Lusaka, Zambia – By her peers, Sharon is known as an active ambassador for youth empowerment in her community. She is 22 years old and works as a Tiko mobiliser where her role is to engage with adolescent girls and educate them about their sexual and reproductive health, and the options available to them.
Sharon lives in Kanyama Community on the outskirts of Zambia’s capital city, Lusaka. Along with the rest of Lusaka, Kanyama is rapidly developing. With increased urbanisation, come both challenges and opportunities for Lusaka’s youth population who are caught between old and new. “I’ve noticed that most of the young girls in my community are indulging in bad activities such as drug abuse and sexual activity, which is causing them to fall pregnant at an early age and contract viruses,” says Sharon.
She’s done a lot of investigation herself, trying to figure out the root of these challenges for young people in her community. “I came to understand that for most adolescent girls, it’s because they lack information on how to keep themselves safe. It’s peer pressure that’s killing them. They are trying to suit the modern environment that we live in. They want to fit in,” she says.
Sharon was approached by a community-based organisation and partner of Tiko, who engages with active youth and role models in the community to work as mobilisers and enrol adolescent girls and young women onto the platform. Once enrolled, these girls will have access to discreet sexual and reproductive health services, such as contraception and HIV testing. More importantly, they’ll join a judgement-free network where they can talk with trusted mobilisers who live in their community and understand the challenges they face.
“When we go out into the community, a lot of the girls are willing to take part. Most of them fear that they might be judged when they come by the hospitals to access contraception or HIV testing and STI screening. What we do as Tiko mobilisers, is we create a good rapport with them, and we find that they are willing to open up, and to tell us whatever it is they are facing,” Sharon explains. Tiko works to unlock access to youth-friendly health services for young people, primarily adolescent girls and young women, using a technology platform that simplifies their journey to quality public and private clinics and pharmacies within their own community.
“Most of the young people engage with Tiko mobilisers because they know, ok there is someone that won’t judge me. That person will be there for me. Tiko becomes a place for them.”
Sharon is part of a growing Tiko community in Lusaka, with Zambia having joined as the sixth sub-Saharan African Tiko programme towards the end of 2023. Tiko plans to expand to other cities in the coming year. The programme in Lusaka has to date delivered impact for more than 8,000 adolescent girls and young women.
“If there’s something that really makes me happy, it’s working with my fellow peers,” says Sharon. “I’m a link to people who have little or no information. That makes me value the work that I am doing.”
This story was written by Tiko, with consent from Sharon.
