Poor and Marginalized Dominant Ward Wins the ODF Race
Ward no. 3 of Inaruwa Municipality was declared as the first ODF Ward on 23rd of March, 2013. With strong determination, continous hard work and belief, the communities of Ward no. 13 in support of Lumanti WASH and its local partner – CDO Sunsari and in coordination with Inaruwa Municipality made it possible and finally the day came on 23rd of March, 2013.
To grace the event, there was huge community participation from every community of the ward. Each community was represented by their TLOs (Tole Lane Organizations) and participated in the rally with banner and local ethnic and cultural representations. Other activities like group dance and solo dance were the attractions of the event along with ODF Declaration Rally with elephants.
Chief Guest of the ceremony Mr. Rajendra Dev Pandey, Local Development Officer of Sunsari District expressed his happiness that Inaruwa municipality has seen its first ward level ODF and congratulated to all who have participated in this cause.
The Executive Officer of Inaruwa municipality expressed his happiness and congratulated all in the community of Ward no. 3 for being so participatory and making the ward ODF. He shared his experiences of earlier challenges and difficulties faced in the same Ward but later with the initiation of Lumanti and support of everyone, it finally became possible what everyone had dreamt of. He also said that if such active participation is seen in other communities and wards too, then it will not be difficult to declare City level ODF by the end of 2013.
Sarbagya Shrestha, Programme Manager Water Aid Nepal-Urban, also congratulated everyone for being successful in the declaration of ODF. He said that the literacy and WASH campaign can be given an Integrated approach so that declaration of ODF would be easier and at the same time, the literacy rate of Sunsari district be also raised to achieve the 100% Literacy target.
President of Community Development Organization Mr. Rajan Mehta said that in the 21st century when half of the world is talks about innovations in technologies and living standard, we are in that part of the world, where we still persuade people for construction and use of latrines. He shared the hard time, which everyone faced to convince the people of ward no. 3 for practicing hygienic behaviours and using improved sanitation and water facilities. But, with continous effort of all and active participation of the community, it became easier to work with the people in communities.
Programme Manager-WASH, Lumanti Support Group for Shelter, Mr. Rajesh Shrestha thanked all of the people from ward no. 3 for being so participative and supportive to make the sanitation campaign successful. He added that without the kind support of the Executive Officer, Inaruwa Municipality and President of Community Development Organization it would have be quite tougher to work in achieving this target in such a short period of working time. He congratulated everyone who is responsible for making this possible in mere six months. He emphasized on the sustainability and functionality of ODF for true achievement and that the sanitation and hygiene behaviour change in the people living in communities would also play vital role in sustainability of ODF.
The Municipal Office-Inaruwa announced Rs. 25,000/- prize money to the Ward WASH-CC for being the first ward to declare ODF in the municipality.
Other dignitaries were Executive Office-Inaruwa Municipality Mr. Manahari Baral, Water Aid Nepal, Programme Manager-Urban, Mr Sarbagya Shrestha, Lumanti Support Group for Shelter, Programme Manager-WASH, Mr. Rajesh Shrestha, Project Coordinator-Lumanti Biratnagar, Mr. Pralhad Timalsina and his team, Project Coordinator-Lumanti Itahari, Mr. Surya Kumar Khadka and his team, President of Citizen Forum Biratnagar, Mr. Mohan Bhattarai and his team, President of CDO-Sunsari Mr. Rajan Mehta, representatives of various political parties and people of media. The event was also graced by the Regional Team of Water Aid, Ms. Therese and Mr. Arjen, Water Aid Nepal, Programme Officer-Rural, Mr. Nirjal Dhakal, Representative of Nepal Water for Health (NEWAH).
Sunsari district, in alignment with the National Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan-2011, Government of Nepal, is set to achieve the goal of Total Sanitation by acquiring Open Defecation Free (ODF) status in district level by 2015. Likewise, Inaruwa municipality has also aimed to reach the ODF status within the confined time. Ward no. 3 of Inaruwa municipality has one of highest number of communities in it, and most of the communities belong to the poor, marginalized and backward group of people. Inaruwa municipality has always been a challenge site to work for Sanitation and Hygiene and Ward no. 3 is regarded as the most difficult intervention. No one had belief that a program like ODF would be ever conducted in this ward.
The ODF declaration in ward no. 3 has benefitted 741 households. The total population of this ward is 4410 in which 2144 are male and 2266 are female.
The ODF program also became an opportunity to highlight the Literacy Campaign being launched in Sunsari District to make it the first district with 100% literacy rate. Almost everyone among the guests urged to the community to take both the Sanitation and Literacy campaign together so that it will be easier to achieve both the goals soon.