- She works two jobs to make sure her kids eat everyday.
- She tells her daughter not to talk to boys.
- She speaks five languages including Hindi, Kannada, and some English.
- She offered our team tea because we were guests.
If I were to ask you to tell me the profession of this person you would either mention any random job or say you just don't know. I don't know a lot of people in the United States who speak five languages and still have to work two jobs. In fact, I don't think I know anyone in the United States who speaks five languages at all.
This person was and is a sex worker. She provides intercourse to clients for a payment. According to the sex workers, they charge anywhere from 50 rupees to 500 rupees. That is roughly $1 to $10. They fear harassment from police and violent clients, and they often have to get illegal abortions if they get pregnant. One abortion alone costs from 1000 to 2000 rupees. Usually the client pays for the abortion, but sometimes they run away and leave the cost to the sex worker. This is not an easy life, especially for two sex workers whose husbands passed away and forced the women to make enough money to provide for their kids.
Along with being sex workers, some of the women work at BCT as peer educators. Through the NGO BCT they visit villages and educate them on the potential harms of sex work. Working alone in the community they explain the prevelance of HIV and the effectiveness of condoms. Along with education, they recruit community sex workers to visit the organization's Drop In Center for a discussion with a counselor and a checkup from a doctor. If necessary, the sex workers are referred to the Primary Health Center for an HIV blood test.
For the work they do, the peer educators get paid another 1500 rupees per month. This is roughly $30. With a wage in the US of $8 per hour, it would take roughly four hours to earn that much. For peer educators, an entire month of work.
So, how did they act? Were they frustrated? Angry? Mean? Well, as far as we saw, none of the above. They smiled and laughed more than I ever do. They joked with us about our terrible language skills. They talked about taking care of their children and how their job provides security for their family. They even read us some stories and went out to lunch with us. All this is pretty impressive for people who risk HIV, pregnancy, and other STIs for $1 to $10 so they can feed their family. Did I mention one of them spoke five languages? Yeah, she really did.
Jon
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