The Nepal Earthquake Recovery Fund started in March 2016 the first phase of its Mooncup project. Our trustee on the ground, David Morrall, with great support from our local volunteers, Yogina Shakya and Beebal Singh Limbu, have initiated the talks with women groups about the benefits of Mooncup and the distribution to a selected group for a trial period. In the following months, we will gather feedback and we will support these women with their questions and concerns regarding this product. In addition by Mid-May we will have introduced Mooncups to our second trial site, the Women’s Group. Ideally, for September 2016, we are aiming to provide approx. 300 school girls with Mooncups in remote areas of the country.
Despite being a topic that is not widely discussed in Nepal, we were very pleased with the acceptance and interest. One of the facts that surprised us the most was the interest of men, all agreeing that their main concern was their daughters’ education, so if the Mooncup will alleviate the issue of school absence during menstrual cycles due to the lack of access to products, then they are fully supportive of this initiative. We are also receiving positive support from the Government Female Health Care assistant for 9 communities, which will help provide linkages as we expand the project and orientate government health workers for the sustainability of the project.
This first phase would not have been possible without the support of our regular donors. For the continuation of the project, we will be holding a comedy night early in July, more details to come…
