Many of the school-going children are still home since schools are partially open to only candidates in Uganda. During this time, adolescents and young people have a lot of time on their hands and some spend their time enjoying outdoor activities. On 3rd March our advocacy change champions carried out a SRHR community awareness outreach at the Sweswe playground, over 200 people (F50, M150) were reached. In Kyakka II, Kyegegwa district many of the adolescent boys meet at the Sweswe playground to play football and volleyball. The matches usually attract many peers and what a better way to pass on correct SRHR information, our advocacy change champions grabbed this opportunity with open arms. During the outreach, the advocacy change champions and a nurse from Bujumbili hospital handled topics around teenage pregnancies, family planning, prevention of HIV and AIDS transmission, and STI’s.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many adolescent boys who are footballers have run away from Kyakka II, Kyegegwa district because they have impregnated school girls within the community. Many girls find themselves attracted to footballers because of the fame that they have within the community. During the discussion, it was evident that adolescents and young people lack access to SRHR information as most of them informed our advocacy change champions that condoms can only prevent one from unwanted pregnancies. There is a need to sensitize the adolescents about safe sex to those that are sexually active and encourage those that aren’t sexually active to continue abstaining.
The adolescents requested to have a safe space where they can go to access accurate SRHR information and services within Kyakka II, going to the hospital is a long process, usually find many people are we are afraid to talk about issues like condoms in front of everyone. ‘It’s hard for us to mention to the health workers that all we want are condoms so that we are not kept in the long ques ‘said a young person. It’s evident that many adolescents are sexually active but sexually active, know that condoms prevent unwanted pregnancy but don’t know where they can easily access them from.
At the end of the SRHR information, 300 male condoms were distributed to the people at the Sweswe playground. During the condom distribution, women suggested that they wanted to be taught how to use female condoms, many of them hear about them but have never seen or used them. They want to stop relying on just the male condoms because sometimes they have a challenge when the men don’t want to wear condoms. If female condoms can easily be accessible, adolescent girls and women will be in a better position to protect themselves since they will not have to be at the mercy of men to wear condoms. The Suubi helpline 0759 479 995 was shared with the participants in case they had more SRHR questions.
Some of the participants receiving condoms