Give education & training to Zimbabwean girls

It has been another busy quarter at the Rafiki Girls Centre, with the end of the course drawing near from the July 2016 intake and the January 2017 intake progressing onto educational and vocational courses. The July 2016 intake have begun their technical and vocational training, whilst the January 2017 intake have just completed the first stage of the course in personal and life skills.

Your support has enabled us to guide 60 young women into further education or vocational training, providing support and counselling to raise awareness of HIV and build the life skills which allow the girls to go onto live independently and successfully. Besides this training, Rafiki has held a number of events this quarter!

Rafiki held an Open Day, which successfully showcased the centre and allowed staff to interact with parents and families. After parents were informed that at the end of 3 months girls will be encouraged to volunteer for HIV counselling and testing, there had many questions. Some feared others wondered how they would react or proceed on with life if the girl told them that she was HIV positive. Parents and guardians also want to be equipped so that they can know how they handle the news in the case that the girls’ results are positive. Rafiki is well-placed to support the girls and their families through this by tackling stigma, promoting living with and treating the virus effectively, and providing counselling and support.

Rafiki held a Careers Day to educate the students on the various industries and educational opportunities available to them, encouraging each student to be aspirational and not let not any perceptions they or others may hold about them to define their future.

Rafiki held its annual HIV/AIDS workshop on tackling spread and stigma, and living with HIV. 144 ladies attended the workshop under the theme 90, 90, 90. 24 married women from the host church were among those who attended the workshop. This is a national wide theme that is being implemented right now in the country. It aims at having 90% of people being tested for HIV, 90% of those tested should being on treatment, 90% who get on treatment should adhere to treatment and the fourth 90 which was introduced during the workshop is about prevention of new infections by 2030.

All students in the January intake completed voluntary HIV testing and counselling, and some disclosed that they felt comfortable sharing this with the staff at Rafiki Girls Centre as they would be more supportive and understanding of a positive status than other support networks in their lives. Fortunately, the testing revealed no new cases of HIV.

Rafiki is indeed a centre for transformation. Girls have been transformed starting with their mindsets, especially those who thought that it was impossible for them to be self-reliant and independent. Many are so grateful for the programme that has given them hope so that they are able to start income generating projects and others have found jobs and earn money to sustain not only themselves but their family members also.

We are very grateful to ZET for funding that has already come through for us to continue with our activities and fulfill the Rafiki vision to equip disadvantaged girls with skills, so that they will be able to transform their lives through earning an income.

Please consider donating to this wonderful centre, to support young women to lift themselves out of poverty through education and training.