Celebrating World Toilet Day 2018 - Hiking Along Bagmati Corridor

Every year, World Toilet Day is celebrated on November 19 to tackle the global crisis of sanitation with an action for significant improvement on sanitation. Globally, 4.5 billion people still practice of unsafely managed sanitation resulting in environmental pollution and risking to human health. Paschim Paaila and ENPHO jointly organized Hiking Along Bagmati Corridor on 17 November, 2018 from Sundarijal to Narayantar with an objective to observe status of Bagmati river from source to down the city.

Water quality testing was one of the key activity during hiking. Participants used ENPHO Field Water Test Kit to test water quality. Water from the river were tested at four point as Dam site, agricultural s^H value whereas increased value of ammonia and nitrate from the source point to Narayantar. Participants in the hiking while walking down to Narayantar were also engaged individually for in a group for advocacy and network building among the students and WASH activists.

ite of sundarijal, Uttarbahini temple and Narayantar. The test result showed decrease in p

Altogether 17 youths and WASH activist actively joined hiking. Apart from water quality testing, event had photo competition and creative idea sharing. The results of the competition will be announced shortly.

9th Annual Sharing Program of Paschim Paaila

Inauguration of the program

Paschim Paaila organized 9^th Annual Sharing Program on 18 August, 2018 at ENPHO Hall, Thapagaun, New Baneswor with completion of 9^th year of establishment. The sharing program had major agendas to share annual progress report of FY 2017/18 Paschim Paaila, sharing of activities of FY 2017/18, planned activities for FY 2018/19, reformation of executive board and to announcing Paaila of the Year Award.

Environmentalist Mr. Bhushan Tuladhar, Chairperson of ENPHO was Chief Guest of the program and Environmentalist Prof. Dr. Murali Gopal Ranjitkar, Chairperson of NIHE and Mr. Bipin Dangol, Executive Director of ENPHO were Special Guests of the program. Altogether, 40 participants attended the program.

The program was commenced in chairmanship of Mr. Phurba Sange Moktan, President of Paschim Paaila. Mr. Phurba Sange Moktan, Prof. Dr. Murali Gopal Ranjitkar and Mr. Bipin Dangol jointly inaugurated the program by testing water quality using P/A vial. Mr. Roshan Chaulagain, Executive Member of Paschim Paaila, welcomed Chief Guest, Guests, Senior Paailas, Paailas and all participants with welcome speech.

Network Coordinator presenting the completed activities of FY 2017/18

Ms. Anita Bhuju, Network Coordinator/ Member Secretary of Paschim Paaila, gave an introduction of Paschim Paaila and shared the activities and financial updates of 2017/18 of Paschim Paaila. The major events organized by Paschim Paaila under avenues of Network, Campaigns, Technical and Advocacy was shared during the presentation.

The new executive committee was endorsed by Mr. Phurba Moktan and handed over the presidency of Paschim Paaila to Mr. Buddha Bajracharya as new President. The reformed committee of Paschim Paaila now have Mr. Buddha Bajracharya as President, Mr. Roshan Chaulagain as Treasurer, Ms. Anita Bhuju as Member Secretary and Ms. Urmila Lama, Ms. Sabuna Gamal, Mr. Kiran Maharjan and Mr. Suman Prajapati as Executive Board Members.

President sharing the planned activities for FY 2018/19

Mr. Buddha Bajracharya, newly appointed President, presented the new organogram of Paschim Paaila and upcoming plan for FY 2018/19. Mr. Bajracharya shared about new team of Advisory Board Members, Strategic Team Members and Program Management Team. Apart from regular programs, Paschim Paaila will have new programs which include “WASH School” initiative for Capacity building through PP approach, Vermicomposting-A Youth Entrepreneurship model and “Teach For WASH” for School WASH Campaign.

Mr. Aashish Maharjan, Research and Project Development Coordinator, was awarded with “Paaila of the Year 2017/18” acknowledging the effort of volunteerism. Paschim Paaila has been acknowledging the effort of a Paaila with the “Paaila of the Year” award. Previously, 8 dedicated Paaila’s have been awarded with “Paaila of the Year” award.

