PEPFAR’s DREAMS program (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe) is making a significant impact in Kenya by providing age-appropriate, multi-layered, comprehensive HIV and violence prevention interventions. The program operates on individual, small group, and community levels to address the vulnerabilities and risks associated with HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW).
DREAMS collaborates with development partners, the private sector, and local governments to deliver a core package of evidence-based interventions that go beyond the health sector. By addressing the structural drivers that increase girls’ HIV risk—such as poverty, gender inequality, and violence—the program is not only working to reduce new HIV infections but also aims to tackle other critical challenges like financial dependence and gender-based violence. When girls and young women are empowered to thrive, their families, communities, and countries benefit.
Millicent, a young woman from Homabay County, is one of the many beneficiaries of PEPFAR’s DREAMS program. As a DREAMS Hero, she has experienced the transformative power of the program’s comprehensive economic strengthening initiatives, which are designed to support the most vulnerable AGYW who are out of school.
These initiatives include financial literacy training, entrepreneurship development, and skills-building opportunities, all aimed at helping AGYW achieve sustainable livelihoods. For older girls aged 18-24, the program prioritizes entrepreneurship training that includes the development of actionable business plans, supported by regular market assessments to align with current demands. Millicent was among those who received training as an ophthalmic optician through a partnership with ESSILOR, a private sector initiative that expands ophthalmology services.
Millicent’s journey with DREAMS reflects the program’s broader mission to empower young women. Her story is one of hope, determination, and resilience:
“My name is Millicent Nyaram Nyaidho, and this is my story of hope…”
At 26 years old, Millicent’s life has been marked by challenges. She grew up in a family of six in Homabay County. After her father passed away, her mother, a peasant farmer, worked hard to educate her up to the secondary school level. However, when her mother fell ill, Millicent’s education came to a halt. With no income and no one to care for her mother, Millicent was forced to sell household items to cover medical bills, only later discovering that her mother was living with HIV.
With no other options, Millicent engaged in risky behaviors to survive, which led to her first pregnancy. Later, she was taken by an aunt to live with another man, resulting in another child and enduring intimate-partner violence. Life seemed to offer no escape from these hardships.
Then, in 2019, Millicent discovered the DREAMS program in her community. She enrolled and received comprehensive support, including HIV testing, gender-based violence (GBV) screening, and information on PrEP and PEP. She also joined a young women’s village savings and loan (VSLA) group, which helped build her financial and entrepreneurial capabilities.
Through DREAMS, Millicent gained technical skills that transformed her life. She trained as an ophthalmic optician at the Eye Rafiki Training Institute in Eldoret in 2021. In 2022, she secured a position managing the eye clinic at Othoro Level 4 Hospital.
Today, Millicent is an empowered young woman who can provide for herself and her children. “If it were not for this program, I would not be where I am today. I am now a determined, resilient, empowered, AIDS-free, mentored, and safe young woman,” she says, expressing her gratitude to PEPFAR, CDC, and the LVCT Health program. She dreams of becoming an ophthalmologist and continues to build her future with hope and resilience.
PEPFAR’s DREAMS program has expanded its partnerships over the years, impacting the lives of thousands of women and girls like Millicent. It remains a crucial component of PEPFAR’s mission to help countries achieve HIV epidemic control, proving that empowering young women creates ripples of positive change throughout entire communities.