Family Planning Days

Sunday, MIHV hosted the first of four “Family Planning Days”


After a rainy morning, we had a beautiful afternoon. Over 250 people attended, including many of MIHV’s target audience – teens and men. The idea for the “Days” is to bring in communities not served by other MIHV outreach programs and invite them to an event that is both fun and provides information on family planning.

The average Ugandan woman has 6.7 children, the highest fertility rate of any country in eastern and southern Africa. Although most Ugandans know about family planning (96.6% of all women and 98.1% of all men can name at least one method), usage of contraceptives is fairly low. Just 24% of women age 15-49 report using any method of family planning and when limited to modern methods, this number drops to 18% and further yet to 15% in rural areas.

The people gathered seemed to enjoy the afternoon; children danced to the drumming and songs and the crowd often erupted into laughter while they watched the drama show, which depicted a married couple struggling to handle their nine children.

I interviewed a lot of men in their late teens through early thirties. They had come to the event for many reasons – some just came to watch the football game, one was taking care of 13 children and knew he and his wife couldn’t afford another pregnancy, more often, they had heard a little bit about family planning, but had never used any form of contraception and came to learn more.

A small part of me doubted that one community event would change things. If 98% of men have heard of family planning and few are using contraception, how is one afternoon going to change their habits?

I was reminded, talking to one man, that the way we receive messages can make all the difference. Do, 25, is a farmer and father of two. He explained to me that he had never used birth control before, although he had heard messages about family planning on the radio. “I listened, but never really took any notice,” but he said, “now I see.”