On day four of Alliance Week 2026 we took SRHR conversations into three primary schools, two secondary schools, an island health centre serving over 14,000 people, and a Corporate Social Responsibility drive at Mutumba Subcounty headquarters. Across the day, one message kept surfacing, young people are ready to learn and lead, but they need young men engaged alongside them and communities willing to support rather than neglect them.
District Education Office Backs Hygiene and Menstrual Health at the schools
Through the support of the District Education Office lending its support to ensure schools across Namayingo remained open and receptive to these health engagements throughout the Alliance Week 2026, we began the day at three Primary schools, and two secondary schools. At Bukana Primary School, a supportive administration opened up the entire school for the engagement. Our teams split pupils by age to keep messaging appropriate: Primary One to Four learners covered personal hygiene, including why it matters, proper handwashing and oral care, and a demonstration on how to bathe properly to prevent infection. Primary Five to Seven pupils, with their teachers present, focused on menstrual hygiene management, working through the basics of menstruation, breaking myths, and practising how to make reusable sanitary pads. This was also the case at Buchumba Primary school.
At Budidi Church of Uganda Primary School, Primary Six and Seven pupils took part in a session that started with puberty, unpacking the physical and emotional changes that come with adolescence, before moving into menstrual hygiene management. Notably, both girls and boys were equipped with accurate knowledge on managing menstruation safely and confidently, a deliberate effort to break the silence and stigma that often surrounds it. The session closed with a practical segment on making reusable sanitary pads, giving pupils a skill that translates directly into fewer missed school days and greater independence for girls. However, it is important to note that Budidi Church of Uganda Primary School had 58 Primary six students last year but is only left with 15 pupils in Primary seven this year, a clear indication that about 43 pupils dropped out of school for various reasons including but not limited to child marriages, and teenage pregnancies.
At Bukana SSS, and Banda SSS, the message was clear, male involvement in Menstrual Hygiene was involved as our teams preached personal and menstrual hygiene on top of giving students practical skills on how to make reusable sanitary pads.
District Health Office Supports Family Planning and Male Participation at Bugana Health Centre III
With the support of the District Health Office reinforcing the coordination between district health structures and the Alliance in reaching underserved communities, we were able to take our outreach to Bugana Health Centre III in Bubwibo Village, Bukana Subcounty, an island health centre that serves more than 14,000 people. Our teams engaged teenage mothers on the importance of family planning and worked to demystify myths around family planning methods, including the misconception that an IUD can pierce a male partner during sex.
In the surrounding community, young men and women were taught how to properly use condoms, and condoms were distributed to help young people protect themselves against HIV/AIDS and unplanned pregnancies. Throughout the engagement, we placed particular emphasis on male participation, making the point that SRHR is not an issue for young women to navigate alone but one that requires young men’s engagement and support at every stage. The health centre in-charge reiterated that teenage pregnancy remains the area’s biggest challenge, with Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) cases now also on the rise, underlining why involving men and boys in these conversations matters as much as reaching girls.
A Subcounty Responds: CSR Drive at Mutumba
The day closed with a Corporate Social Responsibility drive at Mutumba Subcounty headquarters, where donations gathered from the support of our partners, and online family were formally received by local council leaders in the presence of district representatives. Persons with disabilities, the elderly and pregnant mothers were prioritised as the main recipients of the items donated by the populace.
District representatives used the occasion to flag Mutumba as the subcounty with the highest number of teen mothers in the district, alongside high rates of school dropout and multiple cases of SGBV. They pointed to parental neglect as a recurring factor, noting that some parents are failing to play their part in keeping their children in school and supported.