Vyonne Owade is a single mother living in Mathare Constituency, Nairobi. She is an empowered young woman. She works at the DREAMS Program site office in Hospital Ward as a Mentor, Trainer of Mentors and facilitator of the Shuga Intervention that are key in HIV prevention among Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW).
Yvonne’s story starts after she graduated from University of Nairobi in December 2019 with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. She enthusiastically entered the job market, but soon learned the harsh realities of job-hunting. After spending 6 months unemployed, she began to feel frustrated at the lack of opportunities available.
Soon, however, there was light at the end of the tunnel. As a DREAMS beneficiary since the year 2018, a Facilitator who works at HOPE worldwide Kenya proposed her for a Mentorship post in DREAMS Hospital ward in December 2020.
She began mentorship training, and after completion was given AGYW to Mentor. She says she finds pleasure in seeing someone’s life being empowered, and has wanted to mentor girls for a long time. After earning Kes 1,000 after two days of updating services in AGYW individual files, she was motivated to continue working hard to earn more money to support her family. Currently as a Mentor/Facilitator she makes an average range of Kes. 6400-16,000 monthly depending with the number of sessions conducted.
“I’m happy when I see that girls trust and depend on me. I sleep well at night knowing I have touched a girl’s life”, She says.
The communication skills as a student in university allowed her to be comfortable in her new role as a mentor. Her supervisors saw her potential and promoted her from being a Mentor to training other mentors as well as being a Shuga facilitator. She was touched by how those in the program believed in her, and is extremely grateful that she was given an opportunity to be challenged and to grow as a person.
Yvonne says she wants to grow in her career as well as learn as much as possible from her fellow staff members in the program.
“My goals include taking my sister to university, as well as making sure my family is comfortable.” She says.
