Many young female sex workers engage in transactional sex in places like bars and discos, and because they consider their clients to be “boyfriends,” will not use protection. Because of their low levels of education they are relatively unaware of risk factors and will not have access family planning services, and so many end up getting pregnant and have to procure back-street abortions that further complicate their sexual and reproductive health issues. Young female sex workers have limited access to quality health care services occasioned by various barriers that are organizational (i.e. issues related to health facilities and service providers attitudes towards sexually active young people especially girls), social (i.e. stigma, beliefs, ignorance and myths) and economic (i.e. user fees, cost of drugs and cost of transport to facilities).

If I win the Young Visionaries contest I will

i. Initiate an advocacy campaign that brings together young people drawn from youth serving organizations, individuals, and young female sex workers who would advocate to decision makers and the media to allow pregnant girls and young mothers to stay in school, return to their studies, and complete their schooling.
ii. Train young women and girls to be advocates/ambassadors to promote young people’s sexual and reproductive rights and on the importance of correct and consistent condom use, and to fight stigma associated to sex work.
iii. Promote dialogue through organizing discussions with parents, teachers, religious leaders and other community leaders to increase understanding and acceptance of young people’s sexual rights.
iv. Use films, diaries and video sessions to explore the barriers that young women and girls face when trying to access health services from the providers.
v. Assist young female sex workers form functioning peer groups where they would carry out peer sessions that would enable them support, follow up on each other as a team and fight stigma.
vi. Train young female sex workers in small-scale business entrepreneurship to support income generating activities (IGAs), and link the Young Female Sex Workers with Government development funds and micro-finance institutions that give loans to women and youth, so that they will have an alternative source of livelihood that will allow them to quit sex work and reduce their vulnerability.

Secondly, I would replicate the project to other sites in the community to create more opportunity for other youth to learn about technology as well as create employment opportunities for youth trainers.

A recent study in Kenya (my home country) shows that girls as young as 12 years old are engaging in sexual intercourse. The greatest contributing factor is that parents are not willing to talk to their children about sex.

I have a vision to educate young girls and boys on sex. I have a passion to help them understand reproductive health so that they do not make mistakes that they may come to regret, all because they were not spoken to as they were growing up.

There are many myths that surround reproductive health that are circulating amongst the youth of Kenya and it gives me great pain to see many young girls engage in sex at a very young and tender age.

Because of the number of young women infected with HIV/AIDS increasing every day, with the Young Visionaries contest grant I will implement a project known as I WEAVING MY LIFE targeting 10 young women ages 15-24 years living with HIV/AIDS and affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The aim will be to reduce stigma and discrimination and increase accessibility of HIV/AIDS Care and treatment among young girls/women living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.

The project location will be 2 slum areas of Dandora and Mukura in Nairobi, Kenya, where the rate of infection among girls and young women is very high due to poverty, ignorance, illiteracy, gender based violence, drug abuse, and increased involvement in risky sexual behaviors. The project will empower the young girls/women by training them on sexuality rights and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, and home-based care.

In collaboration with other community youth and women with HIV-led organizations, the project will also create awareness on HIV/AIDS in the community through organizing community and school based outreach activities hence reducing infections rate among young girls/women and also reducing stigma and discrimination of people living with HIV/AIDS.

The project will also create a safe space for group support network and increase accessibility to HIV/AIDS care and treatment. Through referral to other organizations that offer HIV/AIDS services, the young women will be encouraged and supported to regularly seek HIV/AIDS care and treatment.

My vision is to see many young girls and boys discover their potential, make use of their talents and advance the society where they live by keeping them from high risky behaviours that would be detrimental to their health and growth.

I also want the young people to take responsibility for their lives and be self aware of their leadership skills. Despite any challenges of unemployment, I would help them find alternative ways of creating jobs for themselves through discovery of the opportunities in the society.

All this will only be possible with this grant which will make this idea into a reality.