Strength TogetHER 25 - Session 3

April 16 ,2022

Strength TogetHER by Lokopakar provides a safe platform to young girls to share their personal stories and unburden themselves with the aim of eradicating the feeling of “I AM NOT ENOUGH” among them. Lokopakar has been providing Strength TogetHER sessions to young girls throughout Nepal.

With the support of British Council Nepal, Strength TogetHER now has reached to Lumbini providing sessions to girls of Awadhi community from Shree Karmahawa Madhyamik Vidhyalaya.

After two online sessions, we were finally able to meet our participants in person through WOW Festival 2022 at Lumbini Park. We were really excited to meet our participants on the clear sunny day at their native place.

As we had divided our participants in two groups on the basis of the Grade they are studying in, the first Group of girls entered the hall of Lumbini Park around 9:30. They were all dressed in their pretty pink Kurthas with blue shawls which happened to be their school dress. I could clearly see the expressions on their faces full of excitement and nervousness of meeting a new person at the same time.

I welcomed the girls of Grade 11 in the hall and asked them to take their seats where we had placed the chairs in a closed circle. We immediately did a fun ice-breaker game to break the awkwardness that they were feeling and comfort them. After the ice-breaking session, I gave a brief introduction about Lokopakar and Strength TogetHER and explained to them how we will be sharing about “MY FIRST PERIOD STORY” and discuss the same for the next 1 hour.

I started with my own story about how I was in my house in Grade 7 when my period started and how it was easy for me because my mother was at home and she taught me everything. I also shared how I was scared and nervous at that time.

The participants were now ready to share their own stories.

-        Our first speaker shared how she was coming back from school after her exams and felt a sudden pen in her lower abdomen. It was very severe that she had to sit down in the middle of the road. After a few minutes, she was finally able to pick herself up and rush towards her home. She found bloodstains on her skirt and got nervous. But luckily her sister was at home and helped her to wear a pad and rest.

-        Our second speaker shared that she was at home when he got her first period. She could see bloodstains on her bedsheet and got scared that she would die. She rushed towards her mother and said she might die now upon which her mother laughed and explained how all adolescent girls go through this.

-         Our third speaker shared that she was washing clothes when she could see some blood stains on her legs. She thought she got a cut and got wounded somewhere and looked all over but couldn’t see anything. She rushed towards her mother saying I think I got a cut somewhere and her mother cleared her misunderstanding and helped her.

 Almost all the participants shared that they were at their home when they got their first period. They also shared how it was easy for them because of the presence of their mother and sisters at their house. After sharing the stories, we talked about how severe cramps we get. Except two, all the participants raised their hands about getting serious cramps and shared about their mood swings as well.

We also played Period Bingo where the participants had to cross out their personal period experience on the Bingo Paper and the first one to cross out all the items in a line would win.

The session was full of bonding, unburdening and smiles. They shared how this is the first time they had opened up and shared their First Period with someone. We ended the session by coming together and writing our experience at the session in a chart paper with colorful sign pens which we later handed over to the school.