Awarding "Paaila of the Year" award

Mr. Aashish Maharjan, shared the words after being awarded as Paaila of the Year 2017/18. Mr. Maharjan said “I feel very glad to be part of Paschim Paaila and the team and the appreciation I got today. The two keys that lead to success are Dedication and Passion. Also, I would like to thank all the senior paaila, Mr. Bipin Dangol sir and Mr. Phurba Sange Moktan Sir for their guidance, motivation, and support”.

During the guest speech, Chief Guest Mr. Bhushan Tuladhar, Guests Mr. Bipin Dangol, and Prof. Dr. Murali Gopal Ranjitkar remarkably shared the words of support and motivation.

Mr. Bipin Dangol, “During my visit for Workshop in Sri Lanka, I felt very happy to find Paschim Paaila in the list of organization from Nepal advocating in WASH which proves Paschim Paaila is very active in the WASH advocacy. And, I believe knowledge should be passed to next generation and I am very thankful to Paschim Paaila that I could share my 17 years of experience to youths during Youth WASH Concern Workshop.”

Group photo of 9th Annual Sharing Program

“Paschim Paaila is not small step anymore, Paschim Paaila now have capacity to jump off to bigger goals and I believe the new executive members can make it possible. And it is essential that awareness now should be taken into an action” said Mr. Bhushan Tuladhar.

The Chairperson of the program, Mr. Phurba Sange Moktan, ended program with closing remarks by thanking Cheif Guest, Guests, Senior Paailas, Paailas  and all participants and congratulating new executive team and Paaila of the Year.

9th Anniversary Celebration of Paschim Paaila

Paschim Paaila, on July 17, 2018 completed 9^th year of its establishment. On the occasion, Paschim Paaila organized World Cup Futsal on July 21, 2018 at Royal Futsal, Thapagaun, New Baneswor to celebrate 9^th Anniversary. The friendly match was held among four agencies namely, Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO), Nepalese Youth for Climate Action (NYCA), We for Change and Paschim Paaila.

Apart from friendly games among the groups, the agencies came together to celebrate youth’s energy for social services and future networking. Altogether 70 participants gathered to celebrate 9^th Anniversary of Paschim Paaila through friendly futsal match. The participation of at least one female player throughout the game, in each team, made the game more interesting.

Mr. Bipin Dangol, Executive Director of ENPHO and Mr. Phurba Sange Moktan, President of Paschim Paaila, handed Trophy to the winner (NYCA) of the game and token of love to participated agencies. 

Mr. Dangol congratulated Paschim Paaila for successful completion of 9 year of journey for epidemic free Nepal through awareness raising on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and emergency.

Paschim Paaila is an informal youth network striving towards creating epidemic free Nepal since 2009. The youth volunteers are actively engaged and dedicated to prepare, respond and mitigate disasters and epidemic through education, awareness campaigns, research and advocacy on WASH and emergency.

Youth WASH Concern Workshop XIV Series 2018

Participants introducing each other

Paschim Paaila in collaboration with Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO) organized two day workshop – training program “Youth WASH Concern Workshop-XIV Series” on 9^th and 10^th June, 2018 at Nobel College Seminar Hall, Sinamangal Kathmandu. The main objective of Youth WASH Concern Workshop is to share information regarding Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) among youths and to empower on WASH initiatives as social issues to motivate them as Youth WASH ambassador and to sensitize them on importance of WASH to create environmentally healthy community.

Leadership Activity during session break

The workshop provided knowledge on WASH along with its linkage to Emergency, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Faecal sludge and wastewater management. The workshop program involved participants for group work along with presentation from resource persons and made action plans for implementation after the workshop.

In facilitation of Paschim Paaila team and resource persons from various organizations; the workshop has been organizing with prior notice of application. Altogether 22 participants from diverse institutions and educational background actively participated in the workshop program.

