Getting to Humla always feels like crossing an invisible threshold between worlds. Igroom and I left Kathmandu on a domestic flight to Nepalgunj, the familiar transit point for Nepal's western and Karnali regions. From there, after waiting for weather updates and flight confirmations, we boarded a small aircraft to Simikot. The flight itself was short, but the uncertainty surrounding it was constant. In Humla, plans are never fixed. They bend to the wind, clouds, and mountains.

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Once in Simikot, everything slowed down. There are no roads leading to the villages where we work. From the airstrip onward, movement happens on foot. Trails cut across steep slopes. Electricity comes and goes. Phone signals fade in and out. These are not background details, they shape daily life and determine how programs are received, remembered, and sustained.

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From 28 November 2025, our team was in Humla to monitor the menstrual health and hygiene work being implemented by Nepal Austria Partnership Organization (NAPO). The purpose was simple in theory but complex in practice: to listen, observe, and understand how change is unfolding in one of Nepal's most remote districts.

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Voices That Travel Further Than Roads

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One of the first things I noticed was the reach of NAPO's weekly radio program, broadcast on Kailash FM and Karnali FM. In Humla, where smartphones are rare and newspapers barely circulate, radio still travels farther than roads ever could.

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Women told me they listen while working in the fields, cooking, or sitting together in the evenings. The program speaks openly about menstruation, hygiene, gender-based violence, and everyday struggles, topics that were once whispered about or avoided entirely.

While walking through Simikot, a stranger stopped Dechen, one of NAPO's staff members, and told her they recognized her voice from the radio. She is known more by her voice than her face. That moment stayed with me.

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It was not just the content that mattered, but the confidence behind it. The women's voices were steady and familiar. People knew them. People trusted them.

Here, radio is not only about information. It is about presence, about women being heard in a public space that once excluded them.

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Sitting Across the Table from the System

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During a stakeholder meeting with representatives from the Rural Municipality, Female Community Health Volunteers, and local committees, the conversation moved between hope and frustration. Certain wards, particularly Wards 7 and 8, were repeatedly mentioned as especially difficult. Deep rooted beliefs, fear of social backlash, and rigid hierarchies continue to slow progress.​

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We spoke about menstrual products, how disposable pads create serious waste problems, often ending up being eaten by cows and goats, and how reusable pads are more appropriate for Humla. They were also discussed as an opportunity for small-scale local livelihoods through pad-making. Incinerators, when they exist, often do not function due to unreliable electricity.

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Chhaupadi came up again and again, not as a result of ignorance, but as a practice sustained by fear and social pressure rather than belief alone.

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Female Community Health Volunteers shared how the training had strengthened their technical knowledge, including when pads should be changed. Still, everyone agreed that knowledge alone cannot undo generations of fear. Several stakeholders emphasized the need to address religion and culture openly within menstruation education rather than avoiding these conversations. There was also a clear call for stronger involvement from Rural Municipalities, not just in name, but in action.

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Women Who Once Whispered​

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Meeting the women's groups formed by NAPO was one of the most grounding moments of the visit. Many women shared that when the groups first began, they were afraid of being judged, corrected, or silenced.

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Now, they speak without lowering their voices.

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They told me how chhaupadi has shortened in many households, from nine days to three. They spoke about understanding their bodies, hygiene, and health. Several women said they wanted these conversations to reach schools so girls would not grow up carrying the same fear they had lived with for years.

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Again and again, women told me that NAPO was the only organization consistently talking about menstruation in their communities. Coordination with the local government existed, but it was uneven. What remained strong was the commitment of the women themselves, and their insistence that this work must continue.

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Learning, Unlearning, and Quiet Resistance

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The three-day MHM orientation and reusable pad-making training in Wards 5 and 6 felt like a space where learning and unlearning happened side by side. Visual materials made the sessions accessible, and pre and post tests showed clear improvements in understanding

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Still, deeply rooted beliefs surfaced easily. Menstruation was repeatedly described as impure. Restrictions around movement and visibility were spoken about casually, as if they were facts rather than rules. Fear lingered beneath many decisions. Some women mentioned that even Buddhist communities are beginning to adopt restrictions, not because of doctrine, but because stigma spreads quietly through social influence.

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Yet there were moments of resistance. Women spoke about fewer days in isolation, less cruelty, and more conversation. They emphasized that one training is never enough. Change here requires repetition, patience, and presence.

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What Stayed With Me

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As I walked back through the trails of Simikot, what stayed with me most was the pace of change. It is slow, uneven, and fragile, but it is happening. Radio remains one of the strongest tools in Humla. Women's groups have become powerful spaces for confidence and leadership. Chhaupadi has not disappeared, but it is shrinking.

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Women are often the ones still enforcing restrictions, not because they believe in them, but because they fear the consequences of refusing. This makes it clear that awareness must extend beyond women alone , to men, elders, religious leaders, and institutions.

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There is a strong desire for school based education, livelihood opportunities, and sustainable solutions for menstrual waste. Women's groups are not just beneficiaries; they are the foundation for long-term change.

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Leaving Humla

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NAPO's work in Humla continues despite immense geographical and cultural barriers. The radio programs, women's groups, and hands-on trainings are creating real shifts in knowledge, confidence, and voice. The work is not finished, and perhaps never will be, but it is rooted in reality and led by the women most affected.

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As I left Humla the same way I arrived, by foot, by flight, by waiting, I carried with me the clarity that sustainable change here depends on consistency, trust, and showing up again and again. The collaboration between CCF and NAPO is doing just that, one conversation at a time.

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