15 Jun 2022

Mmadinare youth aged between nine and 24 years have been urged to enrol in the DREAMS programme which will develop them into resilient and determined young people.

Established in 2020, DREAMS, which is an acronym for Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe, is a flagship programme that provides a comprehensive, multi-sectoral package of interventions to address key factors that make girls and young women vulnerable to HIV.

Launching the programme in  Mmadinare on Tuesday,  Mmadinare Hospital chief medical officer, Dr Nhlanhla Rabanyana said the programme aimed to empower adolescent girls and young women with knowledge on how to live healthy lives and have bright futures.

To build resilience and determination, he said DREAMS used life skills as a guide for building protective assets for adolescence such as financial literacy.

Through DREAMS, young girls are organised in groups called Safe Spaces, that enable them to meet their peers and discuss issues of concern and engage their mentors.

Mmadinare has 97 participants on safe space.

To break the barrier and taboo around communication with adolescents about sexuality, DREAMS utilises Family Matter Program (FMP) to stimulate communication between parents and adolescents, with the ultimate goal of reducing sexual risk behaviour amongst adolescents.

Dr Rabanyana said the project also made the girl-child aware of instances that lead to Gender Based Violence in families and relationship.

He further explained that was done through the assistance of implementing partners such as Sentebale which targets out of school youth, Silence Kills which is a parenting programme targeting teens aged 13 to 17 years, as well as Youth Impact which targets both boys and girls.

Dr Rabanyana said Mmadinare hospital had a fully functional youth clinic within the hospital with a good integration of services as well as parenting or caregiver programmes and community mobilisation and norms change programmes.

For her part, DREAMS ambassador for Bobirwa, Ms Patricia Keeditse said the organisation offered social support to girls and young women and helped them improve their lives by training them on business management.

She said through the DREAMS initiative, girls and young women were encouraged to be financially independent hence encouraged to set up their own businesses to earn a living.

Ms Keeditse said that helped reduce dependence on men for survival and also addressed issues of Gender Based Violence (GBV).

She further urged individuals and the business community in Bobirwa to adopt DREAMS so that it could give girls and young women dignity, adding that Crack-It had already adopted two girls by offering tutorial services to improve their academic performance.

Kgosi Galeage Holland of Mmadinare, also urged the youth to transform their lives by joining DREAMS and other partners such as Silent Kills. He urged the youth to desist from criminal activities and invest more time in building a bright future for themselves. ENDS