Pssst… A New MUST Read Book
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
"Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide," a new book by Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. Yesterday I read an article in the NYT by one of my favorite journalists of all time, Nicholas Kristof entitled Pssst. Does Menstruation Keep Girls Out of School? and I couldn't help but put my two cents in, especially since Kristof mentioned Nepal.
There are some traditional beliefs that go back hundreds of years here concerning girls during their menstruation. During the 5-day bleeding period, girls cannot touch food or water from the house. They also have to sleep outside, usually with cows or other animals and cleanse daily often times by drinking a sip of cow urine or pouring a few drops on their head. (Yes, I've done all of these things while staying in remote villages.) Menstruating girls cannot touch their father or other family members and in most remote villages there are no toilet facilities in schools just as there almost never in the home.
From what I've seen girls drop out of school during the ages of menstruation for a huge wide range of reasons, and menstruation could very well be one of the factors contributing to this. But also standardly throughout Nepal, after 5th grade the fees for school increase significantly. In remote villages, most local schools also stop at 5th or 6th grade and to get to the 6+ school the girl has to walk a few more hours to a further distant village. Not enough hours in the day to get her house work done so she stops going and too expensive. By the time the girl is 12 or 13, due to lack of family planning her mother and father probably have had 4-5 more children, giving the girl more housework, more food to harvest, and more siblings to look after. By the time she is 15 or 16 in a remote village, it is time for her to be given off for marriage. I have talked to countless fathers who have told me the same thing "she's going to be married soon anyhow, so why bother?"
In my opinion, helping girls cope with menstruation could be a piece to the puzzle but there are tons of other factors to consider as well. We have a lot of work to do here in Nepal and through out the world. Thank you to Kristof for opening up the dialog for this issue.
***Also Kristof and his wife, author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Sheryl WuDunn have written a book that is getting some insanely good reviews. It goes on sale TODAY and I think we should all give it a read. I for one, can't wait!! "Half the Sky" is available here on amazon. Word on the street... Oprah is doing a huge show featuring these two superstars and their new book, sure to be a best-seller. So read it and spread the word!
p.s. Nicholas Kristof retweeted me yesterday and it made my day. I AM a huge fan. I couldn't have been happier if President Obama himself tweeted me.