Support street-connected girls & women in Tanzania

Last month I went to Mwanza, Tanzania to visit our partner Cheka Sana and meet some of the young women who have benefited from the StreetBorn program thanks to your generosity.

On the second day of our trip we visited Dira, a young girl whose story I had written about for a BBC radio appeal and it was really special to have the chance to meet her.

She had lost both parents to HIV when Cheka Sana found her, pregnant and working on the streets. Dira joined StreetBorn and received counselling, self-defence training, life and business skills, an apprenticeship in tailoring and support as she gave birth to her son.

Like all the young women on the program, once they finish their apprenticeship, Dira was provided with a start-up kit and 6 months rent so that she could set up her tailoring business.

On the drive to her shop, we pass the shores of beautiful Lake Victoria, and then the fish market, where Cheka Sana's outreach team often finds young children working and begging. 

Upon arrival, Dira greets us shyly and busies herself making space for us all to sit. Space is limited, crowded with mannequins, sewing machines, tape measures and scissors, yet many of the shelves sit empty. In the back corner, at the foot of a mannequin, Dira's son plays quietly. Dira is in her third and final year with Cheka Sana, and you can see the warmth and familiarity between her and Cheka Sana staff workers Leah and Gloria. I know they will keep visiting her and supporting her as they do all their graduates.

Dira proudly tells us she now has 5 machines, although one is being fixed. As well as providing alterations and new clothes for her steady stream of customers she is growing a second income from training other young women, a business skill Cheka Sana taught her to develop deliberately. Customers often supply their own fabric, but Dira sells fabric too, although she is currently low on stock hence the empty shelves. We admire a half-finished dress hanging on a mannequin. Proudly, she tells us her earnings cover food, healthcare and her son's nursery fees, and allow her to contribute fully to the home she shares with her husband, who she tells us is a farmer, and her son.

When we ask what she loves most about the StreetBorn programme, she answers without hesitation: self-defence and football. She also tells us how much she loves teaching — and how it has become as important to her as the tailoring itself. As we prepare to leave, as if on cue a student arrives for her afternoon lesson. The next generation, walking through the door.

"Cheka Sana helped me a lot. They paid for my vocational training and gave me a sewing machine. Right now I am earning money. They empowered me. I know how to make clothes. I wish to support more young people like me."

Please support other girls and young women like Dira today. Thank you.