Restoring Dreams of Adolescent and Young Women using the DREAMS concept

Rebecca Nalukwago 21 years lost her father at a tender age of seven years, the sole family breadwinner and was left to live with her mother. This fate led to her childhood being characterized by ill health and interrupted education.

As Rebecca grew to become a young woman, life challenges pushed her to start practicing unsafe behaviours leading to early sex and pregnancy. Rebecca delivered her fist daughter at 17 years. Due to pressure from her mother, Rebecca wen to stay with father of her child who would later subject to her gruesome domestic violence and later leaving him to be on her own.

“When I went to be on my own, life was hard. In our society, girls think it is important to keep up with the current trends, and suddenly I couldn’t afford to have the hair I wanted, do my nails, or wear clothes that I loved,” she says. “Worst of all, I couldn’t afford to take care of my children and family. My mother was suffering. There was no food in the house, and I couldn’t do anything about it. So, i made a choice, the worst choice of my life, to turn to sex work. I thought I would only do it once, but I was in the same situation again and again. I knew about HIV but in many cases I found myself having no protection at all. I never negotiated safer practices due to feeling vulnerable. I did not like the person I had become, and I felt bad about myself,” narrated Rebecca.

In 2020, Rebecca was mobilized by her mother to join the Determined Resilient Empowered AIDS Free Mentored and Safe (DREAMS) project supported by The U.S President Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in partnership with Mildmay Uganda. She knew it would be a great opportunity for her daughter.

“I was so happy to turn away from the negative life I was living, I’m now in charge of my life.” Rebecca said. “DREAMS has given me a new life and being part of a project that focusses on bettering the lives of young girls makes me feel so proud. I have learnt that no matter the road travelled, there is always a chance for a better opportunity – I am living proof of that. My mother has started noticing the change in me, even though I have only been here for five months. I have learnt how to manage my anger and I am a happier person. I am surrounded by positive people. I have made friends who have a positive influence on me. My mother is over the moon. She tells me that come what may, she will always support me. I have enrolled onto a village savings and loan association where I save UGX 500 per day. I intend to use this money to start up a business of my own and buy my mother a watch as a reminder that her time spent on making me better will not go in vain. I am so grateful to PEPFAR and CDC for the DREAMS Project and Mildmay for affording me this life changing opportunity.”

DREAMS Project is part of the Accelerating Epidemic Control in Mubende Region Project, a five-year PEPFAR and CDC funded cooperative agreement being implemented by Mildmay Uganda and sub-partners to reduce new HIV infections in Uganda. Since its inception in 2016, more than 100,000 girls have graduated from the program to live Determined, Resilient, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe lives.