Roshani Karki Sapkota is a resident of Kathmandu, Nepal. She has completed her Masters in Environmental Management from Pokhara University, Nepal. She leads Wine to Water Nepal. Roshani’s project to produce and sell reusable sanitary pads, and employ local women to make and distribute these pads, increases access to menstrual hygiene management, in areas of Nepal that currently lack access.

In Nepal, less than half of adolescents report knowing what periods are, and only 1 in 10 Nepalese adolescents are able to practice good menstrual hygiene. Although the practice was outlawed in 2005, many Nepalese communities practice ‘Chhaupadi”, an ancient Hindu practice whereby menstruating girls and women are forced to sleep in menstrual huts, which are often sheds built for cattle, and many have died because of animal attacks, exposure to extreme weather, and smoke inhalation.