Menstrual Hygiene Management in schools of Nepal

Amar Secondary School lies in Dolakha district of Nepal. Situated at 36 km from Charikot, the centre of Dolakha, the school welcomes around 190 students from surrounding villages.  Although more than half of the students are girls, the topic of menstruation has been a shy subject among them.

"It is not strange to stay absent during menstruation", says Sujata, one girl student from grade 10. "The problem is the lack of comfort in school." The toilet they had till now was quite far from the school, which was difficult during emergency period especially for students from lower classes. The 3 roomed toilet was too small and was used by both boys and girls.  

"We did not have proper ventilation and water facility in our previous toilet", shared one of the teachers. "But using it was a compulsion. Even we teachers used to go to the same toilet."

Realizing the health impact of such toilets, ECCA helped the school to build new toilet within the school vicinity. This new toilet has proper water facility and an incinerator to burn used sanitary pads. With the new toilet, both students and teachers are now relieved.

"Separate hand washing place has made it even easier", says another student.

The toilet is spacious and well ventilated. As part of ownership development activity, ECCA initiated Wall Painting Program on the occasion of World Menstrual Hygiene Day, in which the students painted their new toilets with various messages related to hygiene, sanitation and menstruation.

Use of toilets has started, which is expected to bring comfort among students along with increased attendance and positive behavioral changes.

As part of school environment improvement program, ECCA has also been conducting various WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) related programs in the school. With frequent orientation and interaction programs regarding menstruation and menstrual hygiene management, we aim to bring positive attitude regarding menstruation in the school and community.

We thank you for the support.

In our journey of providing better WASH facilities to students in rural schools of Nepal, we have been approaching remote schools, which includes those from Kavrepalanchowk district. This district lies near the capital city Kathmandu, yet has inadequate facilities in terms of health and sanitation.

Mahendra Secondary School, situated at Sanga, Kavrepalanchowk had been facing the problem of toilet and water supply. Girls toilet, boys toilet and teachers toilet all were combined and one had to go far just to fetch a bucket of water. The earthquake of April 2015 worsened the situation. Both the school buildings and toilets were damaged.

Through fund search, the school rebuilt the classrooms, whereas toilet facilities became their secondary priority. “Considering the number of students we had, the toilet we had previously was not adequate in any case. Students would be lining in queues during breaks and having to fetch water for toilet use from far away was a huge problem”, revealed one of the teachers. “But first, we had to make classrooms.”

Identifying the need, ECCA helped Mahendra Secondary School to build both boys toilet and girl friendly toilet in the school premise. Separate toilet was constructed for boys and girls (each having 3 rooms) with proper water facilities (along with water tank and piping). The girl friendly toilet also has an incinerator for proper burning of used sanitary pads.

“Now, we feel happy that the situation has become easier for us”, says a female student relating to comfortable environment during menstruation period. “It is much easier for us girls. The choice we had to make previously, between choosing to stay at school being teased by boys or going home, is now fading.”

Around 120 female students from Grade 5 to 12 have been benefitted by our girl friendly toilet construction support.

We are very thankful for your help.