Resources and Services
Resources and services:
Villa Maria Hospital Home Care Program is creating Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS Free, Mentored and Safe (DREAMS) groups and implementing evidence based interventions to reduce rates of HIV, suppress HIV viral load and build financial independence among adolescent girls and young women aged 10-24 through the following services:
Screening for HTS eligibility.
HIV testing and counseling for girls and their sexual partners.
Education subsidies.
School-and-community-based HIV and violence prevention programs
Combination socio-economic approaches – vocational or Income Generating Activity (IGA) and savings skills through Saving and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) model.
ART for HIV + girls.
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP).
Post-violence care for survivors of gender-based violence.
Improved access to youth friendly sexual and reproductive health services and a full range of contraceptive methods.
Parenting/caregiver programs.
Community mobilization and norms change programs.
DREAMS Interventions in Central 2 region in Uganda is led by Rakai Health Sciences Program (RHSP), funded by PEPFAR through the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with a goal of empowering young women and advancing gender equality.
Future Projects and Goals
The goal of the DREAMS program is to empower every girl in Gomba and Ssembabule to make decisions that keep them healthy and financially independent. Villa Maria Hospital Home Care Program intends to teach the same curriculums taught to girls enrolled in DREAMS groups to the organization’s 278 youth clients.
Villa Maria Hospital Home Care Program ART Clinic will use its expertise gained in the last 25 years to provide technical support in form of a consultancy arrangement at a fee to organizations which need to replicate our expertise to reach their goals.
Success Stories
“I was enrolled into DREAMS when I was pregnant. I didn’t know anything about antenatal until I joined DREAMS project. We were told to attend antenatal services at the health center. My peers in DREAMS told me they would go there every after three months. I had to go at the facility because my pregnancy was 4 and half months. The people I found at the health center helped me very well. They also told me to go back whenever I felt unwell. This helped me to give birth to a healthy baby; I also take my baby for immunization as I was told by the health workers at the facility.” - Viola, DREAMS group member
"My life changed when I joined DREAMS, after attending various packages of DREAMS, for example, Stepping Stones that moulded my life and changed my behaviour. The project helped me discover my HIV status, and it taught me how to save through SILC groups. I owe my own hair salon and can cater for my baby. I am proud of what I am because of the DREAMS. The project lifted me from nothing to something. I am no longer isolated as I used to be. I conclude by telling my fellow adolescents in the community to join the project to restore their lost hope.” - Maddu, DREAMS group member