Former DREAMS Girl Forms a Youth Group to Sensitize and Mentor Girls to Curb Gender-Based Violence, HIV/AIDS and Teenage Pregnancies
In the heart of Kisumu, Kenya, lives a young woman named Yvonne Ogolla who has always had a passion for helping her community. Yvonne grew up in Nyalenda B – one of the eight informal settlements in Kisumu City – where poverty, lack of education and teenage pregnancy are prevalent. She has seen first-hand how these issues affected her peers. Despite facing similar challenges, Yvonne was determined to reach her full potential. In 2016, she enrolled in DREAMS, a project supported by PEPFAR/USAID to help adolescent girls and young women lead Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe (DREAMS) lives.
During her time in the DREAMS program, Yvonne benefitted from comprehensive interventions designed for girls and young women who are particularly vulnerable to HIV. Additionally, her group of 23 girls received training in financial literacy to promote a habit of saving as well as entrepreneurship skills training to help them start and manage small businesses. Yvonne was also supported to pursue a course in social work and community development.
Upon graduating from DREAMS in 2017, Yvonne volunteered in the program and even worked as a facilitator for financial capability training for adolescent girls and young women in Kisumu. The DREAMS graduate then decided to form a youth group to further her efforts to make a difference in the lives of other young girls like herself both in and out of the program. She reached out to her peers in her cohort, telling them about her idea and asking if they would be interested in joining her youth group. To her delight, all the DREAMS graduates were excited about the idea and were eager to get involved.
Yvonne and her friends began meeting at Nyalenda Health Centre every Friday to maintain the savings and loaning practices that they learned during their time with DREAMS, contributing KES 100 (currently about 71 cents USD) per week. They also discussed strategies to empower their peers with a focus on financial empowerment and sexual and reproductive health; creating awareness about the challenges faced by girls and young women in Nyalenda slums; and encouraging their peers to participate actively.
Yvonne and her friends recognized the importance of choosing a name for their group as they prepared for their first community service project. After deliberating extensively, they settled on the name "Dream Girls Youth Group." They believed the name aptly described their history and mission, which was to empower girls and encourage them to become determined, resilient, mentored, AIDS-free and safe women.
The group aims to empower and safeguard its members from gender-based violence (GBV) by offering loans for starting or enhancing their businesses. Additionally, Yvonne highlighted that the group also guides members towards scholarship opportunities at vocational institutions, enabling those who are not keen on entrepreneurship to acquire valuable skills that can boost their employability.
The group of volunteers also engages in community outreach activities in Nyalenda to raise awareness on sexual and reproductive health. They educate girls on various topics such as menstrual hygiene, HIV prevention, family planning, contraceptives and GBV. They also provide referrals and linkages to facilities that offer services on reproductive health.
In 2022, the group received its first donation-funded project. After being recommended by USAID 4TheChild, which is implemented by AMPATH partner Moi University, Yvonne and her team were able to secure USD $5,000 to run a six-month campaign aimed at ending teenage pregnancies and preventing new HIV infections among fisherfolks in Dunga Beach Management Unit in Kisumu County. The campaign impacted over 1,000 adolescent girls and young women and 600 DREAMS girls directly, providing them with comprehensive, age-appropriate sexuality education in safe spaces, as well as training on entrepreneurship and financial capability. The DREAMS graduates also organized community dialogues, which reached 1,600 adolescent girls and young women, delivering messages advocating for ending GBV, particularly sexual violence among girls and promoting sexual reproductive health and rights.
“The event was very successful and provided us with an opportunity to positively impact several girls at once,” said Yvonne. “The sense of satisfaction that we gained from our accomplishments has motivated us to continue pushing forward.”
Yvonne and her team recognized they had accomplished something exceptional as their group expanded to include 35 members. They had established a society of young individuals who were enthusiastic about effecting change, and they were generating a tangible difference in their community.
“We are expanding as a group and have started incorporating adolescent boys and young men as champions of the girl child,” Brenda Atieno, the DREAMS Girl Youth Group treasurer informed USAID 4TheChild of the group’s mission in 2023. “We will empower the boys on girls’ issues, including menstruation, so that they can help us advocate for a supportive environment for adolescent girls and young women.”