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