The morning of May 3rd was a very special part of our trip. Our team was fortunate enough to join a group of girls during their last education session, led by the amazing CP Nepal Sexual and Reproductive Health Educator, Sita!
When we arrived, we were met with young, beaming faces and animated chatter- the girls seemed as excited to see us as we were to see them. As is tradition in Nepal, we started with a Tika Ceremony as a warm gesture of welcome. The girls also shared with us beautiful cards that they had created, with intricate paper flowers and drawings of what they had learned throughout the sessions. We quickly realized that menstrual cups were a very popular topic!
We sat together in a large circle in the classroom and each student introduced themselves and shared their favourite part about the sessions. Popular answers included playing games, drawing, and writing. Topics like menstruation and pregnancy were also of particular interest to the girls. We spent the rest of the class discussing their favourite topics and answering any questions that they had. Some team members shared their own experiences with having their first period, and others shared stories about learning from partners, family members, and friends! The girls were keen to hear about the perspectives of our male team members, and we reflected on how this was a wonderful opportunity to begin normalizing conservations around female reproductive and sexual health with men.
You may be wondering why menstrual cups are a topic of interest in rural Nepal. In the past, many girls and women in the Tharu region used cloth menstrual pads, as disposable menstrual hygiene products can be quite expensive in the area. Today, girls now have access to menstrual cups donated by the company Saalt, which has created a shift in the use of menstrual hygiene products. One menstrual cup can be used over and over again with each period, simply by cleaning it with boiled water. However, it can be a little tricky at first to learn how to use them, and a few girls shared with us that they were experiencing some pain when removing the cups. Luckily, our wonderful team member Alana was quite familiar with menstrual cups and taught the girls some tips and tricks for easier insertion,
removal, and cleaning.
After covering a wide range of topics from periods to pregnancy to IVF, it was time for the girls’ favourite activity– game time! They taught us Nepali games like Apple, Orange, and Banana and we taught them games that we had played ourselves as children, including Duck, Duck, Goose!
Before we left, we gave the girls the gifts that we had brought from Canada. They loved the maple candies, pins and pencils, as well as gifts provided by iA Financial, our generous donor that has made another year of education sessions possible. It was so difficult to say goodbye after such a special morning spent with these amazing girls. Many warm messages, hugs, and kisses were shared as we said goodbye.
Looking back, it is easy to understand why this day was so special for our team. It was incredible to see and be a part of the community that these girls had formed with one another. We could clearly see the strong friendships that had been created through these sessions and were amazed by the determination and confidence of these young girls. They were so willing to learn and engage in conversations with us and were endlessly curious in their desire to learn more. The joy and courage that they embodied was infectious throughout their community, with mothers and young boys and girls gathering to watch the sessions. The impact that these sessions have had on both the girls and the community was evident to us in this brief but powerful morning that we shared together.
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