In Gaza Province, Mozambique, where nearly one in four adults is living with HIV and girls are at high risk of gender-based violence, girls are at the front lines of promoting health and rights for the next generation.¹ Meet Catia, Celeste, and Gertrudes, three secondary school students who transformed themselves into sexual and reproductive health activists through Rede Contra O Abuso de Menores’s (Rede CAME) DREAMS Innovation Challenge project.
Despite finding herself an orphan at a young age after her single mother passed away, Catia always had a positive attitude, worked hard, and never missed school. Catia’s aunt was very supportive but passed away in 2018, leaving Catia living alone in her house.
Catia’s teachers and classmates admire her perseverance, and in 2017, she was selected as a peer educator with Rede CAME’s DREAMS Innovation Challenge project, which is funded by PEPFAR and managed by JSI. The project is designed to prevent secondary school dropout and HIV infection among adolescent girls. The project trained teachers and mentors at Catia’s school in child participation, child protection policies and rights, and teaching methodologies to retain girls in school, with an emphasis on sexual and reproductive health. In August, a mentor taught Catia and 19 other students at her school about sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence — with the goal of changing girls’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices to protect them from HIV, and empowering them to prevent forced marriages, sexual abuse, and violence.
As a peer educator, Catia gives advice to her classmates regarding different topics such as HIV prevention and sexual reproductive health. Catia shares: “There are many myths and taboos regarding HIV, but with this training, I know what is true and what is false.”
Catia has always cared for her classmates, but being a peer educator has helped her become more comfortable reaching out. “When I see one of my peers having problems, I feel better equipped to provide them with the support they need. I reach out to them and let them know they can come to me for support,” says Catia.
Catia is currently studying in grade 12 and next year, she hopes to attend university.
Celeste, an eleventh grader at Catia’s school who is the daughter of subsistence farmers, became a sexual and reproductive health activist with the DREAMS Innovation Challenge project at the age of 16. She speaks at sessions to teach adolescents and young people to adopt practices that prevent HIV infection and early pregnancy. She is happy she can help her fellow students and says the training sessions taught her to stand up for others.
When one of her schoolmates was sexually violated by her uncle, Celeste gathered the courage to intervene and reported it to her mentor. Celeste and her mentor convinced the girl to tell her grandmother, who condemned the uncle and took the schoolmate to the hospital to be tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. “After this episode, I realized that we needn’t be adults to free people from violence, and how important it is to fight against all forms of violence that affect girls,” says Celeste. “I don’t think that I would have believed that I am capable of doing this without the project’s help.”
Recently, one of Celeste’s peers opened up about being pregnant. Celeste counseled her, made sure she knew her options and supported her throughout the school year.
According to Celeste’s parents, before becoming a peer educator, Celeste was very shy. Now, she is confident and speaks out. Celeste’s grades in school have approved due to DREAMS, as well. Celeste’s dream is to become a math teacher.
Gertrudes, a student at Tavene Secondary School, had a difficult life after her father passed away in 2011. She moved in with her uncle, who could not afford to send her to school and was forced to become a domestic worker. Whenever she did something wrong, the consequence was psychological and physical violence.
When Rede CAME mentor teacher Albino Manhique found out about the abuse, he intervened to bring an end to the situation. Gertrudes returned to school and moved in with her older cousin and nephews. But in school, she was withdrawn and was not passing her classes; after she was selected as a peer educator and underwent a twelve-day training, she did not follow up to conduct lectures in the school.
Rede CAME referred Gertrudes to mental health services to help her overcome the trauma she had faced. Gertrudes became more social, began to embrace her role as a peer educator, improved her grades, and passed Grade 9. She was selected as one of Xai-Xai City’s DREAMS Ambassadors. Now, Gertrudes is in demand as a peer supporter on issues of sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence, allowing her to alert school authorities to follow up on cases. She tells her story in the video below.
According to Rebecca Manajate, head of Tavene Secondary School, another school that benefits from Rede CAME’s DREAMS project: “There has been a big change in attitudes among students. They feel empowered. The peer educators are mobilizing the students better than teachers. It’s easier for the students to talk to their peers.” She adds: “Before, the dropout rates were high, but since DREAMS has come to our school it has significantly decreased.”
Rede CAME’s DREAMS project was shaped by the voices of stakeholders, including girls, to effectively face the challenges of improving school safety, child safeguarding, and girls’ rights. The project reached a total of 16,000 secondary school students on child participation, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and girls legal rights to be protected from violence.
[1]http://www.socialserviceworkforce.org/system/files/resource/files/Mozambique-GBV-Case-Study.pdf
This message was funded by a grant from the United States Department of State as part of the DREAMS Innovation Challenge, managed by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI). The opinions, findings, and conclusions stated herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State or JSI.
Photo credit: Lambert Coleman / Hans Lucas
