth WASH Concern Workshop- VII series

Two days Youth WASH Concern workshop (WCW) was successfully conducted on 21^st and 22^nd December 2013 organized by Paschim Paaila and ENPHO at Thames College. There were 22 youth participants from different college of Kathmandu valley. The overall objective of the WCW is to enhance the knowledge of WASH and disaster, to empower the capacities, motivate among youth and to boost the leadership capacities among the youth.

The program was coordinated by Mr. Roshan Chaulagain. The facilitators for the whole WCW were Mr. Bipin Dangol, Program Manager ENPHO on “Water management” and Mr. Raman Nepali Activist on “WASH youth leadership”, Mr. Phurba Sange Moktan, District WASH Coordinator UN-HABITAT on “Sanitation Commons and Triggering”, Ms. Kamala KC, Executive Board member PP on “Health and hygiene and Behavior change communication”, Ms. Merina Shakya, Project Officer ENPHO on WASH on Disaster, Mr. Buddha Bajracharya, Network coordinator on “Water and health”.

Two days workshop highlighted many aspects of WASH such as participants were able to know detail knowledge about food hygiene and menstrual hygiene as well. The session were conducted through various tools and techniques such as PowerPoint presentations, audio visuals, different group works, sharing of the cases, games, demonstration etc. during the sessions all the participants had active and energetic participation. At the end of the all session there were group work to collect the feedback and to develop WASH action project which participants committed to complete in near future with the technical support of Paschim Paaila.

WASH Leadership Hiking 7th Series at Nagarjun Height

On the occasion of World Toilet Day 2013 Paschim Paaila organized hiking at Nagarjun Height. There were 90 energetic hikers from various institutions and parts of Kathmandu valley to celebrate World Toilet Day. The Resource person for the event was Mr. Himmat Singh Lekali. The main objective of the event was to learn with Fun on WASH issues and to boost the Leadership among the participants. The event was full fun with many leadership activities and WASH knowledge. The participants of the event were divided into four group named as Water group (Blue), Sanitation group (Red), Hygiene group (Green) and Rapid Responders (Orange) respectively.

The event was facilitated by Mr. Buddha Bajracharya. The whole day event included WASH quiz, balloon game, some games of rope etc. which were facilitated by Lekali Himmat Singh, Buddha Bajracharya and Roshan Chaulagain. Since there were some games, adding all points of each group, Sanitation group was declared as winner of the event. The event also included sharing of Mr. Lekali's motivational speech.

During the hiking the Hikers enjoyed the natural beauty of the Nagarjun Height. At the beginning of the Hiking some of the participants felt tired but as soon as all the participants reached top of the Nagarjun and viewed the mesmerizing Mountains just right in front of them all the tiring moments were forgotten. The whole hiking was package of fun with learn, so the hikers found the event very much fruitful and motivational.

Written By: Ms. Urmila Lama

Deusi Vaailo for School-WASH (SWASH) Campaign-2070

On the auspicious occasion of Tihar festival 2070 Paschim Paaila organized two days Deusi Vaailo Program on 1^st and 4^th, November 2013. The program was organized with a motive to develop good fellowship and strengthen bonding between the Paailas of Paschim Paaila and different supporting organizations and individuals; likewise the next main objective was raising funds for the effective conduction of School-WASH (SWASH) campaign.

 After the successful completion of the Construction of Community level (2000 liters) Bio-sand filter at Pathivara Tole, a Peri-urban squatter community in Kapan VDC of Kathmandu district with the fund raised from "Vaailo for Cause-2069". This year as well Paschim Paaila successfully organized "Deusi Vaailo for School-WASH (SWASH) Campaign-2070". Therefore, to disseminate information regarding WASH among school going students, youth of Paschim Paaila Played Deusi Vaailo at the aagaan of different organization and individuals.

There were more than 25 energetic Paailas involved for the grand success of Deusi Vaailo Program. The program was facilitated by Mr. Buddha Bajracharya Network Coordinator of Paschim Paaila. The contributors for Deusi Vaailo Program were ENPHO, CEN, Mr. Om Prasad Gautam, Mr. Murali Gopal Ranjitkar, Mr. Rabin Bastola with whom Paschim Paaila played Deusi Vaailo with great fun and entertainment.  

