Authors: Liz Squire, Communications Advisor, USAID and Fillipus Absalom, Communications Specialist, Project Hope Namibia
In Namibia, adolescent girls and young women face a higher risk of HIV infection due to factors like social isolation, poverty, discrimination, orphanhood, gender-based violence, and inadequate schooling. USAID Namibia, through the DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe) program, promotes the empowerment of adolescent girls and young women to prevent the spread of HIV.
As part of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the DREAMS program aims to prevent HIV among adolescent girls and young women in Namibia and 15 other countries across multiple sectors including economic growth, gender equity, education, and health.
Today, USAID Namibia has reached over 175,000 adolescent girls and young women with services to empower them and prevent HIV including providing better access to HIV prevention linking them to services which prevent and address gender-based violence and supporting young women entrepreneurs to become financially independent. Financial independence reduces the likelihood of adolescent girls and young women relying on transactional sex, which is a high-risk factor for HIV among adolescent girls and young women in Namibia. Meet three determined, resilient, and empowered young women in the DREAMS program:
Wendy, 23, credits her DREAMS program mentor Rachel with helping to change her life. Before DREAMS, Wendy, a single mother, said that she struggled to feed herself and her two children. She dropped out of school at grade 11 after her first pregnancy and felt directionless. Through the DREAMS program, Wendy was selected for a three-month training course to become a medical receptionist - DREAMS covered the cost of the training and transportation to and from the training facility. This year, Wendy completed an internship where she put the skills she learned to use and hopes to find permanent employment as a medical receptionist. “I can confidently say I have all the necessary information to protect and look after myself,” says Wendy.
Before Adelaide, 21, became involved with the DREAMS program, she says she didn’t have a role model in her life to look up to. To support herself and her child as a single mother, she was selling baked goods door-to-door, but hoped to one day expand her business. Through the DREAMS program, Adelaide learned about HIV prevention options, such as the HIV prevention medication PrEP, and received the equipment and funding needed to expand her baking business. Today, Adelaide is running a successful baking business out of a hostel in Windhoek, Namibia. With the money she receives through her business, she is able to put money towards her rent, essentials for herself and her child, and her education. Adelaide is pursuing a bachelor's degree in nursing at the University of Namibia and hopes to one day be a nurse. In addition to her studies, Adelaide also serves as a DREAMS PrEP Ambassador. As a PrEP Ambassador, Adelaide educates her fellow college students about PrEP, “I tell my classmates, as an independent woman, it’s about protecting yourself from HIV.”
Brave, 27, found the DREAMS program during a dark time in her life - she had dropped out of school and had recently lost her father. Through the DREAMS program, Brave found her mentor and a community of young women she could confide in. She worked with her mentor to develop a business plan and launched a catering and cleaning business. “I know how it feels to have no food,” she says. “I want to employ other young women from the DREAMS program and help them succeed.” Today Brave employs five other young women and her business is expected to make 350,000 Namibian dollars this year (which is equal to almost $19,000 USD).
Project Hope Namibia has been serving adolescent girls and young women through the DREAMS program for five years.