Kumari’s Adventure with her Moon Cycle is a story about me, Kumari, and how I learnt about my menstrual cycle, or my Moon Cycle which is what I call it in the book. Visit our Menstruation page to find out more context about this work, and what has inspired my story.

When I was 13, my friend Anisha and I found bicycles in our village that took us on an adventure. We met lots of other women and girls who were all curious to learn more about their female bodies and to discuss their menstruation experiences and the taboos that are prevalent in our society in Nepal.

I was a bit nervous at first but before long my curiosity about my physical anatomy outweighed my shyness! I started to understand how and why the whole Moon Cycle works to keep me healthy. Suddenly it wasn’t scary any more and I definitely didn’t want to keep it a secret from other people, especially anyone who was asking questions – it’s something we all deserve to know. It made me feel empowered!

Here’s just a few of the things I learnt –
you will learn them too!

The adventure also taught me about the similarities between my body and the seasons of nature outside. After that it became so clear that menstruation is a natural process, and not something to be ashamed of.

This inspired me to ask the women and girls in my village how they feel about their Moon Cycle, so we can talk about it more openly. I definitely don’t have all the answers and I’m always learning more, but to begin the conversation is the first step, and we can only do that together. I hope my story will inspire many more conversations to begin.

And what’s also amazing is that over fifty of my friends from across Nepal and the globe have helped to illustrate it for me, embodying the message that

We started off with just a few friends…

And now it has grown to a huge crowd!

My friends and I want to work together with local communities and other organisations to change the stigma around menstruation and to inspire self confidence in women and girls. We want them all to know that they have a right to education, that their stories matter, and that together we can advocate for changes if that’s needed. We want to offer different platforms and media for women to engage with us, to share their experiences and their dreams.

The first step is my story. I hope that it inspires you to tell your story too.

Join me on my Facebook page to see what we’re talking about.

We have different tools for you to use:

Can you support my Adventure and help our creative education reach more people?

MAKE A DONATION

FUND COPIES OF THE BOOK FOR A COMMUNITY

PRE-BUYING A COPY FOR YOURSELF

SHARING THE ADVENTURE!

If you’d like to help us with any of these things right now
please send us an email on
thecountrythatshook@outlook.com

BEHIND THE SCENES
Kumari’s Adventure is being curated by The Country That Shook’s founder Sophie Maliphant. It’s been a labour of love and trial and error that began in March 2020, with the intention of using collaborative creativity to tell a valuable story. The growth of a community of passionate young people is an huge bonus and they are Kumari’s biggest asset.
The story words are being edited and translated into Nepali by Anuradha Sharma. Funding to get the project off the ground has come from Her International and Saalt.
We are looking for funding to take the story all across Nepal.
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