Deusi Vaailo was played with informative Deusi Vaailo songs, Drama and various single, free and group dances which created very delightful environment at the aagan of all the organizations and individuals.  While asking about feeling regarding the Deusi Vaailo Program with Event Coordinator for Deusi Vaailo Ms. Urmila Lama, she said," I am very much happy with the success of this program and would like to thank all the Paailas for their service above self, really youth power is greater than all."  

"Food Hygiene Practice in Nepal; an Experience from Formative Research" WASH Forum 25th Series

WASH Forum 25^th series was conducted at ENPHO hall on 30^th August 2013 on topic "Food Hygiene Practice In Nepal; An Experience from Formative Research" with an objective is to share the knowledge and experience of formative research on food hygiene; and analyze critically on issues of food hygiene and its practices in Nepal.                  

Mr. Om Prasad Gautam, Public Health Expert of Nepal, Principal Investigator (PI) and from London school of hygiene and tropical medicine (LSHTM) was the key speaker for Discussion forum with 35 energetic youths from Public health, Environment science and Social science sector. Mr. Gautam shared his knowledge and experience regarding the interventional research recently being implemented at Baluwa and Naya Gaun VDC of Kavre District among the mothers having children's between 6 month and under 5 years. Mr. Gautam highlighted the importance of Food hygiene in all levels, especially for children's.  He motivated the youths to spread awareness of Food hygiene as it is one of the most important health issues in the present scenario in our country.

Mr. Gautam said that "changing behavior is very hard .It depends on the nature of setting. The old methods of raising awareness are not suitable, the approach and Setting should be known before implementation." Formative research on food hygiene matters as diarrhea is still 2^nd largest killing disease which is directly linked with food hygiene. He told the new idea for awareness.

In his slides he included the factors contributing for foodborne infection the previous and present changes in food hygiene handling practices of mothers after the interventional research and implementation of behavior changing approaches. The whole session was very much interactive and informative; the youth got to learn many new approaches and information. There was also shown short video regarding the critical times where mothers neglected the proper Hygiene Practices. He also introduced how the behavior of people can be changed in effective way.

Mainly question rose about the formative research regarding sustainabily, effect of education on food hygiene. He replied that it would be implemented in 4 district of Nepal. If it becomes effective then it would be implemented in other places. VDC, FCHVs will contribute in it. He told that Behavior of people affect in food hygiene. Which should be changed and they should be motivated to be ideal mother. 

The programme was then concluded by one of the supportive Paaila Ms. Susmita Paudel former Advocacy Coordinator. Overall program was facilitated by Mr. Roshan Chaulagain and the program was ended with group photo and interaction with participants.

 

Youth Day Celebration with Talk Program on “Scope and Role of Youth in Environment and Health Sector with Bhushan Tuladhar”

Youth Group photo

On the special occasion of International Youths Day (IYD) 12^th august, 2013, Paschim Paaila organized a Talk program on Scope and Role of youth in the sector of Environment and Health with Mr. Bhusan Tuladhar, Environmentalist as resource person for the program.  

Token Of love to Bhushan Sir

Mr.Buddha Bajracharya, Network Coordinator of Paschim Paaila welcomed all the 48 energetic youth from various backgrounds with brief objective of talk program as to get motivated and inspired by Bhushan sir regarding role and scope of youth in sector of environment and health with Grand celebration of IYD with Paschim Paaila. 

Mr. Tuladhar started his session focusing on the role of youth rather than scope with fact that, “Youths are not future but present among them top 5% are in this room.” Youths are for today i.e. youth’s empowerment should be utilized for today. He further focused on how one can utilize the resources that they have. He raised three questions in that case, Where are we? Where do we want to go? And how can we reach there? He mentioned that most of people get confused on where they are? So one should first know that where they are in the present situation.

During the program

He also talked about SWOT/C (Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat/Challenges) in which SW is the internal factor whereas OT is the external factor. He listed as a youth of Nepal, strength of youth from among the youth present in the program which were Unity, Hard working, Energetic, Enthusiastic, Volunteering, Patriotism, Skill and Knowledge, Decision making power, Hopefulness and Patience, Honesty, Self confidence, Cooperative and Optimistic. Among all these points, he focused in the point Optimistic the most.

