BAJURA: Elderly citizens of Kotila VDC in Bajura are an elated lot because there are toilets in every house in the village now.  Radhika BK, an elderly citizen of Kotila VDC used the toilet for the first time in her life after the toilet construction campaign was launched in the villages of Bajura. BK, 75, answered nature’s call in a toilet for the first time in her life. “I had never used a toilet before,” she said. BK added that she did not have to worry while answering nature’s call now as she no longer had to use open space for the same.  Not only BK, almost all the elderly citizens of the VDC got the opportunity to use a toilet for the first time in their lives. This became possible after a campaign ‘one toilet for a house’ was launched in the district. “I had to go to the bushes and streams to answer nature’s call with the help of a stick,” said Sanya Damain, 78, of the VDC, adding that she did not have to fear wild animals or poisonous insects anymore.  After the campaign began, the villagers had begun to tease those locals who did not construct toilets, which was a motivation for many to build toilets in their houses, the VDC secretary said. The VDC had also announced during the campaign that elderly citizens would be deprived of facilities like allowance and others if the houses did not have toilets.  “Villagers were compelled to construct toilets after the VDC announced the elders would be deprived of allowances,” said elderly citizen Panja Damain. He said he did not take help from another family member to go to the toilet after it was constructed at his house. Social workers said the village looked clean. Health workers said villagers were also safe from wild animals. Hansa Thapa of Drinking Water and Sanitation Sub-division Office, Bajura, said the toilet construction campaign has helped elders and children the most. Twenty VDCs were announced open defecation-free areas in Bajura. Source: The Himalayan Times, 28 May 2014