Girls’ club empowers Karoi teenagers in HIV response “
LET’S take a walk” sound as a harmless popular catch phrase that teenage girls frequently hear in Chikangwe township in Karoi.
Generously sounding men, mostly tobacco farmers with hidden agendas use the phrase to grab the attention of girls in exchange for sweets, among other goodies.
During the ongoing tobacco selling season, some Karoi farmers would be having loads of free money to splash around, targeting young girls.
Farmers have been assured of improved payment modalities after some growers were shortchanged by unscrupulous companies that failed to honour their obligations to pay on time last year.
About 75% of the net amount is directly deposited into the farmers’ foreign currency accounts and treated as free funds, while 25%, which will be in the local currency, will be deposited into the growers’ local bank accounts or e-wallets.
Karoi, according to reports from the National Aids Council (NAC), is one of the towns in Mashonaland West province with the highest HIV/Aids prevalence rates among the youth.
David Nyamurera, NAC’s Mashonaland West provincial manager told journalists during a recent media tour of the province that vulnerable populations include adolescents living with HIV, artisinal miners, truck drivers and fishermen in Kariba.
Key drivers range from intergenerational sex, low risk perceptions, low condom use and multiple concurrent partners.
In terms of estimated HIV prevalence, Mhondoro has 14%, Chegutu (13%), Zvimba (12,6%), Makonde (12%), Sanyati (11,4%), Hurungwe (11%) and Kariba has an estimate of 9,5%.
However, through various NAC intervention strategies initiated programmes such as the ‘Sister to Sister’, great strides have been made in reducing HIV prevalence rates among the girl child.
Introduced in 2006, the programme aims to reduce HIV prevalence among vulnerable groups aged between 10 and 24.
Girls and young women have been equipped with knowledge about their sexual and reproductive rights. One beneficiary is 20year old Cecelia Mhande from Chikangwe township.
Mhande who wrote her Advanced Level examinations in 2023, is part of Queens of the Uni
Cecelia Mhande
verse club.
The club is into detergent making, baking, among other income generating projects.
“Right now I am waiting to go to university to study social work. I came out with 11 points,” she told journalists.
“If I stay at home and do nothing, I might get myself mixed up in some things, or get impregnated. This would disrupt my plans for the future. Some of my age mates now have two kids from different fathers.”
Another club member, Easter Mpariwa said the Sister to Sister initiative not only empower girls economically, but it helps foster friendships.
“Some girls are up tight on their social lives, which leads to depression. But the club help us to open up to one another and share life experiences.”
The club mentor, Mavies Tagarira, a Sister to Sister mentor under the NAC in Karoi said girl clubs help reduce HIV prevalence rates. She said girls undergo a meticulous vetting process before joining clubs.
“When we start these clubs, we do not just get into a community and pick randomly. We work mainly with out of school girls and young women, especially those whom we identify through our risk assessment tool that they could be at higher risk of HIV and other vices.
“Our goal is to end AIDS by the year 2030. We also test the girls for HIV and those who test positive are initiated on treatment,” said Tagarira.
However, she said during tobacco selling most girls drop out of clubs and resort to selling various items at the auction floors.
“That is a challenging phase for us. Girls fall prey to farmers who would be splashing money at them.
“You hear men saying ‘lets take a walk’ to girls and then they ask for sexual favours promising the girls sweets. A majority of them fall prey, contract HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases,” she added
District Aids coordinator for Karoi, Admire Takawira told journalists that idleness is the main challenge among girls.
“One of the risks that is identified in girls and young women is that of being idle and that will likely lead them into transactional sex and other behaviours that could be of risk to them.
“The clubs keep the girls occupied in the process removing those risk factors,” said Takawira.