Similarly, the weakness of youth were listed as Negative Attitude, Confusion, Hopelessness, Lack of patience, Blaming other, Aggressiveness, Jealousy, Low self esteem, Selfishness, Afraid of initiation, Stubborn, Bounding in making decision, Selfish politics, Communication problem and so on. The youths should always focus on positive attitude rather than negative attitude so that they can understand themselves that where they are right now Mr. Tuladhar suggested. He mentioned Success is 90% attitude and 10 % work. Success can start with own strength. He further talked about the entrepreneurship.

He inspired the youth to be proactive along with volunteer spirit. "Don’t depend on other to tell you that what you should do this or that." One should think in a broad way that how he/she can do something different than other.

Participant Interacting

The program moved towards discussion where participants raised lots of queries "what may be the possible threats in the sector of environment and public health? Are they vulnerable?" and the solution were also given to those queries as we must remember “Russian Rule” that “I must do it in order to get rid of it”, must have willingness to learn, courage to make mistake and confidence or pair of support may be missing. Also asked by participant as she wants to do something innovative but have no confidence and what she can do in that case? One of the participants gave suggestion that stand in front of mirror and say that "I am the one I can do, today is my day and start it today." In between of smile and non smile, there is a gap and that gap is the great thing that motivates yourself and other.

At the end of the program Mr. Tuladhar was appreciated with Token of love. Likewise Mr. Bajracharya Thanked all the participants and resource person for making the program a grand success and also collected feedback to make to program more effective in the future with sharing about Emergency Relief Fund (ERF). Some of the youth donated some amount for ERF. Finally a group photo was taken and the floor was closed.

WASH and Emergency July series

WASH Forum July series in titled “WASH and Emergency” was successfully conducted on 26^th July, 2013 at ENPHO Hall. Mr. Rajesh Shrestha, Program manager of Lumanti was the resource person for the event.

The program started with warm welcome by Mr. Roshan Chaulagain Advocacy Coordinator of Paschim Paaila. Welcome speech was given by Project coordinator of ENPHO, Mr. Ash Kumar Khaitu and he mentioned that “Youth loves honor and victory than wealth”.

Resource person, Mr. Rajesh Shrestha started session with experience of WASH and emergency while working at UNICEF for the people suffered from flood during 2004 Koshi Flood. He explained about the disaster, its management cycle and Sphere guideline that can be used in case of emergency. Further he explained about WASH mitigation and the preparedness that we should apply in order to be safe in case of disaster.

Then the session was headed towards discussion where participants asked lots of queries. The queries were related works and helps being given to the people living in Koshi after the Koshi flood and the clarification was given as regular WASH programs are being run after the Koshi flood as they were free from disaster but still needs awareness. Another participant asked that in case of emergency, should we care sustainability or not and he replied that according to disaster and epidemic nature after applying WASH and Emergency for either three or six month, it is send for sustainability.

 

The whole information obtained was summarized by Mr. Buddha Bajracharya, Network Coordinator of Paschim Paaila. And Token of Love was distributed to Mr. Rajesh Shrestha, the resource person by Ms. Urmila Lama, The Paaila of the Year 2012/13. Finally a group photo was taken and the floor was closed.

Annual Sharing Meeting of Paschim Paaila

Annual Sharing meeting of Paschim Paaila on the occasion of 4^th anniversary was held at 20^th July, 2013 at ENPHO hall, Thapagaun on Saturday. Paschim Paaila is an informal youth network focused on environmental health with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and disasters/epidemics as social concern which was formed on July 17, 2009 after the outbreak of Diarrhea/Cholera epidemic in Mid and Far Western region of Nepal with a youthful spirit of selfless volunteer service.

After the warm welcome by MC Ms. Karuna Bhattarai, Guests and all the participants were chaired. The Guest were Mr. Phurba Sange Moktan, President of Paschim Paaila, Mr. Giri Raj Khatri, Past President of Paschim Paaila, Mr. Bipin Dangol, Program Manager of ENPHO and Mr. Prajwol Shrestha, Program Manager of ENPHO Mr. Raman Nepali, Youth Activist, Mr. Anil Shrestha, Youth Activist, Mr. Om Prasad Gautam, Researcher,.

