• Edina Frank, 17

• Gertrude Gaspal, 16

• Habiba Hasan, 16

• Sophia Jamhuri, 17

• Jenny Masanja, 14

What do you dream of doing when you grow up?

Sophia: “I want to be a journalist one day. I want to help people get news.”

Edina: “I want to be an engineer.”

Gertrude: “I’ve had a lot of good teachers, so I want to teach.”

Are you able to do any job you want, even though you’re a woman?

Edina: “My parents are poor, so when I was young I had to work in the streets carrying things to the market. After that, there was no more school for me.”

Jenny: “A women couldn’t be a driver or a pilot.”

Gertrude: “Women traditionally serve food at restaurants or work as maids in a house.”

Are you concerned about raising children in Tanzania?

Edina: “If a husband can’t afford to support his wife and child, he’ll leave. After that, women put themselves at risk for HIV by turning to prostitution just to survive.”

Gertrude: “I worry that my children will get HIV.”

Habiba: “I worry about taking care of my baby alone if the father is not there.”

How will life for your daughter in 20 years be different from your life now?

Edina: “My baby will go to school all the way through university, even though I didn’t. I won’t let HIV keep my child from living a happy, successful life.”

What’s the one thing that needs to be changed the most in Tanzania and do you think that you can help change it?

Sophia: “Education needs to be free for all people. Right now it is free, but then you have fees for uniforms and chalk. People are poor and cannot afford it.”

Habiba: “I want the economy to be better. Once people finish school, they need to be able to get a good job.”

Jenny: “There needs to be more HIV education, and everybody needs to get it no matter how young or old.”

How do most people in Tanzania treat someone that they find out has HIV?

Sophia: “When people find out you have HIV, they point and laugh at you on the streets. Parents accuse their daughters of being prostitutes and tell them to run away to a life on the streets. Once you get HIV, you lose any hope of living a good life.”

Has the way people are treated changed in the last 5 years?

Edina: “Things haven’t changed since I learned about HIV. People still do not treat you well when they find out you have HIV. You can only hope to get help from the outside [an NGO].”

Sophia: “There needs to be more education about HIV. People shouldn’t be pointed at and laughed at when they have HIV.”

How old were you when you first heard about HIV? Who told you and what was their message?

Sophia: “I first heard of HIV when I was nine. A family member died from it, but my parents didn’t tell me - it was someone on the streets.”

Edina: “I first heard when I was 14 at school.”

Habiba: “I learned about HIV when I was 7. My teacher in primary school died from HIV, so the Headmaster had to tell us about it.”

Jenny: “I learned in school when I was 13.”

How have your actions changed since you learned about HIV?

Gertrude: “After learning about it, many people use condoms.”
Sophia: “Lots of people don’t have sex.”

Habiba: “Before, I didn’t have any reservations about dating. Now, I know that I only want to have one boyfriend and don’t want to have sex. I just want to be safe and healthy.”

How concerned are you about keeping yourself, your future husband, and your children HIV-free?

Edina: “For me, I’ll teach my children about HIV when they are 5 or 6. It is important that they know about it, and learn at a young age.”

Gertrude: “I’ll take my boyfriend to get an HIV test and counseling. I don’t want to take any risks.”

Do you worry about dating? How old are most people in Tanzania when they start dating?

Sophia: “Girls start dating when they are about 9 years old. They get boyfriends that are about 11.”

Jenny: “Girls ask their boyfriends for money. Maybe they want money to get food or something like that.”

How old are most women when they start a family?

Edina: “Most women are 20 when they get married and 21 when they have their first child. If we could wait until we are older, like 25 or 28, it would be better.”

See main story: Needed: Better Education and More Help