Partnership Case Study: DREAMS Zambia
Depression is a known risk factor for HIV transmission. In 2019, StrongMinds partnered with Pact under DREAMS, a public-private partnership that seeks to reduce new HIV infections in adolescent girls and young women in Sub-Saharan African countries. We successfully trained and supported DREAMS Centre staff members to screen their participants for depression and deliver our group therapy model, treating 615 adolescent girls in the first full year of operation, with 95% achieving a significant reduction in depression symptoms.
Clara, a 14-year-old girl in Lusaka, Zambia, is a DREAMS Centre participant. She lives in a densely populated compound with five siblings, supported by her single mother. In the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, her mother’s business closed. She could no longer afford to send Clara to school. “Being out of school was depressing. Seeing my mother not being able to provide for us made things worse. In my heart, I always wished there was something I could do about it,” Clara explains.
Clara was screened for depression and was invited to join an IPT-G therapy group. She set a goal of going back to school. Her peers in the group encouraged her to apply for a mentorship program and they came together to study and support each other’s educational goals. Clara emerged from therapy with restored hope for the future.“If not for StrongMinds, I would still be hurting and depressed. I am grateful for them.”
StrongMinds treats thousands of people in Zambia.