The need
After purchasing materials for trial runs making cloth pads, a missionary friend picked me up to take me home. As we left the city, he stretched his arm out and pointed down the long dirt road where one side was lined with small shops. “You see down this road?”, he said with disappointment in his voice, “a woman with her baby died last night because of Chhaupadi.” My heart broke. As my mind tried to make sense of this. I thought the nights in the valley were not freezing cold but the conditions had to be terrible enough to take this poor Hindu mother’s life as well as her baby at the same moment. How can this injustice be?
From the moment a young Hindu girl has her first period, until the finishing of menopause, she will continually be under the yoke of chhaupadi.
This belief originates from the god Indra, the god who sent menstruation to be a curse upon women. During the time of menstruation, a Hindu woman must sleep outside of the house, usually in the barn with the animals, and is not permitted to go to school, be in the home,
or even cook. Because the woman is considered impure, untouchable, and even bad luck, everything that a menstruating woman touches will also become unclean.
In some areas, women are also forbidden basic hygiene necessities such as bathing. In addition, when a mother gives birth, she must spend two weeks in Chhaupadi before she can join her family again.
From the moment a young Hindu girl has her first period, until the finishing of menopause, she will continually be under the yoke of chhaupadi.
This belief originates from the god Indra, the god who sent menstruation to be a curse upon women. During the time of menstruation, a Hindu woman must sleep outside of the house, usually in the barn with the animals, and is not permitted to go to school, be in the home,
or even cook. Because the woman is considered impure, untouchable, and even bad luck, everything that a menstruating woman touches will also become unclean.
In some areas, women are also forbidden basic hygiene necessities such as bathing. In addition, when a mother gives birth, she must spend two weeks in Chhaupadi before she can join her family again.