Ms. Kamala KC, Past Campaign Coordinator and active paaila of Paschim Paaila welcomed all the participants continuing the program by documentary screening entitled "The candles for water". Ms. Merina Shakya, Network Coordinator of Paschim Paaila, started the Annual Sharing starting with its introduction, vision, mission and objectives. The key activities like impact study of Su-Swastha pariyojana, series of wash concern workshop, wash forum, etc. with glimpse of Paschim Paaila were shared. Milestones like deusi bhailo, WASH awareness raising toolkit, SWASH Campaign and successful celebration of 4^th anniversary of Paschim Paaila with inter school drawing competition and Diyo lightening at Swyambhu were shared.

Ms.  Urmila Lama was declared as Paaila of the year 2012/13 announced by Mr. Dangol giving her congratulation and best wishes. Certificates to the participants of Drawing competition, WASH Concern Workshop and Awareness raising toolkit implementation was then distributed.

Then Paaila Idea Fund 2013, basket fund innovated by the paailas handed over to 2-3 genuine ideas in the field of WASH and Disaster. This time the fund was provided to Mr. Regan Sapkota for "Mahila Ka Paaila" and Mr. Niroj Maharjan for "Blood Pressure Weight Monitoring and WASH Awareness Camp."

The Annual sharing again resumed with the declaration by Ms. Merina Shakya to hand over the Network Coordinator post to Mr. Buddha Bajracharya for the fiscal Year 2013/14. Certificate to the volunteers of School WASH (SWASH) campaign, Drama and those who helped in the coordination of events for 4^th Anniversary of Paschim Paaila was distributed.

Mr. Bipin Dangol, then shared the guest remark where he suggested Paschim Paaila to never lose the essence i.e. Youth spirit and Volunteerism i.e. if they are placed parallel then only Paschim Paaila can sustain. He even requested to include as much as more paailas who were there at the beginning of the initiative, because their knowledge and experience can also help Paschim paaila to move forward.

 Mr. Raman Nepali and Mr. Anil Shrestha as a guest energized the participants with their motivational speech and various examples which indeed added an extra gem to the annual sharing of Paschim Paaila.  Mr. Giri raj Khatri shared, the journey next is not easy but if all of us are committed then it is not so difficult as well. Mr. Buddha Bajracharya shared ongoing activities, Pipeline activities and avenues wise future planning of Paschim Paaila.

 Mr. Phurba Sange Moktan, President of Paschim Paaila, Mr. Om Prasad Gautam and Mr. Prajwol Shrestha inspired and showed the way ahead with their innovative ideas. Their presence has always leaded Paschim Paaila to a way forward and will always is how Ms. Merina Shakya addressed their support and words.

The Annual Sharing was then followed by cake cutting ceremony along with some photos. 

Written By: Manisha Thapaliya

Young steps for epidemic free Nepal Marking 4th Anniversary of Paschim Paaila

Young steps for epidemic free Nepal Marking 4th Anniversary of Paschim Paaila

Paailas for Epedimic Free Nepal

“The journey that started to control diarrhea epidemic at Jajarkot and western part of Nepal in 2009 has continued for four years and will continue till we achieve epidemic free Nepal,” committed Buddha Bajracharya, Campaign coordinator at Paschim Paaila in “Diyo Lightning Program” at Swayambhunath on 17th July organized to celebrate 4th Anniversary of Paschim Paaila marking Peace of all departed soul due to Epidemic and Disaster in Nepal.

                                                                        “When we started our journey we did not do big things, we just distributed Piyush and Jeevan jal. It looks simple but this helped in overcoming the epidemic,” shared Giri Khatri, Immediate past president of Paschim Paaila. He also urged all the participants to join hands for achieving the goal of epidemic free Nepal. “We youths need to identify where we are needed the most, is it these less vulnerable urban areas or those vulnerable rural areas?” he motivated all.

 Bhusan Sir joining Paailas

Paailas (volunteers of Paschim Paaila) from different area and time period along with wannabe paailas and other supporters of Paschim Paaila team gathered at Swayabhunath and wished for its successful completion of four years and prayed peace to all the departed soul due to epidemic and disasters in Nepal on different time periods.

