Students shine the light on HIV and women empowerment

Growing up in Daveyton township in Gauteng, Jazzman Simelane often witnessed the idleness of young people who often loitered in the streets after school.  

But through an out-of-school programme called Imbokodo launch pad, the Wits University student wants to turn the tide against the idle.

The programme seeks to change the negative mindset among young people in SA through sport, adventure and entrepreneurship.

Its business hubs, which are aimed at assisting women entrepreneurs and transforming their communities, will see stalls, a gym, coffee shop and shared work spaces being set up using old refurbished containers.

“There is a saying that goes, ‘an idle mind is a devil’s workshop'," said Simelane who is one of the winners of Aspire Higher, an inaugural sexual health innovation competition that has been initiated by Wits Business School, Reckitt Benckiser’s Durex brand, Gilead, and UNAids.

Three projects, including Imbokodo launch pad, Storm — a women empowerment programme that uses online campaigns to change attitudes and behaviours — and the Gratitude project, which uses technology to deliver wellness initiatives, have each been awarded about R2.14m by Reckitt Benckiser to conduct 12-month field trials.

In addition to this funding, pharma company Gilead Sciences has pledged a further £100,000 for the project that delivers the highest level of behavioural change during the trials.

“I’ve always believed in impactful and sustainable solutions that are centred in the communities. Growing up, I have often observed youngsters roaming around the streets after school with nothing to do and this is the case with many other townships across SA,” Simelane told TimesLIVE after he was announced a winner.

“Research also indicates that 50% of the risk for girls contracting HIV is reduced by keeping them in school. The out-of-school time programmes will help to keep the girls in school with interventions such as tutoring that will improve their grades and ultimately boost confidence,” Simelane said.

Broadcaster Redi Thlabi, who moderated the judging process, said the finalists have shown that “we can achieve the Africa of our dreams”.

The project was born after Wits Business School challenged students “to think about new ways of educating girls and young women so that they are empowered to take control of their sexual health and lives”.

“We received 25 submissions, and the solutions the students came up with were truly mind-blowing. Women and girls carry the burden of HIV and sexually-transmitted infections in Sub-Saharan Africa. It has become urgent that we find new solutions, to invest in our young girls and provide them with the tools they need to do the work. These finalists have shown that we can achieve the Africa of our dreams.”

Another student, Jane Rossouw, who is the brains behind the Storm project, said a lack of education about sexual health at a young age later turned into passion.

“I have always had a great interest in sexual health, specifically from an underrepresented, female perspective. The lack of education (about sexual health) had a negative impact on me as an adolescent and young adult female,” she said.

Rossouw’s academic research concerning sexual education in schools “has highlighted the need for this initiative to have a great focus on sexuality education outside the school setting”.

Letlhogonolo Tsoai who developed the Gratitude project said the initiative “helped us develop a sense of purpose and a well-rounded outlook on life”.

“We want young women to see themselves as capable and our ideas will give them the tools that can empower them to take action and control of their lives, through self-efficacy and entrepreneurial pursuits which will be supported through access to information.

Director of UNAids Aeneas Chuma said Covid-19 has brought about a new way of living, and a new way of approaching problems. “This competition could not have come at a better time. No country can reach its developmental goals without empowering women.

“All five finalists were united in their determination to change deep-seated attitudes towards condom use, to tackle the root causes of such attitudes and to engender a renewed sense of self-belief in young girls and women to ensure, ultimately, that they become economically independent,” she said.

© TimesLIVE