HIV
HIV RESILIENCE HEROES
Her future once uncertain, a ‘DREAMS girl’ in Zambia takes charge of her life
LUSAKA, ZAMBIA
Mary Mwanakufwa went wherever the wind blew her – that is how she describes her life when she was 20.
It was 2017. She was in her last year at a local university and had no idea what she would do next.
“I did not have a plan,” she recalls. “I probably would have just sat at home.”
Friends were filling their time with things like drinking and casual relationships with men. Mary admits she was not well equipped to handle peer pressure.
“It would have been very easy to take a bad path. I saw my friends doing this to keep up a social life.”
One day, Mary sat in on a short presentation by someone called a DREAMS connector. Only a few years older than Mary, the woman explained the basics of DREAMS, a program that operates centers across Zambia where girls and young women can access a range of free services to help them be independent and HIV-free, including family planning, HIV testing, business and vocational training, and psychosocial support for survivors of gender-based violence.
Pact and its sub-partners began opening DREAMS centers in Zambia in 2015 with funding from PEPFAR through USAID. Operating in 15 African countries, DREAMS is an ambitious effort to significantly reduce new HIV infections among girls and young women between the ages of 10 and 24 by addressing many factors that make them more vulnerable to HIV. DREAMS stands for determined, resilient, empowered, AIDS-free, mentored and safe.
“The way I was before DREAMS compared to after – it transformed me.”
Mary thought DREAMS might be for her, so she enrolled at her local DREAMS center in Lusaka’s Kalingalinga neighborhood. With a group of other young women between the ages of 20 and 24, she took the program’s introductory 13-week Stepping Stones course. Led by a volunteer DREAMS mentor, it covered topics such as communication in relationships, HIV prevention, family planning and financial literacy.
After Stepping Stones, Mary took a deeper dive into earning and saving money through a DREAMS course called Enterprise Your Life.
“It really opened up my mind,” she says.
Soon she had a plan for starting her own small business selling pants and shoes to students at her university.
“The way I was before DREAMS compared to after – it transformed me.”
When the Kalingalinga center asked Mary in 2018 if she would be interested in volunteering as a DREAMS mentor, she jumped at the chance. The following year, she became a full-time staff member as a DREAMS connector, visiting schools, churches and health clinics to recruit and enroll new DREAMS girls. She is still doing the job today, with her sister now running the day-to-day operations at her clothing business, which is thriving.
It was a DREAMS connector who opened the door for Mary to a successful, HIV-free future. Now, she says, she could not be happier to be doing the same for others.
“DREAMS gives girls information and power to make the right decisions. DREAMS helps girls bounce back from problems and be their own boss,” she says.
“That is what DREAMS did for me. I am a DREAMS girl.”
DREAMS in Zambia is funded by PEPFAR and USAID. Pact and its sub-partners implement DREAMS under USAID Z-CHPP in five provinces and eight districts of Zambia. Learn more about DREAMS here.