Breaking the Cycle
How USAID helps young women chart a new path to a healthy future
Inside a walled compound in a suburban neighborhood in Gweru sits a typical Zimbabwean brick and cement home. A small playground decorates the backyard, and brightly colored laundry hangs on a line. But when you walk through the front door, it is clear that this house is not so typical after all.
The foyer is set up like an office, the walls lined with signs that implore “Wanted: Communities that Say No to Violence against Women and Girls” and “Unprotected sex is very risky. Pick some condoms below and protect yourself!!!!”
The bookshelves are stuffed with pamphlets that advertise helplines and outline legal protections for those affected by gender-based violence.
This is the Musasa Shelter, a safe haven for women and others who have experienced gender-based violence and are seeking legal aid, counseling, medical services and, on this gray, chilly day, temporary shelter for 20 women and nine children.
One of those women is Faith (not her real name) who has seen more than her fair share of hardship in her 20 years. Faith first experienced gender-based violence as a young girl when her stepfather physically and emotionally abused her. He forced her to sleep outside. Barely a teenager, she entered into a sexual relationship with a man she knew just to have a roof over her head.
Her stepfather also refused to pay her school fees for Form 1, the equivalent of 7th grade in the United States. So she found a boyfriend who was willing to cover her education costs. This made her stepfather angry, and he began to beat her more often.
Unable to withstand the abuse any longer, Faith left home at age 16 and soon became pregnant. She dropped out of school, and her boyfriend became the second man in her life to abuse her, eventually abandoning her after she gave birth.
With a baby to care for, an incomplete education and a tough economy in Zimbabwe, Faith was unemployed with few options. So she did what many women do in this position — she found another boyfriend.
But in August 2016, a small window opened, offering the beginnings of a new opportunity. Through USAID’s DREAMS partnership, Faith received training to boost her employment skills and was connected with a paid internship at a clothing store.
DREAMS stands for Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe, and through this initiative, USAID’s mission in Zimbabwe has helped over 300,000 young women and girls break the cycle of abuse and live more fulfilling lives.
A Rocky Path
As with most progress, it was two steps forward and one step back. Faith was sharing a room with three young men at the time, and they raped her. Faith said: “I felt suicidal because it was just me and my son. I had no support, no hope, no future.”
For many young women — and some men — In Zimbabwe, this is how the story continues. But for Faith, this is where the cycle of poverty, abuse and desperation was broken.
Through DREAMS, Faith was referred to the Musasa Shelter.
“When I arrived, I couldn’t talk,” Faith explained. “I cried a lot. I felt embarrassed, like everyone could see my history.”
But counseling helped. And Faith started taking advantage of every opportunity DREAMS offered her. She got tested for HIV (she was negative), and she received family planning services to prevent pregnancy while she worked to get her life back on track.
Faith returned to school under a non-formal continuing education program in Form 3 — the equivalent of 9th grade in the United States — and is now in class every afternoon. She takes morning classes on topics like entrepreneurship and computer studies to bolster her skills.
She has used that knowledge to open a convenience store to earn extra income. The store serves as a jumping off point; Faith wants to move into the transport business, with the goal of eventually earning enough money to put herself through law school.
“Through DREAMS, we are seeing a lot of change in young women,” Faith says. “They start seeing themselves as a person.”
As for Faith, she says: “I now see there’s a way forward for me. I have hope.”
DREAMS is an ambitious partnership to reduce HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women in 10 sub-Saharan African countries. With support from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Girl Effect, Johnson & Johnson, Gilead Sciences and ViiV Healthcare, DREAMS is delivering a core package that combines evidence-based approaches that go beyond the health sector, addressing the structural drivers that directly and indirectly increase girls’ HIV risk, including poverty, gender inequality, sexual violence and a lack of education. In Zimbabwe, DREAMS is implemented by USAID and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through awards to Africaid, Catholic Relief Services, Chemonics, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Family AIDS Caring Trust, FHI 360, I-TECH, Population Services International, UNICEF and World Education Inc.
About the Author
Allison DiVincenzo is the Communications Advisor at USAID’s mission in Zimbabwe.
