The Songosongo context
Songosongo is a small island in Kilwa District whose economy revolves around natural gas extraction and small-scale fishing. The transient workforce, limited health infrastructure, and concentrated alcohol and entertainment venues create elevated HIV risk for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) aged 15 to 24.
EpiC's AGYW work on the island runs through two structured safe spaces, each meeting weekly. Sessions cover comprehensive sexuality education, gender-based violence response, financial literacy, and the EpiC prevention menu — HIV testing, PrEP, condoms, and family planning.
What the quarter delivered
Three hundred and forty AGYW were reached across the two safe spaces during the quarter, with 186 (55 percent) accepting an HIV test on-site or at a linked outreach event. Twelve tested positive; all twelve initiated ART within seven days.
Forty-two AGYW initiated oral PrEP and 88 received a modern family planning method of their choice. Sixteen GBV cases were disclosed; all sixteen received first-line psychosocial support and were referred to the council Gender Desk for further action.
The trust ledger
What the numbers do not show is the ledger of small trust transactions that made them possible — the peer who walked a frightened 17-year-old to her first test, the safe-space facilitator who held a confidence for three weeks before a girl was ready to disclose her status, the council social welfare officer who took a midnight call about a violent partner.
These transactions are the actual programme. The reach figures are simply their downstream measurement.
Anchoring AGYW work in trusted safe spaces is the single biggest determinant of testing uptake on the islands.