In hilly areas taboos about menstruation persist. The girls are ostracized from their homes even today. In such circumstances girls miss their schools for 5 days. The reason behind is lack of schools providing high quality education. Further, girls worry about leaking at school and humiliation they will face. So, menstruates are entrenched of negative reactions to periods and understanding menstruation as something unpleasant and unnatural. These negative notions then leave menstruation feeling weaker and more irrational than their counterparts.

So menstrual cups are revolutionary because they are healthier (medical grade silicon), safer (doesn't absorb the vaginal natural uids) and cost effective (they are reusable device lasting for ten years). The cup is the gateway to being open and honest about your period. Being frank about menstruation may just steer girls away from those feelings of embarrassment and shame.

In Nepal, approximately 290,000 women and girls menstruate every day. However, 82% of those living in rural Nepal use unhygienic and potentially dangerous menstrual hygiene management methods. A study from UNICEF revealed that 1 out of 3 girls in South Asia knew nothing about menstruation prior to getting their first period.

Goals:

• to improve menstrual hygiene,
• to make habit of using menstrual cup, and
• to break the taboo of menstruation.

We will evaluate our success by regular follow up. Our facilitator will visit every month and discuss with the difficulties and achievements of girls. We will report the problem and try to solve them.

This is a follow-on project to project 18UCC001.