World Vision Nepal

Kusalta, 12, a World Vision sponsored girl, lives by a beautiful lake in Nepal’s foothills of Kaski. She loves to go swimming and boating in Rupa Lake, famous for its fish life and the white lotus flower. Kusalta and the villagers of Jamankuna take pride in the lake and the beauty it’s given to their small village.

Kusalta says, “This place, Jamankuna may look and feel beautiful now, but it was not the same before. The surrounding jungle had a very foul smell and people avoided coming to Rupa Lake.”

Over 20 houses surrounding Jamankuna village did not have toilets. For years, the villagers defecated in the open, thus accumulated pollution produced bad smell in the area, hampering the beauty of the place. The foul smell had started to pose some health threats to the villagers too. In mid summer, the whole place would smell even fouler. There came a stage where people couldn’t even walk because of the pollution. Villagers had to walk more up in the jungle as the nearby places were all filled with faecal matters.

Kusalta’s father is abroad working as a labourer and comes home once every two months. She lives with her mother and her elder sister Safalta, 13, who she says is also her best friend. Safalta says, “Our village is covered by a thick jungle. For years, the jungle was my toilet. Even though I feared going there, everyone went there and I had no other choice but to take my sister there too.”

Girls of Kusalta’s age, not only feared using the open toilets, as they were growing they developed shyness too. Fear of leeches in the rainy season, going alone at night time, feeling shy in the day time were some of the discomforts they felt.

Since Kusalta’s house is situated right at the mouth of the jungle, there were nights when the family had sleepless nights because of the smell.

Kusalta and the other growing up young girls’ numerous fears came to an end when World Vision supported every house with toilets in Jamankuna, three years ago. Now every house has a toilet.

Villagers are happy that they no more have to walk long distances to relieve themselves. Kusalta and her family is one of them. Her mother says, “We had gotten used to it. But as my daughters were growing up, I had started to feel bad for them. I’ve had my own share of fears, and the worst one was having diarrhoea. It would be like a curse to everyone in the village. Kusalta’s association with World Vision has now made us privileged ones to use toilets at our houses.”

Now that every house has a toilet in Jamankuna village, Rupa Lake is suffering less from foul smell. Villagers have been able to keep their surroundings clean. They no more fear going out in the jungle.

Kusalta and Safalta take turns to help their mother clean the toilet. Kusalta not only cleans her toilet but also goes around her village, advising people to keep their toilets clean and use them.

“I remember vividly how World Vision had oriented us on using the toilets and the advantages of having one. I want to keep the memory fresh in their minds,” adds Kusalta

Happily Kusalta concludes, “I want to thank World Vision for helping us build toilets at our homes. I can see our village getting cleaner by the day. We have been able to keep our village clean and conserve the beauty of the lake. Now I have a toilet at home which I can use anytime I want and I have good night sleep too.”

World Vision Australia funded Kaski ADP has been supporting the improvement of community health through various initiatives such as constructing toilets with an emphasis of improving sanitation in all its working areas.