Strength TogetHER 7- Session 7

18th July 2021.

"Leaders bleed, Period". -Silvia Young

 

Lokopakar is a youth-based organization that is currently running four programs among which  "Strength TogetHER" is one of its projects where a group of girls from diverse backgrounds meet virtually and share their stories, insecurities, ideas, and perspectives and help each other grow. In each session, a moderator is invited who listens, appreciates, and guides the participants.

  

On 18th July we conducted the 7th session on the topic '' Left Out Due To Periods" as suggested by our participants. Around 15 girls joined the session and shared their stories and our moderator gave us amazing feedback.

 

Our moderator for the session was Ms. Simran Khatri who has currently finished her Bachelors in Development Studies. As a student of Development Studies, she has been working in the field of development as she aspires to spread awareness among women and children in different issues such as menstrual hygiene, consent, leadership, etc. through Global Peace Foundation Nepal. She is also a member of Global Peace Women and Hatti Hatti Nepal.

 

 After a short introduction our speakers started sharing their stories which are as follows:

 

Our first speaker shared that once she was attending a bartanbanda away from her home, she got her periods and when she asked for a pad she was kept away from the ceremony. This saddened her so much that she cried when she returned to her own home. She said that is one of her pathetic experiences.

 

Our second speaker shared that she got her first period when her mother was away for office work. She had to inform her father about her heavy bleeding. She is very thankful to her father that he responded with so much warmth and care. Her father treated her normally, bought her sanitary napkins, and consoled that it is a normal, natural phenomenon and she should not follow any traditional myths. She openly shares about menstruation even with her male friends. Once she needed sanitary napkins in school and her male friend bought them for her. Her self-awareness about periods makes her easy to cope with cramps. Her periods have never let her down and she inspires others to accept periods as a natural process.

 

Our third speaker shared that she got her periods quite later than her friends. She was very excited when she got her first period in class ten. She used to suffer from nausea and had difficulty in school but none of their girlfriends showed up when she needed them. This was an upsetting experience for her. Soon she went to grade 11 in a different school, this time he was a hosteller. She was worried about how she would cope during her periods in the hostel. She again had nausea and cramps induced by periods, this time also none of their girlfriends helped her. But surprisingly two of her guy friends came to her and gave her hot water bags and sanitary napkins. She says that she will always be thankful to her two guy friends.

 

Our fourth speaker shared that she suffers from unbearable pain during her period, she always quits her school on the first two days of periods. If she gets her periods at school she has to call her parents to come home. She said that she has missed tests and many extra activities at school.

Some messages that we took home from our moderator are:

• Never be ashamed to ask for help if needed when in periods

• It is important to educate everyone about periods to normalize menstruation

• We should aware older generation to  break the superstitious belief

• Maintaining menstrual hygiene and giving yourself some  space helps you stay positive during periods

Other participants shared that period cramps are affecting their daily activities while some even shared home hacks that reduce the pain. Our moderator suggested doing the butterfly exercise as it helps to ease bleeding and therefore reduces the cramps. Doing relaxing exercises, taking a warm bath, using hot water bags around the pelvic region, and taking a nutritional diet can relieve pain to some extent and does not kill our productivity. Moderator also suggested seeking medical aid if the problem is too serious.  This way we shared what problems we face during periods and learned some period hacks from each other.  Our one-hour-long session ended with sharing and hearing relatable stories. This session really inspires us to accept the period as a normal, healthy phenomenon, to not be bound by any traditional and religious restrictions, and keep moving ahead.

I am Aahana Dhakal, coordinator of cohort 7. I love to listen and be inspired by the stories shared in the Strength TogetHER family.