Along with life and other properties, people of Sindhupalchok lost their toilets in the devastating Earthquake of April 2015. However, due to their habit of using toilet, they're doing whatever they could to revive their toilet.
The hygiene and sanitation status in the rural countryside is usually poor. After the massive campaign by UN Habitat through the support of Global Sanitation Fund, and local implementing partners--SEBAC Nepal and Janahit--the district was about to declare Open Defecation Free (ODF) on the last week of April 2015. However, the earthquake that appeared swept almost everything, including toilets. The repeated aftershocks that followed damaged the remaining toilets among other properties.
Despite the disaster, people are using their toilets by all means. The campaign has imprinted deep impression of sanitation behavior among people. Those villagers who used to go to the nearby forest, or crop field for defecation before, are now using their makeshift toilets. It is indeed a great leap forward.
After the disaster, people's endeavor to revive their toilet has a great variety. Some people are using available grass, tree branches or leaves for making temporary walls. Likewise, others are even using stone slates to plastic to make their toilet pan usable.
Moreover, some toilets are even riskier for people. Those toilet include the broken heavy stone wall of the toilet posing potential danger to the lives of those users.
The massive ODF campaign of UN Habitat together with Janahit has profound effect in building a habit of defecating in toilet among the people of Sindhupalchok. Now, even after the disaster, the urge to use the broken toilet is indicator of peoples' concern for using toilet.
A local NGO of Sindhupalchok, Janahit is now implementing Toilet Revival Campaign in Irkhu and Kubinde VDCs under UN Habitat's CERF project.
