Introducing

MOSAIC'S NEXTGEN SQUAD

Maximizing Options to Advance Informed Choice for HIV Prevention (MOSAIC) is a five-year (2021-2026) global project funded by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to help adolescent girls and young women and other women* prevent HIV by accelerating introduction and scale-up of new and emerging biomedical prevention products.

The MOSAIC NextGen Squad is a team of youth advocates under the age of 30 from Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. This dynamic group of young people shape, influence, and participate in MOSAIC project activities through local partners. They ultimately hold MOSAIC accountable as the project aligns its plans, actions, monitoring and evaluation, and learning efforts to: be responsive to young people’s needs, preferences, and lived experiences; include the diversity of adolescent girls and young women; and meaningfully engage young people in research and research utilization.

*MOSAIC end users include cisgender women, transgender women, and nonbinary people and transgender men assigned female at birth; in addition, specific underrepresented groups within these end user populations include very young adolescents, sex workers, pregnant and breastfeeding individuals, those engaged in transactional sex, and individuals who use drugs.

I am from a family where HIV strikes a lot and not everyone is aware of it at home. A lot has happened because of HIV... For me, MOSAIC means chance, means change, means choice, and means freedom.

Chantel, South Africa

The greatest gift in life is choice, and MOSAIC is providing this to all communities including young people and marginalized groups... MOSAIC is providing an opportunity to all to prevent new HIV infections that have been the story of sub-Saharan Africa for as long as I have seen the day. This is an opportunity to remove the social judgement attached to issues of HIV and normalize HIV prevention. Let’s take the baton and run with it!

Nolwazi, Eswatini

I had a friend who was living positively, but due to stigma and discrimination, she hadn't completely accepted her status, so she stopped taking her medication and, eventually, she died. I joined this space mainly to provide support. If you need someone to talk to, I would avail myself for that. I want to create awareness and ensure that we have young people who are able to make informed decisions regarding their sexual health so that we ultimately have fewer young people testing positive. I wouldn't want any other person to go through what I went through... I try to make sure that young people have the information and the skills that will help them to keep themselves negative. But, my main reason for doing this work is to support and be a voice for young people. To be an agent of change.

Merci, Kenya

I believe my purpose on this planet is to help make lives better. I draw strength from the fact that our work is helping to improve quality of lives, quality of services, and health outcomes, and the impact will be felt by generations long after we’re gone. I also draw strength from the fact that I have amazing supervisors and colleagues who are always willing and available to support me and who genuinely want to see me grow and succeed.

Adaobi, Nigeria

My name, Celimpilo, means ask for life. I love helping people. I believe this is what I was born to do. I want to see young women like myself rise above HIV and the stigma and make decisions that are right for us. I want to reach a time when there are as many HIV prevention options as there are types of chocolates. Until this happens, I have no choice but to keep going.

Celi, South Africa

I am very passionate about young people... I hope to achieve a wide network through NextGen Squad of adolescent girls and young women from different countries, learn from them, and share different experiences to improve on myself and my community, especially in regards to HIV prevention. I hope that some day the girl child will have different options to use in preventing HIV and will be empowered enough to use them in their countries.

Rubuna, Uganda

MOSAIC, to me, means adolescent girls and young women making the best use of HIV prevention options, knowing the benefits, risks, and expected outcomes. It also means easy access to products and services. I hope to... be able to help my peers take charge of their health by ensuring that they have adequate knowledge on how they can prevent themselves from HIV through informed choice.

Luwi, Zambia

I think MOSAIC is giving us an opportunity to make decisions about our lives. Apart from that, MOSAIC is helping us to make informed choices on what methods will suit us. If I do not like injections, then that is fine and I will opt for PrEP ring. If I do not like the ring, then I will opt for oral PrEP. What I love about MOSAIC is that it empowers women and young girls to have a say in their lives.

Nts'ebo, Lesotho

MOSAIC and the NextGen Squad [present] an opportunity to grow and be highly capacitated about new HIV prevention methods and products that will enable us to close the gap of new HIV infections. [This is] an opportunity to meaningfully contribute to the goal of the World Health Organization to end the HIV and AIDS epidemic as a public threat by 2030.

Sanele, Zimbabwe

I want us to reduce the cases of new HIV infections among young people and advocate for our governments to ensure that prevention products are readily available within our facilities. If young people can easily access prevention products, we prevent the occurrence of new HIV infections, especially among young people here in Kenya. I want to give hope to young people again and ensure that they take care of themselves even while having sex, and that they can easily access those available options.

Maggie, Kenya

Being part of MOSAIC and the NextGen Squad means I am able to advocate for young people and change the public perception of young people being “the problem” to understanding their needs, hearing them out from their point of view, and allowing them to take preventative measures like PrEP option without fear of stigma.

Febbe, Namibia

I am inspired by information because the more a person has information about certain things, the better they are to make decisions about a certain product. So going to young girls and providing choice is, for me, a milestone. There are many factors that contribute to high numbers of HIV and one of them is gender-based violence. When you go to a young person and say, “we have oral PrEP, we have the ring, we also have CAB PrEP,” they are able to choose a method that will best suit them and their lifestyle. MOSAIC is trying to make young girls feel like the VIPs they are... One of the things that MOSAIC is also trying to achieve is empowering young women to stand up for themselves and be able to let their voice be heard not only about HIV prevention, but also about their own sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Sasha, South Africa

NextGen Support Team

The NextGen Squad is our future to success when it comes to HIV prevention. They are the true epitome of fighting for the greater good. MOSAIC has young people who can connect, adapt, and advocate for the project's target audience. The NextGen Squad has taught me to speak up for what I believe in and always step out of my comfort zone, and has allowed me to think outside the box to make a change. The NextGen Squad has a special place in my heart!

Shyla, United States

NextGen Support Team

The NextGen Squad is critical to the success of MOSAIC’s work. They bring the perspective and voices of our target population into the development process. They make sure that the experiences and expertise of youth are not an afterthought in the work that we do. No one on our MOSAIC team can relate better to adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa than our NextGen Squad. I have learned so much from them in the short time that I have known them. They have taught me to speak up more and not be afraid of who is listening because everyone’s voice matters. They’ve also taught me that wisdom does not have to come with age. These young ladies know far more than I do in certain areas and I am constantly learning from them.

Allison, United States

NextGen Support Team

The NextGen Squad is the heart of MOSAIC! This team of exceptional young people brings unique passion, experience, and zeal that reminds us, as MOSAIC, that we’re here to serve and empower adolescent girls and young women in all their diversity, including those traditionally underrepresented in HIV prevention efforts. The NextGen Squad ensures MOSAIC remains relevant, responsive, and accountable to the HIV prevention needs and preferences of young people.

Nkunda, South Africa

NextGen Support Team

NEXTGEN SQUAD ALUMNI

For me, being a youth advocate is more than just being an advocate, it is passion. I have experienced the effects of HIV in my family. This has created a zeal in me to become a voice for other girls that are at risk of going through what I went through. I want to make sure that the needs of young women are catered for, especially those that relate to their health. I feel like the least I can do is to improve the lives of other young girls and women. For as long as girls are born, I will remain an advocate.

Tema, Eswatini

I am not naïve to where I think HIV will be eradicated in five years. But, in five years, I would love to see some positive social change, especially in the gender dynamics and expectations that women are supposed to be maternal, very feminine, submissive, and docile. I want to see more people saying no, confidently. I want to see more people saying yes, especially when it comes to HIV prevention methods, because if we can do the work we are doing now for the next five years, that means a lot of lives are going to be reached. A lot of people are going to be impacted by this message.

Havana, Zimbabwe