Faith Ndou
MASVINGO-The Sista2Sista Programme, an Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Education and empowerment initiative is making a significant impact among vulnerable adolescent girls and young women aged between 15 and 24 years in Ward 1, Chief Mabika Matsayi area in Bikita District.
The programme is being implemented under the mentorship of Tavonga Makotore, a National AIDS Council (NAC) mentor, as part of Grant Cycle 7 (2024–2026), which specifically targets out of school adolescent girls and young women.
This came out during the NAC media tour during the week in Masvingo Province.
Each year, Sista2Sista reaches at least 900 girls, ensuring 100 percent access to HIV Testing Services, alongside other essential health services such as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), family planning, antenatal care (ANC), cervical cancer screening and sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening.
Bikita District has 18 trained community mentors who each recruit two groups of 25 adolescent girls and young women and facilitate up to 40 sessions annually, guided by the Sista2Sista manual.
In Ward 1, Makotore mentors a group of 50 girls drawn from there and surrounding areas.
“The programme started when most of these girls were involved in risky behaviours such as excessive alcohol consumption and transactional sex,” said Makotore.
“Since young girls joined Sista2Sista, there has been a notable change in behaviour, attitude and lifestyle.”
Some of the beneficiaries are also enrolled under the Dertermined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe (DREAMS) programme and attend Tamuka Secondary School while others who are not in school are engaged in income generating activities.
These activities include doing piece jobs (maricho) and working collectively to sell mashuku, tsvubvu, vegetables, tomatoes and firewood.
A key component of the programme is the Internal Savings and Lending Scheme (ISALS) a social protection initiative aimed at reducing HIV risk by strengthening livelihoods.
Through ISALS, the girls have acquired financial literacy skills and are cascading this knowledge to other club members at ward level.
The group has already recorded tangible success. Through pooled savings and borrowing, they managed to purchase 27 she goats with members in a smaller group of nine each contributing towards the purchase of three goats per person.
Looking ahead, the group plans to expand its projects by buying cattle next year and venturing into fishing as another income generating activity.
“Through the Sista2Sista programme, the girls have learned to save, plan and work together. Our next target is to buy cows next year and also start a fishing project so that they can further strengthen their livelihoods and become self reliant,” said Makotore.
However, challenges remain. The group is appealing to well wishers for assistance in constructing a secure goat pen as the current structure is unsafe.
They are also seeking support to acquire Boer and Kalahari goat breeds to improve productivity and income generation. In addition, the group is requesting assistance with drilling a borehole to provide water for their livestock and support farming activities.
Despite these challenges, the Sista2Sista Programme continues to empower young women in Ward 1, fostering resilience, economic independence and healthier life choices among adolescent girls and young women in the Chief Mabika Matsayi area.
