HWWK through a sub-grant from CIHEB received funding from the US Presidential Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to implement an HIV prevention program among adolescent girls and young women through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The project is dubbed ‘DREAMS’ which means Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AS-free, Mentored, and Safe lives.

The DREAMS CONNECT is the name used for the 2^nd phase of its implementations. The project phase is a 5 year project cycle starting from October 2021 to September 2026.

The project will support 77,000 Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) the ages 9-24 years living in informal settlements in Nairobi.

Geographical Scope

DREAMS CONNECT is implemented in 31 wards in 13 Sub-counties in Nairobi as follows:

Objectives

This Project supports the scale-up of combination HIV/AIDS prevention services for Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) living in the informal settlements of Nairobi

The program main objective is to reduce/eliminate new HIV infection among AGYW.

.The services for AGYW are provided in four categories as outlined in the DREAMS comprehensive package of services. These services included:

• Services that directly empower AGYW
• Services that mobilize communities to support and protect AGYW
• Services that strengthen AGYW’s families
• Services that target AGYW male sexual partners to decrease the risk of acquiring HIV

Specific activities / services include:

• HIV Education, Counseling and testing services

• Behavior Change Communication through Evidence-Based Interventions (EBIs) such as Healthy Choices for a Better Future (HCBF), My Health My Choice (MHMC) and Families Matter Program I &II
• Risk reduction counselling
• GBV screening and subsequent Post Violence Care
• STI Screening, family planning, Condom promotion, education and provision
• Pre and Post Exposure Prophylaxis for young women
• Education Subsidies to those in school
• Combination Socio-Economic Approaches Support including; Financial capability training, entrepreneurship training ,vocational skills training, linkage  to employment, linkage  micro finance and  business start-up kit

• Male Sexual Partners characterization, linkage to VMMC and provision of HIV testing, care and treatment services and STI screening.
• Community Mobilization and Norms Change through SASA
• Social Asset Building 

HCBF is used to teach AGYW aged 10 to 14 years and their male peers through trained facilitators from the community.
MHMC is used to reach AGYW aged 13 to 17 years and their male peers through a team of trained facilitators in out-of-school settings.
SASA is a community based intervention aimed at changing community norms that hinder young women and girls from achieving their highest potential and creating a more enabling environment. Facilitators are drawn from the communities where the girls live.
FM I & II: This intervention targets parents and caregivers of 10-14, and 15- 19 year olds to improve parent-adolescent communication, especially on sexuality.