Mentorship for young girls
“At this point we focus more specifically on the age group of 10 to 19 because this is the age group mostly affected by social ills."
KwaThema – The Siyayinqoba Outreach Programme visited Masimini Primary School on May 7 to screen young girls to join their Girls Club Programme.
The outreach is part of the Community Media Trust (CMT) programme which recruits, trains and deploys people to work in communities to improve the livelihoods of community members through various educational and mentorship programmes.
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Lerato Masuku, a mentor of the Siyayinqoba Outreach Programme, says: “We go to schools and give talks to young girls, then we register them for a mentorship programme.
Each mentor must have 25 mentees,” says Lerato.
The initiative works with young girls from the age of 10 to 24.
“At this point we focus more specifically on the age group of 10 to 19 because this is the age group mostly affected by social ills, like HIV/Aids, tuberculous and other health challenges,” explains Lerato.
The initiative is to educate and provide information to empower individuals to make informed decisions regarding their futures and how to live a positive life.
The group visits different primary and secondary schools twice a week in and around KwaThema.
Lerato says they were motivated to be part of the programme because statistics show women are more affected by these challenges compared to man.
CMT advocates for primary health care and supports the role community health workers, social mobilisation and community media can play in improving health outcomes in communities.
