Strength togetHER 6- Session 4
The month of festivals gave us a brilliant idea for the fourth session of Strength TogetHER 6 ,themed "FESTIVALS FT. PERIODS" .We were moderated by Miss Subani Sijapati who is currently getting her bachelors in business and holistic health in San Francisco State University. She is also a founding member of Hami Nepal organization and has also been an active member of Nepali women Global Network CA chapter since 2013.
•Our first speaker when visited her relative's house during her periods , she was horrified by the act of her cousin who stopped her at the kitchen entrance and didn't let our speaker enter the kitchen room just because she was on her periods. That incident really saddened her about how that pre-teenaged cousin of her's was bound in those misbeliefs .
•Our second speaker shared her story about the time when she attended a marriage of one of her relatives while she was on her periods.Later she heard about a lady who'd a black spirit attack whenever touched by any girl on her periods.she even remembered walking by that lady but according to her,the lady didn't know about our speaker being on periods and nothing such spirits attacked her that day.
•Our third speaker was infuriated on how she was treated with the unwanted culture in the family when she got her periods for the very first time .The belief of not seeing the sun for certain days and not approaching male members of the family really horrified her .
•Our fourth speaker shared her friend's story of when she was in a puja enjoying with her cousins and in the middle of it ,she got her periods.She was asked to isolate herself and wasn't allowed to attend the puja . She was made to feel impure.
•Our last speaker shared two stories.One of her friend's when she got her periods during dashain, she decided to hide it from her parents because she badly wanted to celebrate it. Later her parents knew about it and this time they were supportive of her to let her celebrate .
Secondly, she shared her own story when she visited Barahakshetra temple during her period and later that day explained to her mother that nothing went wrong with her worshipping god while she was bleeding and calmly explained the unwanted belief of being impure during periods.
Our moderator expressed what she felt hearing of their stories and there wasn't a single second when we felt like disagreeing with her subtle and meaningful words. In consummation ,our mutual thoughts on periods and festivals were discussed .Some of them are listed below;
•Home and school should be primary owner of information about mensturation education and sex education.
•The society we live in is slowly changing and the strict periods boundaries are slowly loosening as we move ahead of time .
•We're in this together to teach the younger ones about the misbelief of periods and educate them about menstrual hygiene
•We are eventually in the process of learning and unlearning .
With the participation of almost 20 girls on 31st October ,this particular session became one of the longest running sessions where we'd a lot to express- be ir our self stories or our views. Well, when all was said and done, we were just happy to hear that most of the participants didn't have to face period boundaries and misbeliefs during festivals or any other normal day. And eventually we captured our small moment of happiness and wrapped up the session.
Personally , hearing all those girls and seeing all of them become a family where they open up to share their experiences has really made my heart smile. Fourth session and more to go dearest LOKOPAKAR family !
Written by: Binisha Bhattarai (Coordinator)
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