Rural background could not stifle her DREAMS

Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Mat South Bureau Chief

A rural background divorced from adequacy has stubbornly imposed itself between academically gifted Nomkhuleko Ncube and her dream of becoming a lawyer after obtaining an impressive 15 points at A-level in 2016.

Ncube (24) from Fumugwe Village in Gwanda District dropped out of Midlands State University (MSU) in her first year, first semester in 2019 where she was reading for a degree in law, due to financial challenges.

The pain according to her, was unbearable. She decided to skip the border and look for employment in Botswana as a form of escapism. She worked in restaurants in the neighbouring country for a year and then decided that instead of running away from her problems she would rather face them head on.

She returned home in May last year and decided that the best move was to accept her reality. While financial challenges might have stalled her dream of becoming a lawyer, they did not kill her spirit.
Ncube who is self-driven, bold, and exudes a lot of confidence was selected to be a ward facilitator under the DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, Aids-free, Mentored and Safe) programme in December.

She was later elevated to become the Gwanda District ambassador for the programme.
The programme has helped her undergo a three months training in mineral processing at the Zimbabwe School of Mines in Bulawayo.

DREAMS seeks to empower adolescent girls and young women through youth-friendly reproductive healthcare and social asset building.

It is a USAid funded programme which also mobilises communities for change with school and community-based HIV and violence prevention. It is being implemented by Zimbabwe Health Intervention (ZHI).

Ncube said her dream of becoming a lawyer still stands and her training has started with her advocating for the rights of her peers and facilitating change within the community.

“I did my primary at Bethel Primary and Form One and Two at Bethel Secondary in Gwanda. I then transferred to Sikhulile High School in Bulawayo where I did my Form Three to Six. I passed with 15 points at A-level and then I immediately knew that my dream of becoming a lawyer was becoming a reality,” she said.

Ncube added: “I, however, failed to go to university the following year because of financial challenges. My mother used to work in South Africa but she returned home. My maternal grandmother sold a beast and I managed to secure a place at Midlands State University as a law student. I had to drop out of university after completing my first semester of my first year.”

Ncube said although she grew up learning in rural schools, that did not stop her from dreaming big. She said she benefited a lot from the literature which the school received from the Edward Memorial Library in Gwanda as it helped her to perfect her language and sharpened her mind.

She said the DREAMS programme had empowered her economically as she was getting an allowance as a facilitator and ambassador.

Ncube said she first went through an interview in order to qualify for the programme and then received training. She said as an out of school club facilitator her responsibilities include screening adolescent girls and young women for enrolment. Ncube also conducts peer education on HIV and Aids and sexual reproductive health related issues and economic strengthening education.

“As a facilitator I’m also a go-between for service providers and the adolescent. If a service provider is coming, I mobilise adolescent girls and young women for clinical services being provided by stakeholders for example HIV testing, STI screening and treatment, PREP, family planning among others,” she said.

Ncube added: “I was appointed as a DREAMS ambassador in June and my main task is to sell the programme to the community and to promote uptake of services to adolescent girls and young women. I also engage community leaders and traditional leaders to bring them on board.”

She said she has found purpose in changing the lives of adolescent girls and young women.
Ncube said the hardships and challenges that she has faced in life have helped her motivate and support others. She said at the same time the experiences of her peers served as life lessons for her as well.

Ncube said there were many challenges that adolescents and young women face which can be best solved through peer-to-peer interaction.

“Peer-to-peer interaction is a good motivation and learning tool. Sometimes people of a different age group may not understand and relate to our challenges because of the age gap but as peers we can work through our challenges together while getting guidance from our elders.

My training as a lawyer has already started through my work. I’m all about representation and being a voice for the voiceless. In the next five I see myself studying law. With my DREAMS experience, my mind is now set on being a human rights lawyer,” she said.

Speaking recently during a meeting Zimbabwe Health Intervention (ZHI) Gwanda District project co-ordinator, Ms Nichola Sibanda said the DREAMS programme which is being implemented by ZHI working with other partners that include Government ministries and departments, OPHID, Matabeleland Aids Council/ Population Services for Health and Ceshhar seeks to bring different interventions of ensuring that adolescent girls are kept occupied and economically empowered.

She said the aim of the programme was to reduce new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women with the programme targeting ages 10-24.

“Under the DREAMS programme we emphasise service layering to ensure that adolescent girls are safe, empowered and safe from HIV and Aids. If we don’t reach out to an adolescent girl the probability of HIV and Aids will increase.

Our goal is to reduce new HIV infections among adolescent girls from ages 10- 24 by 2026 in Zimbabwe. This will be possible through strengthening HIV and sexual violence prevention,” she said.

Ms Sibanda added: “Our target under DREAMS programme is to empower the adolescent girl and young woman by dialoguing with the communities in order to change mindsets and identify challenges faced by adolescents. We also have school and community-based HIV and violence prevention strategies where we screen adolescents and enrol them into the DREAMS programme.”

She said in Gwanda DREAMS is offering education support to 525 children in 35 schools. Twenty young women from the district have undergone training with Red Cross and are on attachment at Manama Hospital. Fifteen young women have received training under the Zimbabwe School of Mines.

DREAMS was announced on World Aids Day 2014 and since 2015 has expanded from the original 10 to 16 countries in the sub-Saharan Africa including Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire, eSwatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Sudan, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe and Haiti.

According to statistics, around 5 000 adolescent girls and young women aged 15 to 24 globally become infected with HIV every week. @DubeMatutu