Written by Colleen Cahill, Board Member
Meet Igroom Lama, CCF’s new Assistant Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) Program Administrator! She joins Kesang Riinchen in Kathmandu, CCF’s MHM Program Manager, and brings a wealth of experience in MHM and community development.
2024 has been very busy, and earlier this year, it was clear we needed help to keep up with growing interest in our MHM workshops. It was a great stroke of luck when Kesang met Igroom through a mutual colleague. Kesang brought a proposal to the board asking to hire Igroom for a part-time contract position, and it was a unanimous “yes!”
At 35, Igroom has a gentle and articulate presence. She identifies as a feminist and believes a woman’s period is a natural process and a sacred subject. She is drawn to menstrual hygiene work because her beliefs contrast with the common practices throughout Nepal where in Buddhist and Hindu communities women and girls can’t talk about it openly and are considered impure during menstruation. She’s frustrated by this because the practices are based in myth and superstition and serve only to perpetuate Nepal’s male-dominated culture. She is excited to be a part of CCF and wants to see more organizations working in menstrual health to spread education and bring about equality for women.
In her role, Igroom will help monitor and evaluate CCF’s MHM program to identify areas for improvement. She’ll develop and conduct trainings and continue to maintain and cultivate new relationships with partners in Nepal. Her education and experience are an enormous asset to CCF and we are so grateful to have her!
Igroom holds a Bachelor’s in Development Studies and a Masters in International Cooperation and Development studies. Her schooling taught her ways to approach communities, assess needs, and identify what conditions must be developed for improvement from the local level to international. Her interest in menstrual hygiene issues started early in her education as her studies led her to volunteer opportunities in communities where she was forced to follow chhaupadi practices during her period. The treatment she experienced ignited a passion in her and she turned her attention toward menstrual hygiene awareness.
In 2015, while Igroom was still working on her masters, she had an internship with a friend’s NGO that implemented WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) initiatives. Through this experience, Igroom got a broader picture of menstruation and how acutely the subject is suppressed and hidden. When the NGO’s Project Coordinator asked Igroom if she could write her Master’s thesis on menstruation management, she was all in. She chose to focus on concepts of menstruation practices in Buddhist and Hindu communities.
In villages where chhaupadi is practiced, Igroom says it’s like torture when the girls get their periods. She understands their pain having experienced the inhumane treatment while volunteering. During that time, whenever she was on her period, she was considered “impure,” wasn’t allowed to touch the water tap or enter the kitchen, and had to sleep separate from the family while also enduring other degrading treatment.
Igroom has already helped conduct two trainings and proven to be an instrumental addition to CCF. In the year ahead, she plans to support CCF in analyzing and documenting our work, establishing baselines, and providing guidance. She wants to demonstrate to our donors how their support is making an impact. Look for more exciting things to come!