Participants of Youth WASH Concern Workshop XIV Series

WASH FOURM on Knowledge on Menstrual Hygiene Management and Health Impacts

With the slogan “No More Limits”, the 6^th Menstrual Hygiene (MH) Day was celebrated worldwide on May 28, 2018. Menstrual Hygiene Day is celebrated with a motive to raise awareness on challenges that women and girls face worldwide due to their menstruation and discover solutions to combat these challenges.

Paschim Paaila in collaboration with Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO) and National Institute of Health and Environment (NIHE) organized 59^th Series of WASH FORUM entitled “Knowledge on Menstrual Hygiene Management and Health Impacts” on May 25, 2018 at ENPHO Hall. The main objective of May series forum was to share knowledge status of Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) and associated health impacts to identify areas of issues to improve MHM.

The program was commenced with introduction of Paschim Paaila, WASH FORUM, objectives of forum and with introduction of participants. The main objective of WASH Forum has always been to provide an opportunity for social interaction and knowledge sharing on different environmental and health issues in relation to WASH and disasters and to critically analyze the role of the youth in the aforementioned issues.

Mr. Gyan Maharjan, Social Activist and President of X-Pose Nepal, resided as Key Speaker for the program. Mr. Maharjan shared the experience of working as Male Activist in the sector of MHM and importance of male’s involvement in these issues to help women and girls to safely manage menstruation.

Ms. Karuna Bhattarai and Ms. Sunita Karki presented the research paper in the forum focusing on Menstrual Hygiene Management and associated health impacts. Ms. Bhattarai presented the paper entitled “Reproductive Health Problems and Health Seeking Behavior among Adolescent girls of Surkhet District in Western Nepal” and Ms. Karki shared the research paper entitled “Menstrual Hygiene Management: associated factors and implications on health of Adolescent girls of rural areas in Nepal”. Both papers highlighted on prevalence of health problems among adolescent girls due to lack of MHM knowledge.

Altogether, 25 participants attended the program. The forum was interactive with participants actively engaged in the discussions following the presentation by each of the resource persons. Participants avidly put forward their queries in relation to presented topics.

58th Series of WASH FORUM on Health Care Waste Management: Challenges and Opportunities

Every year, World Health Day is celebrated on April 7 worldwide to address public health issues. The theme of World Health Day 2018 is "Universal Health Coverage; Everyone, Everywhere". On the occasion of World Health Day, the monthly program WASH FORUM was organized on 27 April, 2018 entitled “Health Care Waste Management: Challenges and Opportunities” at ENPHO Hall. Paschim Paaila, in collaboration with ENPHO and National Institute of Health and Environment (NIHE) organized 58^th Series of WASH FORUM addressing the month of April as World Health Day. The main objective of 58^th Series of WASH Forum was to share an overview of health care waste management in Nepal with present challenges and opportunities for youth in its management.

Mr. Phurba Sange Moktan, Persident of Paschim Paaila, welcomed everyone in the FORUM and shared the idea of WASH FORUM as the learning platform for youths. Mr. Moktan highlighted the idea of initiating WASH FORUM as knowledge sharing platform.

Ms. Manju Dahal, National Open College (NOC)/NIHE and Dr. Rasna Bhatta, NIHE resided as resource person for the series. Ms. Dahal gave an overview of waste generation at health care centers. Out of total waste generation at health cares, only 20% of wastes generated are infectious and mixing of infectious waste with other wastes results in almost 100% infectious waste generation from the health care centers. The concept, budget, manpower, space, plan and policy and, strategy were highlighted as major challenges for health care waste management.

Mr. Dil Bahadur Mahara, Advisor at NIHE, said, “Health Care Waste Management is a serious issue in Nepal and especially youths have to share the knowledge of health care waste management among general public and raise awareness for improving the status” during his remarks.

Dr. Gahendra Mahara, Vice-President of NIHE, presented Token of Love to resource person. Altogether 32 youths and professionals attended the FORUM with active participation and showed keen interest on the issues during question and answer session.

