For millions of women around the world, monthly periods are something that comes with real hazards, such as missing school and work or being subjected to potentially harmful sanitary conditions. But there's a global menstrual movement taking place.
Traditionally, widows can be shunned or deprived of basic rights in Nepal, consigned to a life of ritual mourning. But as more young men in Nepal die while working abroad, some of those restrictions are loosening.
Thousands of men leave Nepal every year to work abroad, mostly in Gulf states. They send money to their families — but sometimes they don't return. And this is having deep repercussions for the women they leave behind.
The last major earthquake in Nepal was two months ago. But aid organizations are struggling to keep up as monsoon season brings landslides, creating a snowball effect.
In Nepal, as many as a quarter of newborn deaths could be prevented with the use of an inexpensive antiseptic ointment, routinely used after childbirth in the US. The challenge is getting it to the women who need it in time.
The World's multimedia producer Sonia Narang is wrapping up a three-week trip to Nepal where she's been reporting on the difficult lives of women who still abide by centuries-old traditions.