By Karin Joseph | Head of Partnerships & Gender
Dear friends,
Cheka Sana Tanzania recently shared this story with us from their StreetBorn programme, supporting young mothers on the streets of Mwanza Tanzania.
Evelyn* is 20 years old, and is mother to a 2-year old child. Evelyn started secondary school and completed up to form 4, but unfortunately failed to pass the exams for form 5 and had to drop out. She began to look for work, because she had a huge amount of responsibility to care for her sister who was living with HIV. Their parents died years ago due to complications from HIV.
Evelyn found herself facing no other option but sex work. Before long she got pregnant. She chose to keep the baby whilst continuing to work, both to save money for her child’s delivery, and to care for her family.
In June of this year, Evelyn was met on the streets by Cheka Sana’s outreach team during night outreach, in the part of Mwanza city where she was working. Cheka Sana’s team explained their work to her and extended an invitation to join the programme. After several visits, building trust with Evelyn, she agreed to be linked to a health service where she went for vital check-ups. She was delighted to find she tested negative for HIV. Cheka Sana’s team continued to journey with Evelyn after this, offering one to one sessions, life skills sessions and more. After a tentative few months, the team noticed several changes in Evelyn, including an increasingly positive outlook. She joined Cheka Sana’s business skills training, after which she chose to pursue a business in food, becoming a food vendor. After the assessment at the end of the training provided by Cheka Sana, she received assistance to start her food business and is progressing well. She is currently saving money, and hopes to open her own small restaurant in the future.
Evelyn says, “Thank you to Cheka Sana for bringing back my smile, happiness and peace of mind. To be honest, I was desperate and lost hope when I got pregnant. But now I see myself in a new light; with a good mindset and a clear picture of my future life. I’m happy because my dreams are going to come true.”
Thank you so much for your support of Amos Trust's work with Cheka Sana to support more young women like Evelyn.
*name changed.
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