Environmentalists Bhusan Tuladhar and Shriju Pradhan along with employees of Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO) joined the program to motivate all the Paailas to continue their good work. Congratulating Paschim Paaila for their four years completion, Kamal Tara Bajracharya, Youth Focal Person from Family Planning Association Nepal (FPAN) expressed that FPAN is willing to work in coordination with youths. Merina Shakya, Network coordinator of Paschim Paaila thanked all supporters and well-wishers and expected to get continuous help from all. Bhintuna Shrestha from Resource Centre Network Nepal (RCNN) praised all the activities of Paschim Paaila and wished for further development of team and epidemic free Nepal.

All the participants expressed their commitment to contribute for the epidemic free Nepal and light diyo to pray peace to the departed souls caused by epidemic.

The program ended with a group photograph with the slogan “Epidemic free Nepal: Let’s not face another epidemic in Nepal.”

By: Pratap Maharjan and Buddha Bajracharya

Inter School Drawing competition

Inter School Drawing competition celebrating 4th Anniversary of Paschim Paaila

To mark the 4^th Anniversary of Paschim Paaila, an informal youth Network, Inter school Drawing competition was organized on 16^th July 2013 at Spangle Boarding School, Kalikasthan with the Theme; "Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for me" d]/f] nflu kfgL / ;/;kmfO{. Many schools from Kathmandu Valley with two students from each school had participated where even volunteers accompanied.

Mr. Krishna Malla and Mr. Giri Raj Khatri was the Judge for the Competition where creativeness, relativeness with the theme and attractiveness were the parameter for the selection of the winner. Ms. Puspita Pariyar from Spangle Boarding School, Ms. Shruti Tamang from Shree Geeta Mata Higher Secondary School and Ms. Sona Dheke of Prime Academy were positioned First, second and third respectively. Similarly Ms. Bittu Chaurasiya of Albert English Secondary and Mr. Nhuja Kiju of Prabhat English School was the consolation prize winner.

The session was energized with the team members of Paschim Paaila and was ended with the certificate distribution to the participants, appreciating the honorary jury members and Spangle Boarding School for their help and support. Prize to the winners were to be distributed on the 4^th Annual sharing program of Paschim Paaila on 20^th July, 2013 at Enpho Hall.

 By: Manisha Thapaliya

Youth WASH Concern Workshop VI series

Youth WASH Concern Workshop VI series

Participants of Youth WASH Concern Workshop VI series

WASH Concern workshop is an interactive attempt of Paschim Paaila to incorporate youth in WASH. Here youth from different colleges were gathered to share their views and to boost up their knowledge in WASH. The VI series of WASH concern Workshop was conducted on 6^th July 2013 at Thames College with total of 24 participants.

Mr. Ash Kumar Khaitu from ENPHO, Mr. Phurba Sange Moktan from UN-HABITAT and Mr. Sarbagya Shrestha from Water Aid Nepal were the key speaker of the Workshop.

Youths during the sessions

The program began with warm welcome from Event Coordinator Mr. Buddha Bajracharya who introduced Paschim Paaila , its vision, objectives, past activities, recent activities, upcoming plan and goal.. Mr. Ash Kumar Khaitu from ENPHO started the session of "Water and hygiene including youth" where he discussed about Open defecation free (ODF), quality maintenance of water, some facts and figures about coverage of water in public and water pollution.

The second session which was of personal hygiene and health was facilitated by Mr. Phurba Sange Moktan from UN-HABITAT who started the session with the comparison of human mind with the glass. Then description on personal hygiene was discussed. The session had lots of group works.

In the session mode of transmission of feaces and what and where can be the barrier to stop the transmission, critical condition of hand washing and hand washing technique were discussed. Different energizer games were played to entertain the participants.

Engagement in Games and Group work

The third session was of sanitation and waste management including role of youth which was facilitated by Mr. Sarbagya Shrestha from Water Aid Nepal. The session was started with the experience sharing from participants on open defecation. Mr. Shrestha then defined sanitation and its types; Improved sanitation, on site sanitation, Food sanitation, Environmental sanitation and Ecological sanitation.

Some facts about sanitation of our country were revealed during the session i.e. 62% of rural school has at least one toilet. 29% of total waste generated is generated by Kathmandu valley only. And only 45 % of total waste generated is collected. He also shared some triggering method in order to make people aware about need and importance of sanitation. Some live examples of proper utilization of waste were also discussed during the session.

