Strength TogetHER 29- My First Period Story

My first period story 

Lokopakar in collaboration with NIRI conducted a donation drive a few months ago to conduct Strength TogetHER sessions at 10 public schools in Kathmandu. NIRI (Nexus Institute for Research and Innovation) is an independent and not for profit sharing institution in Nepal with a vision to promote quality research and innovation across the nation and beyond. 

Strength TogetHER is a safe space to share personal stories and experiences which bring change in attitudes and lives. Girls get to explore and express themselves which helps to unburden themselves and create new meaning. 

For this, Lokopakar conducted a Strength TogetHER session at Padmodaya Secondary School. Padmodaya Secondary School is a public school located at Bhrikuti Mandap which was established in 1946. It was initially established to educate only boys but interestingly, the school started to enroll girls in 1988.

We conducted our 4th session on the topic, “My First Period”. 

One participant shared that she was in Jhapa, her village when she got her period. She said she was either 9 or 10 years old, and was with her parents. She went to the toilet and saw blood, then she told her mother who then said that she had got her periods. She was then kept in a separate room, as her grandmother strongly believed in the rituals of the period. She shared that she had to wash her own clothes and used to wear a cloth pad. She says she wears a pad now and can go to the kitchen as well. 

Another participant remembers that she had her period in the month of Bhadra. It was night time after completing her homework and she couldn’t sleep. Her mom told that she got her period the next day when she saw blood stains in her bed. She also said that her mother told her that she couldn’t go to the kitchen and temple and not to see her dad as well. Her dad bought her pad and took her out as well despite everything. And, when her period finished they celebrated.