This is our Second Partnership with Days for Girls, an organization increasing access to menstrual care and education and having a significant positive impact on young girls' health by tackling “period poverty” and gender inequality.

According to the World Bank, at least 500 million women and girls globally lack adequate facilities and supplies for menstrual hygiene management. Nearly 25% of all menstruators experience period poverty, meaning that they do not have what they need to manage their periods.

Research shows that girls’ inability to manage their menstrual hygiene in schools, results in school absenteeism, which in turn, has severe economic costs on their lives and that of their country. In Nepal, approximately 30 % of girls miss school each month as a result of their periods.*

On top of that, many young girls and women are forced to repeatedly use cloths and often these are not adequately washed and dried between uses, placing them at risk of urinary tract infections or other complications.

UNICEF reports that 95% of girls surveyed in Nepal's mid- and far-western regions faced some sort of restriction when having their first periods, such as Chhaupadi Pratha. Thisis an ancient custom where women and girls are sent away to isolated huts or sheds when they are on their periods or are in their postpartum period.This is because menstruation is seen as “impure” within Nepali culture. This is not just common to Nepal, but many other cultures share this perception too.

When they are forced to stay in these simple dwellings for several days it exposes them to life-threatening risks such as snake bites, physical assault, hypothermia from freezing temperatures and toxic smoke inhalation from fire fumes used to warm these sheds because of lack of ventilation. While the practice of Chaupadi is illegal in Nepal, many in the Kailali community continue the practice.

Project 49 will be supporting education sessions about the practice of Chhaupadi Pratha and heighten awareness around the negative consequences. Via Women’s Circles incorporating the local community, these sessions aim to address issues in a culturally sensitive manner.

The community-based approach and inclusion of local leadership in these programs are important because they help to ensure that our short-term investments (such as kit distribution and education sessions) also have long-term impacts (such as shifts in norms towards more supportive MH environments, including the abandonment of practices like Chaupadi).

Along with the distribution of reusable menstrual kits, this project aims to enable girls to live with dignity, keep attending school and help them break the cycle of poverty by enhancing female education.

*According to a research report by girl’s empowerment organization- Her Turn.

Bringing menstrual health solutions to Nepal,  this project will produce and distribute 1,000 sustainable washable pad  kits, 500 Covid-19 protective masks and run education sessions on Chhaupadi Pratha and its negative consequences via women’s circle community groups.

Nepal

Days for Girls

Empowering Women to New Heights – Nepal

In collaboration with Days for Girls, we embarked on Project 49 to bring menstrual equity, health, and dignity to girls in rural Nepal. With the support of our giving community, we were able to distribute 1,000 sustainable menstrual kits, each containing 8 washable cotton liners, and educate the community on normalizing menstrual health. By breaking down taboos and stigmas surrounding periods, we hope to empower these girls to stay in school and be accepted with dignity during their monthly cycles. A big thank you to our amazing giving community and partner for making a difference in the lives of young women in rural Nepal!

Celebrate Turning Periods into Pathways: Empowering Girls in Rural Nepal

Our team has completed its last field visit of 2022 to Nepal to capture photos, videos, stats, & stories of the communities impacted by your support. 

It was a long journey to Kathmandu (22+ hrs), but we made it. We spent valuable time with our local partner Days for Girls, learning more about their programs and meeting the awesome team of women actively tackling long-term stigma and shame about menstruation. 

From the capital Kathmandu, we took a short plane ride to Kailali District in Western Nepal, almost on the border with India, which is where our project took place. 

Throughout this district, 1,000 girls & women received menstrual hygiene kits, and more than 5,000 individuals received menstrual health education through our partner's community-based approach and utilizing local leadership. 

This model can be implemented worldwide and can happen anywhere - in schools, outside under a tree, in homes, wherever people will come together and listen. 

What’s interesting, is that these sessions begin with an evaluation to assess the level of knowledge that girls have in terms of menstrual education and identify what current menstrual solutions they use every month. Once this evaluation is complete, the girls are taught all about menstruation and how to use the kits they will receive.
 
Once the education stage is complete, they receive their super handy kits and a post-training assessment occurs to see what they have learned. A few months later, our partners will do some follow-up,  to assess the relevance of this type of project within the district. We love how thorough our partners are, and how they make sure of the sustainability and value of their programs!

Many of the villages were in very remote areas with rough terrain, but that didn't stop us! We walked for miles, crossed rickety bridges and rivers, and climbed up steep hills, all to capture the story of these young women who decided to break the cycle of period poverty and bring significant change to their communities. 

We saw many "incognito" Chaupadi huts and interviewed some women who had been practicing Chaupadi just before meeting Days for Girls. We also met girls like 15-year-old Sanghita Joshi (pictured in the blue shirt), who said that the education sessions and menstrual kits enabled her and her friends to keep attending school during their periods, and she will pass on her learnings to her community to teach others.

We cannot wait to show you the beautiful content we have gathered throughout this very special journey!

Breaking the Cycle: A Journey to Empower Girls in Nepal with Menstrual Hygiene

Over the last month, our partner, Days for Girls, has been busy speaking with the communities in Kailali (the area where Project 49 is focused) to learn about their experiences with Chaupaddi Pratha (a form of menstrual taboo which prohibits women and girls from participating in normal family activities while menstruating) and how menstrual hygiene and education training have changed their way of life.

Our infield contact, Maya Bista, a Days for Girls trainer from Kailali, says women and girls in her district are told to sleep outside during their periods because they follow Chhaupadi Pratha. Maya stated that women and girls are not allowed to enter their own homes, touch anyone from their family, and are restricted solely to milk, ghee, and curd (basically cottage cheese) for food. 

It's hard to imagine this practice is common in parts of the world, but it's very real for millions of women and girls in Nepal every month. 

There is fantastic news, though! 

After the menstrual hygiene & education training that YOU are helping support, women and girls, men and boys throughout Kailali stated they were grateful for the education and recommended that the women and girls stop following Chhaupadi Pratha and focus on staying clean and eating healthy food during their periods. In fact, many boys interviewed suggested that girls should stay in school and continue their studies even after they start menstruating.

A Days for Girls male trainer, Keshab Raj Joshi, said after interviewing boys in school throughout Kailali that boys were utterly unaware of what menstruation was and how it affected women and girls. However, after education classes taught within their schools by DfG's trainers, the boys now understand that menstruation is a natural process and is a sign of a healthy woman and that there is no reason to be ashamed. They have also been more informed about their role in the community and how they can help make it better for everyone's future. 

Breaking the stigma of Periods: Chhaupadi Pratha

We are so excited to partner with Days for Girls again to bring menstrual health products and education to women in Kailali. 

In Kailali, there is a lack of timely and accurate menstrual health education for girls, women, boys, and men. Women and girls also lack access to safe and hygienic products and facilities to manage their periods with dignity and confidence. Despite being illegal in Nepal, the practice of Chaupadi Pratha (where women are treated as impure and forced to live in mud huts during menstruation) is still commonly practiced. 

To this day, we have reached 1,000 women with washable pad kits and menstrual health education sessions, and we are looking forward to more! 