57th WASH Forum on Roles of Youths for Emergency Resilience

Paschim Paaila, in collaboration with ENPHO, organized a 57^th series of WASH forum entitled ‘Role of Youths for Emergency Resilience’ on 26 January, 2018 at ENPHO Hall, New Baneshowr. This forum was organized with the objective to share brief introduction on emergency resilience, to highlight efforts for making emergency resilient community in Nepal and to show youths’ roles to make a resilient community.

Mr. Bibek Kumar Pandit, Program Director at Sangsagai, resided as resource person for the forum. Ms. Ritu Sharma, Senior RC Associate from ENPHO, welcomed the resource person and participants in the program and shared activities of ENPHO on Emergency Resilience and input of Paschim Paaila. The program was commenced with an introduction of Paschim Paaila, objective sharing of the program and introduction of participants in facilitation of Ms. Rita Thapa, Advocacy facilitator of Paschim Paaila.

The session started with an introduction of youth, and national policy related to youth. Furthermore, Mr. Pandit highlighted about resilience efforts present in Nepal.  At the end of the session, Mr. Pandit motivated the youths for initiating resilience activities regarding WASH.

“I wasn’t familiar with the situation of our country in context of WASH. This forum has helped me to enhanced my knowledge on WASH and encouraged to do more for improving WASH status of Nepal,” one of the participants remarked. Altogether, 35 participants from various colleges, organizations including ENPHO staff members attended the forum. Furthermore, question- answer session along with experience sharing of participants with resource person made the program more interactive and participatory.

Youth WASH Concern Workshop- XIII Series

Presentation by participants and Ms. Sabuna Gamal (Resource Person)

Paschim Paaila, in collaboration with ENPHO, organized two days workshop- training program on “Youth WASH Concern Workshop - XIII Series” on December 30 and 31, 2017 at Nobel College, Sinamangal, Kathmandu. The workshop-training program was organized with an objective to enhance the capacity and knowledge of youths on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), to empower on WASH initiatives as social issues to motivate them as Youth WASH ambassador and to sensitize them on importance of WASH to create environmentally healthy community.

Participants during Action Plan

Altogether 24 participants from diverse educational background and institutions actively participated in the program. During the program, Mr. Bipin Dangol, Executive Director of ENPHO shared WASH linkage with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and motivated youths to become youth leaders on WASH.

Sessions of Day 2 was focused on psychosocial knowledge in WASH and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) with leadership activity. Participants also presented innovative ideas to promote and sensitize WASH in their action plan.

Participants of WASH Concern Workshop XIII Series

In facilitation of Paschim Paaila team and resource persons from various organizations; the regular series of this workshop has been organizing with prior notice of application. Resource persons from Paschim Paaila, ENPHO and Abble-WE have joined us to make this series effective and fruitful.

56th WASH Forum on DRR- Roles of Youth and Humanitarian Agencies in Nepal

Paschim Paaila, in collaboration with ENPHO, organized 56^th Series of WASH Forum entitled “Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) - Roles of Youth and Humanitarian Agencies in Nepal” on December 29, 2017 at ENPHO Hall, Thapagaun, New Baneshwor. The main objective of the forum was to share about current status of disaster and risk reduction in Nepal, efforts of humanitarian agencies and government and, a role of youth for DRR. Ms. Janakee Kiran Shrestha, Program Officer-DRR at Oxfam, resided as resource person for the program.

Ms. Ritu Sharma, Senior RC Associate from ENPHO, welcomed resource person and participants in the program and shared activities of ENPHO on Disaster Risk Reduction and input of Paschim Paaila. The program was commenced with an introduction of Paschim Paaila, objective sharing of the program and introduction of participants in facilitation of Ms. Merina Rana Magar, Advocacy Coordinator of Paschim Paaila.

Ms. Janakee Kiran Shrestha shared about Nepal being prone to multiple hazards and Nepal ranks in 11^th position for the vulnerability of earthquake and 30^th position for flood. Also, the information on seven steps of community based DRR approach was presented during the program. The presentation of resource person ended with a motivation to youth for initiating DRR activities.

Altogether 46 participants from various colleges, organizations including ENPHO staff members attended the forum. Furthermore, question- answer session with resource person made the program more interactive and participatory.