BRIEF REPORT

CYCLE RALLY

ON

INTERNATIONAL MENSTRUATION HYGIENE DAY

MAY 27, 2017

Brief Report

Cycle Rally on the occasion of

International Menstruation Hygiene Day

27th May, 2017.

Introduction

May 28 is celebrated as the International Menstruation Hygiene day since 2014. Many programs are

organized in this day to make general public aware about the hygiene and sanitation required during

the menstruation time. Further more people are also made aware about the healthy food that

women should consume during menstruation. They are also told not to follow traditional taboos.

With the aim to create awareness about the menstrual hygiene, X-Pose Nepal organized a cycle rally

on 27th May, 2017 in collaboration with Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC),

Community Development Forum (CoDeF), RadhaPoudel Foundation, Federation of Drinking Water

and Sanitation Users Nepal (FEDWASUN), Action Against Hunger (ACF Wash HOD), Save the Children

and Swiss Water & Sanitation Consortium.

X -Pose Nepal is a Non-Profit Organization working against sexual violence and abuse among young

girls and women in Kathmandu Valley. X-Pose Nepal stands for survivors of sexual abuse,

harassment and exploitation through education, economic opportunities, advocacy and research. X-

Pose Nepal has been working in the menstruation health management (WASH) sector for last 2

years. X-Pose Nepal was established in 2005 A.D with the vision to create a safe society that does

not tolerate violence against women and girls.

27th May, 2017 On 27th May 2017, X-Pose Nepal organized a cycle rally from Basantapur to Mangal Bazar to mark

the 4th International Menstruation Hygiene Day. Almost 250 participants were gathered in

Basantapur in front of fire brigade system at 7:15 A.M. The program started with the registration of

the participants and distribution of T-Shirts and Water. The cycle rally started at around 7:45 A.M. It

was started from Basantapur to Mangal Bazar via Kanthipath, Kamaladi, Putalisadak, Anamnagar,

Bijuli Bazar, Maitighar Mandala, Thapathalai, Kupondol and Pulchowk. The aim of this cycle rally was

to create awareness on menstruation hygiene and sanitation.

Participants gathering in front of fire brigade system in Basantapur before the start of rally.

(L-R)Social Activist Radha Poudel and Anupa Regmi on MC before the start of Rally.

The main theme of this cycle rally was “BreaktheSilence:Let’sTalkaboutMenstruation”. More than

200 cyclists were participated in rally and they were given placards to spread the message among

the public. The placards carried the message like “I am proud to be women because I menstruate”,

“I break the silence on menstruation”, “Menstruation, a natural gift for women’, and “Menstruation

is pride of women”. The Nepali slogan included”x/]s k'?if aG5 lhDd]jf/L ha af]N5 :j:ydlxgfjf/LÚ,

…:j:ydlxgfjf/L xfdL ;a}sf] st{Aoxf]Ú, …:j:ydlxgfjf/L xfd|f] clwsf/ xf]Ú.

Girls on ride.

The rally ended in Patan Durbar Square of Mangal Bazar with short formal program. Before the

formal program, again water was distributed to the participants. The formal program started by

thanking all the participants for taking part in this cycle rally. The representatives from the

supporting organization were presented in the closing program where they delivered their thoughts

on Menstruation. Mrs. SanuTuladhar, principal of Kathmandu Model Hospital School of Nursing,

shared that menstruation is a natural process so one has to feel ashamed about it and it should be

talked freely. Similarly, YavaLaxmi Shrestha, vice-president of CoDeF, made every one promised to

support the girl on menstruation. The president of FEDWASUN, RajendraAryal shared “Women

needs rest during menses, but in villages, they arenot allowed to cook but have to work in the field

and carry heavy grass and fodder.” Also the menstrual right activist RadhaPoudel stated that

‘chaupratha’ still exist in Kathmandu valley, the difference is that in remote areas people live outside

the house and in Kathmandu valley people live inside the house but away from male members of

the family. Girls on menstruation are not allowed to enter the kitchen, cook food, enter the pooja

room or celebrate the festivals. The representative from ACF Wash HOD, Kamala K.C. shared that

one should rest well during her menstruation and should eat nutritious food.

Principal of Kathmandu Model Hospital School of Nursing, Mrs. SanuTuladhar at Patan Durbar

Square during closing program.

The president of FEDWASUN, RajendraAryal shared at Patan Durbar Square during closing

program.

The program ended with the statement of Gyan Maharjan, president of X-Pose Nepal. He stated that

male should be cooperative toward women and should help her buy sanitary pads. And women,

who use reusable sanitary napkins without any shy and hesitation, should dry it in sunlight after

washing those napkins. He alsosaid that men should not have physical relation when his wife is on

her periods as it can cause infection.Furthermore he also said “Out of 200 participants of cycle rally,

even only 20 male help the female member of family during her periods, our program will be

successful”. In the program, lunch box and certificate of participation were distributed to all the

participants through the help of volunteers

.

The international cycling association like KORA, nursing students and professional cyclist also

supported and took part in this Cycling event More than 75% of this cycle rally were professional

Cyclist .This cycle rally news was covered by many daily newspaper like The Himalayan Times,

Rajdhani Daily, Nagarik, Kantipur, Annapurna post. Also this cycle rally program was covered by

television media like Nepal Television, AP Channel and Nepal Mandal Channel. Similarly, this event

was also published in online newspaper like washkhabar.com and demokhabarcom.

The link of online published news are:

http://washkhabar.com/news/1227

http://demokhabar.com/news-details/4017/2017-05-28#.WSpCUkix03U.facebook

http://epaper.thehimalayantimes.com/detailimageviewer.php?id=1964&boxid=2900&cid=3&mod=

1&pagenum=1&pagedate1

http://epaper.ekantipur.com/kantipur/2017-05-28/4

The Cycle rally event in Menstruation Hygiene Day was a grand success. Still there were some

mistakes made during the implementation of the program.

The distributions of T-Shirt were not enough for all participants. We have printed 190 piece of T-

Shirt but more than 200 people took part in the rally. So, there was not enough T-Shirt to be

distributed.

Furthermore, the distribution of T-Shirt did not go smoothly. We thought we would first register

the names of participants then distribute the T-Shirts. But things did not went as planned and all

the participants started to ask for the T-Shirt. We were not able to manage the crowd while

distributing the T-Shirt.

Other than this, the entire program was conducted successfully.

Some glimpse of Cycle Rally

Participants waiting for rally to start at Basantapur.

Cyclist taking some rest during the rally.

Representative from ACF WASH HOD, Kamala K.C, Taking part in cycle rally.

Cyclist following the lead of traffic person.

Male cyclist during cycle rally.

Closing program at Patan Durbar Square, Mangal Bazar

Group photo session after the end of program.

After program, cyclist and volunteers of X-Pose Nepal, separating the reusable and non reusable

waste material.

The photographs of news coverage published in daily newspaper are:

News article published in The Himalayan Times

News article published in Annapurna post

News article published in Nagarik dainik.

News article published in Rajdhani.

News article published in Kantipur .