Strength TogetHER 30 - Untold Stories

Untold Stories

Lokopakar in collaboration with NIRI (Nexus Institute for Research and Innovation) has started a project to complete Strength TogetHER sessions at 10 public schools in Nepal. On July 20, 2022 Lokopakar conducted the fifth session of Strength TogetHER sessions for girls studying in Grade 9 and 10 at Shree Shaheed Shukra Secondary School on the topic “Untold Stories”.

The participants wanted to share their stories that they hadn’t shared with anyone.

Our first participant shared how her mother gave her money to buy pens for school, but instead she ate outside with that money and didn’t tell anyone.

“I had my period but I don’t know why I felt awkward telling my mother. So, I didn’t tell about it for 1 month and later she found out herself ”, shared one of our participants.

Our next participant shared that she along with her sister used to cook delicious food and eat when their mother used to go to the office. They used to wash the dishes and keep it untouched. It was their secret. But later the mother found out as the dishes were wet. 

Another participant shared that she had a crush on a guy from Grade 8 when she was in class 6. She doesn’t want to disclose the name but she has not told this secret to anyone.

“One man used to follow me everywhere while walking to school or going back home. He seemed like he was in his twenties. Even when I used to go to buy something in the shop, he used to come there as well. I asked my friend to tell him not to follow me. One day the man sat in the middle of the road and said that he would marry me. He would wait for years but marry me. The road was full of chaos. Everyone on the road was looking. I got really scared and told my aunty everything. I also shared all these things with my parents. My parents warned him that they will file a police complaint if he continues to harass me. Then onwards the man apologized and everything stopped,” shared our fifth participant. She also mentioned that only one of her friends knew about this incident.

Our next participant shared that she once found Rs.50 in the gap of the sofa. And she brought a few things to eat with that money. Later, her mother couldn’t find the money and asked her about it. She acted as if she knew nothing. Her mother also asked the same question to her elder brother and came to know about it. After that she got scolded by her mother.

Another participant shared that one of her guy friends gave her a locket a few months back. And they still talk on social media. She didn’t disclose the name of the guy. She mentioned that it is a secret and no one knows about it.

One of the participants shared that she used to like a guy in her previous school. But had thought that he likes someone else. After quitting that school she came to know that even the guy used to like her but he also had thought that she likes someone else. But they have not talked after she left the previous school.

Our final participant shared that once while pulling the curtain, a mirror fell and broke. She got very nervous, so she started to collect the broken pieces and threw them away. It was difficult to collect the tiny ones. Still no one in her house is aware of it.

After hearing all the stories, we thanked the participants for trusting us to share their untold stories. They also shared that sharing such secrets made them feel light. We also discussed further about the story shared by our fifth participant where a man followed her. We talked about how we should always share with our parents or someone older if something like that happens to protect ourselves from any risk in future and she took the right step in that situation. We parted our ways by taking a group photo.