Active Involvements of youths

He concluded youth as key for social change, most energetic and proactive age of life, critical mass for action and present leaders. The session was ended with the individual commitment of the participants and feedback collection. Participants rated the workshop as interactive, fun filled and informative.

WASH FORUM (monthly talk program)

WASH FORUM (monthly talk program)

June Series

Talk program on“Fecal Sludge Management – Current Need for Sustainable Sanitation”

WASH Forum is monthly talk programme on issues related to WASH, Environment sanitation and Disaster. On 28^th June 2013, with the mutual effort of Paschim Paaila and Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO), 23rd series of WASH Forum was successfully conducted in ENPHO hall with the facilitation of Mr. Roshan Chaulagain.

Mr. Bipin Dangol, Programme Manager, ENPHO was the key speaker of June series in which there were total 45 participants from different organizations, colleges and institutions . The main objectives of this series was to provide an opportunity for social interaction and knowledge sharing on fecal sludge management and to analyze critically the issues of current  fecal sludge for sustainable sanitation.

This topic is new in the context of Nepal. During the program he highlighted important information related to Fecal Sludge Management and Sustainable Sanitation. He also discussed about sanitation and current practice in Nepal. According to Census Report; among 100%, only 62% Household have their own toilet (Sewerage 8.3%, Ordinary toilet 19.5%, Septic tank 33.5%) and remaining 38% are without having toilet. He also presented the fact, Average volume of fecal sludge generated per year in Kathmandu valley is 76,600m3\year.

After completion of his Presentation part, floor was open for discussion. Different queries were raised and solved regarding the issues of social acceptance and space management for septic tank. On a question ‘What are the strategy plan of government to manage fecal sludge? ’, Mr. Dangol answered that Nepal Government has not made any strategy plan for fecal sludge management till now. The management of fecal sludge by promoting ECOSAN Toilet, off site sanitation was discussed in the mean time. He concluded the session with the Note“Policy is most important for sustainable sanitation”.

Meanwhile, the winner of Facebook photo Competition entitled “My effort to save environment, was announced . The winner of competition was Mr. Anish Sapkota from Bhairawa, and awarded a Token of Love, which was facilitated by Ms. Manusha Thapaliya, Media coordinator, Paschim Paaila. Also the upcoming events of Paschim Paaila were shared by Mr. Buddha Bajracharya, Campaign coordinator of Paschim Paaila. At the ending, Ms. Merina Shakya, Network coordinator of Paschim Paaila appreciated the efforts of Mr. Dangol and handed over the Token of Love which was followed by group photo.
                                                                                                                 - Karuna Bhattarai

WASH Forum(May Series) on " ODF movement in Nepal and National Target"

                             Know about ODF on Forum

   With the mutual effort of Paschim Paaila and Environment and Public health organization(ENPHO), WASH Forum share a common platform for knowledge sharing and advocacy regarding water, sanitation and hygiene and disaster/epidemics. In this forum, basically current issue and it even tries to address the voice of diversified youth, communities and others.

   With an objective to provide an opportunity for social interaction and knowledge in WASH and its role on development and to critically analyze Youth's role in development, May series of WASH forum entitled "ODF Movement in Nepal and National Target" was successfully conducted on 24^th May 2013.

   Mr. Guna Raj Shrestha, Executive Director of Community Development Forum was the key speaker in which there were total 21 participants. Mr. Shrestha during his sharing program highlighted the importance of ODF in all the levels. He motivated the youths to spread awareness of ODF as it is the most challenging issues in the present scenario in our country.

    During that session, Mr. Shrestha shared his long personal experience, motivational examples which really address the problem of Nepal. “Triggering tools, pressuring, reward/recognition will be the most effective to aware the people and to pass the message of WASH” he said.

   On a question raised, “How is ODF sustained where it is already declared? What about ODF in Kathmandu?” he replied, we can't change peoples’ thinking until and unless they are self aware, it is hard in Kathmandu but not impossible, as there should implement the government policy, we have to think and act seriously. Overall the program was facilitated by Mr. Roshan Chaulagain and the program was ended with group photo and interaction with participants.