Bumb’INGOMSO

The name bumb'INGOMSO is not aspirational in a vague sense — it is instructional. "Mould the future." And the project takes this literally: rather than positioning young women as passive recipients of health services, it trains them as mentors, facilitators, debate leaders, community change agents, and Call Centre operators — because the people most capable of shifting the dynamics that make young women vulnerable to HIV and GBV in Buffalo City are, ultimately, the young women themselves.

Launched in 2016 as a formal development project co-financed by the German Federal Government through KfW and executed by DGMT (DG Murray Trust), bumb'INGOMSO operates across 18 wards in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) and parts of Amathole District Municipality — areas of the Eastern Cape where HIV prevalence among women aged 15–29 is among the highest in the country, and where poverty, limited economic opportunity, and entrenched gender inequality create the conditions for both epidemic spread and gender-based violence.

Its design is grounded in international evidence that HIV prevention works best when it combines multiple simultaneous interventions across the individual, interpersonal, and structural levels — and that for young women in particular, the two most critical interventions are addressing GBV (because violence and coercion undermine every other health behaviour change) and creating real economic alternatives (because poverty forces women into relationships and situations that put them at risk).

What They Do

Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) — #BeMoreDaring Youth clubs, school-based programmes, and community facilitation help young people understand themselves, build a sense of identity and connectedness, and make informed choices about their lives. Body positivity, healthy relationships, consent, HIV knowledge, and self-efficacy are at the core. The programme works in schools and communities, with dedicated facilitators and peer mentors — many of them young women who were themselves participants before becoming leaders.

Gender-Based Violence Response — #BeMoreDefiant bumb'INGOMSO's GBV programme works to mobilise communities to be actively involved in GBV prevention, recognising that domestic violence and intimate partner violence are the primary drivers of young women's HIV vulnerability. It connects survivors to services (including Masimanyane Women's Rights International, an implementing partner), challenges community norms that tolerate violence, and provides psychosocial support to young women experiencing abuse.

A dedicated GBV Prevention Programme office operates at the St Marks Campus of Buffalo City TVET College, accessible to students on campus.

Health Intervention — #BeMoreVital Implementing partner Beyond Zero delivers biomedical services through the programme — HIV testing, STI screening, TB screening, pregnancy testing, mental health screening, family planning, condom distribution, and treatment linkage. Services are designed to be youth-friendly and are delivered through outreach as well as facility-based services. A particular focus is on reaching sex workers and other high-risk groups who are most likely to transmit HIV to young women in the community.

Psychosocial Support A 16-week psychosocial support programme addresses substance abuse and trauma — eight weeks of early intervention followed by eight weeks of aftercare. This programme explicitly connects GBV, substance abuse, and mental health as interconnected challenges that cannot be addressed in isolation.

Economic Opportunities — #BeMorePluggedIn Youth employment is addressed through the Youth Build programme (skills training and workplace placement support in collaboration with Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator and other partners), vocational training in trades and mobile phone repairs, and entrepreneurship support. The programme recognises that without genuine economic alternatives, encouraging young women to leave abusive or transactional relationships is impossible.

Lingomso Youth Centre A dedicated youth space — the Lingomso Youth Centre — provides a physical hub for young people to gather, access services, receive mentorship, and participate in programme activities.

BI Call Centre bumb'INGOMSO operates a Call Centre staffed by young people from the community — providing a contact point for information, referral, and support, while simultaneously creating employment and leadership opportunities for youth.

IkhweloLethu A specific initiative (name meaning "our star/hope") operating within the bumb'INGOMSO framework, focused on young women's empowerment and future-building.

bumb'INGOMSO: 60a Vincent Frere Road, East London. WhatsApp: +27 72 654 9224. Facebook: BumbingomsoProject. Verify current service availability — major project funding reported as ending in late 2025.