Despite the myriad of challenges experienced since COVID-19 first reached Zimbabwe in March 2020, the Shining Star Project has continued to transform the lives of girls and women engaged in sex work. Through their dedication, the team supported 53 peer educators in total, surpassing the original target of 50. Their practical training and discipleship have been invaluable to these ladies during this disruptive time, when more girls and young women turned to sex work to survive and many small businesses were not able to operate during the nationwide lockdown. The staff team have shown great resilience in partnering with the Bulawayo City Authorities to ensure vulnerable women received support and that programming could continue remotely. In the second half of the year, programming was able to continue in line with COVID-19 regulations, with the exception of the outreach to men in sex work hotspots.

In Bulawayo 13 new girls and women were trained to become peer educators in partnership with the National AIDS Council. They were equipped with key information for managing their own sexual health and up to date knowledge on HIV, AIDS and STIs, as well as how to effectively reach out to other sex workers. The existing peer educators also attended a refresher course later in the year to top up their knowledge.

The peer educators have been able to reach out to 1,182 other girls and women working in the sex trade, including 759 reached by the adult peer educators and 423 reached by the adolescent peer educators. Whilst the target was not reached due to travel restrictions, we celebrate the determination of the peer educators to continue their work.

The Shining Queens Support group, which helps HIV positive peer educators adhere to their Antiretroviral Treatment, now has 15 members who meet monthly. They discuss topics such as positive living, the importance of treatment adherence and hygiene. Excitingly, the ladies have also formed a business collective and plan to start a burger and chips business to increase their financial independence.

Female entrepreneurs living in poverty face two major barriers to business opportunity: lack of education and lack of capital. The Shining Star Business and Livelihoods programmes seek to change this.

The peer educators took their first step to entrepreneurship through a business Management training workshop. The ladies learnt about basic business management, such as being able to distinguish between capital, profit and loss. Using their new skills, they were able to carry out market research and write their own business proposals. In July, 25 of the best business proposals were funded. 27 ladies, including 3 who collaborated to start a business, were empowered to take another step closer to financial independence. The businesses included grocery selling, chicken rearing, floor polish making, beauty product business and shoe selling.