Supergirls of Zimbabwe
Growing up in Whitefish taught me the power of community, and my time at St. John’s College has exposed me to the power of conversation.
When Johannes, a classmate at my college, told me about the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in his country, Zimbabwe, I wondered what would happen if I put these two superpowers together to empower supergirls to change this. With the help of two of my peers, and a “Projects for Peace” grant from the Davis Foundation, I started Supergirls of Zimbabwe — a project to empower young women to promote sexual health and reproductive health rights in their communities.
Zimbabwe has the fifth highest rate of HIV/AIDS prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa at 15 percent. Only half of young Zimbabweans have comprehensive knowledge about HIV/AIDS. A shocking 22 percent of women report that their first sexual encounter happened against their will (2014 UNAIDS Gap Report).
Though the Zimbabwean government has attempted to address this problem by implementing overarching sexual education classes, they fail because they do not promote a shift in the country’s prevailing sexual paradigm. In Zimbabwe, sex is heavily stigmatized.
This August, Supergirls of Zimbabwe will host two, week-long leadership training workshops for local women, age 16-20 in the cities of Bulawayo and Harare. The workshops aim to accomplish three goals: 1. Provide foundational education on reproductive health, 2. Promote acceptance and understanding of sexuality and safe sex, and 3. Equip young women with the necessary skills to start safe community conversations about sex.
We’ll kick off the workshops with a clear message of acceptance by giving participants care packages of donated contraception and menstrual health products. Next we will lead interactive lessons on the topics of sexual health and sexual health advocacy. We will host exciting guest speakers — local leaders in the fields of reproductive rights and sexual health. And most importantly, we will lead peer-to-peer conversations which will give the Supergirls the opportunity to think about sexual health in terms of their own lives and their own communities.
The workshops will conclude by looking outward. We’ll encourage participants to start similar initiatives in their own communities, and connect them with the resources to do this. The Supergirls will return to their communities with confidence—to engage in community dialogue, spearhead sexual health initiatives, and enact lasting change.
On June 11 we will host a Supergirls of Zimbabwe presentation and “Tastes of Zimbabwe” dinner at Whitefish High School, catered by students from the WHS Culinary Program. Link the power of our community with the empowerment of communities in Zimbabwe. Please join us for a meal, and a brief presentation about the program including participation in a conversation modeled after the seminar-style dialogues of the Supergirls of Zimbabwe program.
Tickets for the event are $25 each or $40 for two and your RSVP is required by May 28 via email to SupergirlsofZimbabwe@gmail.com. For more information, visit us at www.SupergirlsofZimbabwe.wordpress.com.
— Claire Watts, Whitefish