The Busoga Kingdom Youth Council (BKYC) on Friday, July 18, 2024, inaugurated a region-wide Career Guidance and Inclusive Menstrual Hygiene Initiative (CGIMH) at Namwiwa Secondary School, pledging to keep Busoga’s learners in class and equipped for life after graduation.
Led by council chairperson Yafesi Bairukireki, the youthful delegation swept into Kaliro District with a two-pronged agenda: help students chart realistic career paths and remove the menstrual-health hurdles that routinely force girls out of school.
“Education must be more than chalk and exams; it must protect dignity and unlock opportunity,” Mr Bairukireki told an assembly of some 650 students packed into the school courtyard.
The one-day programme blended pep-talks on subject selection and goal-setting with a hands-on workshop where girls stitched their own reusable sanitary pads—an exercise intended to slash monthly absenteeism
Headteacher Waiswa Alamanzani hailed the Kingdom’s decision to dispatch youths to evangelise education to their peers.
“We had long searched for partners willing to speak to learners in a language they trust,” he said. “The Kyabazinga’s call to keep children in school will echo loudly in this region.”
Yet Mr Waiswa pulled no punches about infrastructure. With just two permanent classroom blocks, dozens of pupils take lessons beneath mango trees.
Paul Munanha, BKYC speaker, responded that each outreach now includes a symbolic tree-planting ceremony: “We are executing the Kyabazinga’s twin agenda—green Busoga and educated Busoga.”
Prince Job Mugoya from Bukooli chiefdom framed the initiative as a cultural mission as well as a social one.
“His Majesty graduated this year; that act alone preaches louder than speeches. We are here to amplify his example.”
Fellow council member Moreen Nakirima urged parents to buy cloth and needles so daughters can keep making pads at home: “Self-sufficiency is cheaper than emergency trips to the trading centre.”
Senior Two student Anitah Namwebya received three packets of pads, enough for two months.
“I feared missing class whenever periods came. Now I’m covered—and I can sew more,” she said, brandishing her first homemade sample.
Freshman Michael Igaga left the session vowing renewed commitment: “They showed me success starts with respecting myself, parents and teachers. From today, school is my first priority.”
BKYC plans to replicate the model across Busoga’s 11 districts, targeting both primary and tertiary institutions. Funding is largely voluntary, though the council says talks are under way with NGOs for supplies in hard-to-reach sub-counties.
“We will not rest until every learner—boy or girl—can attend school without shame or uncertainty,” Mr Bairukireki declared as the team boarded their van for the 80-kilometre trip back to Jinja.
