By: Bidur Giri

Indian actress Shabana Azmi visited Nepal as a brand ambassador against the HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis, Nepali actress Jharana Thapa increased pride of our country by participating in a conference held in New Delhi, India as the sanitation brand ambassador. Jharana Thapa, who was nominated sanitation brand ambassador by the End Water Poverty Campaign, participated in the South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN) III held in India recently.

She drew the attention of policy makers, politicians and VIPs in the conference towards the problems caused by lack of sanitation. In the conference held in the ‘Bigyan Bhavan’ of New Delhi she stressed to establish sanitation as a basic right. She discussed that around 5,000 children around the world are losing their lives annually due to lack of sanitation. She expressed her concerns in decreasing child mortality by improving sanitation. All the countries present in the conference expressed commitments to make programmes on improving sanitation seriously. On the occasion, actress Thapa expressed commitment to move forward hand in hand for the End Water Poverty Campaign continuously.

After her participation in the conference, Jharana Thapa is not only involved in making speeches on sanitation. Whenever she visits villages for shooting or personal visit nowadays, she asks, "Is there a toilet or not? Is it clean or not? "Do you wash your hands with soap and water after going to the toilet?" Most of the villages lack toilets and if there are, they are not enough. The girls suffer more than boys for not having toilet. Many girls in the villages do not go to their school during their periods for the lack of toilet in schools. Most of the schools in villages do not have toilets and the schools having toilets do not have separate toilets for boys and girls. One feels uneasy at the time of periods when there is no toilet. "Due to toilet problem, many girl students do not drink water during school hours," said Jharana, adding, "The girl students feel uncomfortable during periods and toilet problem might cause mental problem." Jharana advises the girl students not to feel ashamed and talk to the school management to arrange separate toilets for them.
Jharana herself has experiences of problems a woman has to face for not having a toilet. Jharana said, "I also had to search for a toilet in many places while in outdoor shooting locations. So, I am arranging for a mobile toilet in my home production to be used in shooting. She added, "I am also initiating to include social messages of sanitation in my films." While going to hotels, she usually observes whether the kitchen is clean or not, whether the water is covered or not.  People can be safe from nearly half the diseases if they show concern on sanitation. Jharana Thapa, the No. 1 actress of Nepali film industry, has urged all the people to show concern on sanitation.

Source: Nepal Samacharpatra, February 18, 2009