My Skills, My Money, My Brighter Future in Zimbabwe
nancy, as well as other topics requested by participants. Local mentors – often experienced women SILC members – attended SILC group meetings to listen and provide support and guidance. At times, their visits generated key topics to be addressed during life skills sessions. For example, mentors brought to light that many girls were traveling to diamond mine camps to buy and sell goods and engage in sex work; this topic became the subject of life skills education sessions on safety, rights and abuse.
5.3 Key Findings The following section highlights key findings from discussions with adolescent SILC participants (male and female) and their caregivers. Many of the findings apply to both girls and boys, but program elements that may affect adolescent girls and boys differently are highlighted. 1. SILC allowed girls to invest in their own
“We’re orphans, and our guardians can’t take care of us. To keep going with our education, and to take care of ourselves, we decided to join SILC.” — Adolescent girl SILC participant
education and stay in school. One of the most important benefits of SILC was that it allowed members to pay their own school fees, and, in many cases, their siblings’ fees also. The girls reported that paying their school fees was their top priority. “We’re orphans, and our guardians can’t take care of us,” one girl said. “To keep going with our education, and to take care of ourselves, we decided to join SILC.”
2. In addition to financial services and education adolescent SILC participants need complementary support services. ASAP program staff found adolescent SILC group members wanted more support and “wrap around” services – such as psychosocial support, life skills and reproductive health education – to complement their SILC meetings. Girls highly valued the knowledge they acquired, explaining that money comes and goes, but what they learn remains with them. At the same time, it was clear that the ability to earn an income had the potential to reduce dangerous behaviors like becoming involved with a “sugar daddy.”
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