Yeah, the one organized by the entire Sexual and Reproductive and Health Rights Alliance of Uganda
Last year, 2018
From the 29th of October to the 2nd of November
In Mayuge district
This was my first one
I mean, I had heard about it a few years ago but had never been actually part of one
So, a lot happened as you can imagine
But I’ll share what stood out the most for me!
The numbers of people that came out to be a part of the Alliance Week
My eyes saw a lot of them
Now, I’m guessing this was the highest attendance by far or somewhere in between, for all the years that this week has existed
The number of people that came through to the health-camp
Those were very many….every day right away from Monday to the very last day, Friday
There is a story I’ll share with you about a lady I spoke with on Thursday afternoon as she got back from the medical tent
I was touched!
The number of young people in school that we interacted with
They were sooo many, their schools alone were also many and cooperative, too
Peer educators, those I knew and didn’t
All available in large numbers, at your disposal
We, all owned the Alliance Week
Now, I’m not speaking at the level of the individual organisations involved here….I speak from personal level
My job entailed me to be on the look-out all week as the celebrations went on
And I could vividly see that people had their hearts deep in this thing
No second-guessing of their decisions
The eagerness of our colleagues from the Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Alliance of Kenya, to blend in and learn
They were really into this activity, always hands-on and on stand-by for the next activity or series of activities
That’s initiative only taken by somebody that wishes to learn
Could it be that this kind of activity has never occurred in Kenya? I don’t know…will probably have to ask around for some answers
Exercise of restraint by the people I interacted with
If you’ve organized or been a part of celebrations like these,
You do know and appreciate that many things won’t go according to plan
And therefore, many things that may not be intended to be said, will end up being said – end to end
For some reason, I didn’t see much of that
I don’t know if this was a conspiracy by everyone I met or interacted with to be at their best behaviour
Or not
The storm was relatively calm
Many young people knew a thing or two about menstruation
I can see you rolling your eyes like ddduuuhhhh
But let’s try an exercise here….stop any random 10 people
Ask them anything to do with menstruation
And observe closely
Tell me what you noted
Am I right or wrong?
I toured Eastern Uganda to say but the least…all the way from Jinja to Mayuge and everywhere in between there
I didn’t know many places here till 2018
The Alliance is what I have to thank for….
Damn, I made many many new friends
Sssoooo many
I believe I lost count on Monday evening
You can imagine how many I had made by Friday evening when I left for home
Re-uniting with old ones, such as Henk Jan Bakker
Wow….it had been a long time since we last had a chat
The sunsets and the rain
As always, they added some colour and fresh air to the whole scene
The photo moments….aaahhhh
I’m very sorry for the photo-bombed moments
Not my intention at heart
I kkknnnooowwwww…. I did that, a lot!
Being able to view the entire Alliance Week in photos and on my PC
By this, I mean, I had admin access to all the photos and videos recorded in the Alliance Week
It felt so good having a 360-degree view of the whole thing, all-week
I save the best for last, always
The food….
It was more than finger-licking good….it got to a level of paying for my meals in advance
There was no way I was missing my daily serving of spaghetti, avocado, chicken and groundnut sauce with crown mushrooms in it
That’s how much I was prepared for the Alliance Week, tummy-wise
Aaaahhhh….looking forward to the one of 2019