Young Women's Empowerment Camps: Dineo's Story

When Dineo, an eighteen-year-old young woman from an extremely impoverished informal settlement area near Johannesburg, arrived at a Camp Dream Big weekend day camp session, she had her four-month-old baby girl on her back.  Dineo had been forced to drop out of the school where the camp was being held when her daughter was born because there was no one to take care of the child at home.  But when she heard about Camp Dream Big, she decided to make the long walk with her baby in tow and participate in the young women’s empowerment program.

She expected she would be the only girl there with a baby to care for, and she knew it would be difficult, but Dineo was determined to try to find a way to connect with information and resources that could start her journey toward a better life.

What Dineo didn’t expect was the warm welcome she and her daughter would receive at camp.  The Sizanani Camp Dream Big team took turns caring for her baby throughout the days of camp so that Dineo could participate fully, as a peer, in each session.  By the end of the camp weekend, Dineo’s little girl was affectionately nicknamed “Baby Sizanani.”

Our team of social workers followed up with Dineo after camp to find out more about her situation at home.  She lives with her mother, little brother, sister, sister’s children, and her baby in Weilers Farm, an informal settlement where the unemployment rate is estimated at 70% and there are high levels of violent crime.  Combined with the lack of basic infrastructure and economic opportunities, daily life for Dineo was challenging even before she found out she was pregnant and had contracted HIV.  

Now, the Camp Sizanani Dream Big team is connecting with Dineo regularly.  She’s on an HIV-treatment regimen and has learned the importance of adherence to her medicines.  She is also getting help to register for food assistance that will help meet her nutritional needs, as well as “Baby Sizanani”’s.  She’s decided that she wants to be a social worker and, after discussing it with her family, has arranged for her grandmother to take care of her baby so that she can re-enroll in school for the coming academic year.

Months after attending Camp Dream Big, Dineo says,

“I discovered that I am deserving.  Just because I am a mother doesn’t mean I shouldn’t prioritize myself.  I learned that I am capable of seeking employment.  My relationship with my mother improved because now I know what I need to do to take care of myself.  Our communication has gotten better.  She and I have now talked about how I can prevent myself from getting pregnant in the future, and how I can adhere to my HIV-treatment regimen.”