ROTARY CLUB OF CHURCH AND OSWALDTWISTLE
AT a recent meeting of Church and Oswaldtwistle Rotary, a presentation about the problems young girls face in Nepal was made by local student Ella Brierley, 16.
Ella has been Girlguiding since she was four and is currently working towards her gold Duke of Edinburgh award.
As part of this, Ella applied to be considered for a team going to Nepal and, after completing a series of interviews and activities, she was selected to join a group from Girlguiding North West who are planning to go to Nepal to educate young girls about menstruation.
The individual cost of the trip will be around £2,200 each to cover all aspects of the trip including flights, food and accommodation.
Full credit goes to Ella who set about the task of raising money, first by organising a quiz where 200 people took part which yielded a good profit.
Then she held a Christmas raffle and a very successful sale of doughnuts.
In addition Ella has done the rounds of organisations like Rotary clubs who have also contributed.
The purpose of the trip – to the town of Lucla in eastern Nepal – is to join aid workers who are endeavouring to educate families to prevent young women having restrictions due to their periods.
The Hindu tradition of consigning menstruating girls to sleep outside – called Chhaupadi - stems from the fear that they will anger the gods or contaminate the home if they remain indoors.
In rural areas, it is widely believed that failure to observe the practice will lead to bad fortune in the form of death or sickness among family members or livestock.
This belief has lead to a number of restrictions like cooking, playing and touching family members when girls are on their periods, even for those that don’t practice Chhaupadi.
Educating the younger generation about periods will help reduce this taboo and hopefully reduce the number of girls who are restricted when menstruating.
Ella and her fellow girl guides will hold discussion groups, be doing lessons, worksheets and activities to educate the girls about menstruation.
In addition they will be helping to make fabric pads in menstruation packs designed to fold up small that can be disguised as washcloths to avoid embarrassment when hanging up to dry.
These will be more sustainable than taking out sanitary products which only last a short time.
Rotarian George Blenkinship, who three years ago spearheaded a joint Rotary project in Nepal, by the building of a water supply and toilet block said:“Ella should be congratulated for coming along to make a presentation of the Girlguiding project in Nepal.
“This programme of helping families to understand the sensitive nature of menstruation will hopefully result in young girls being treated normally.
“On behalf of the club I am delighted to present Ella with a cheque for £300 towards the cost of the trip.”