By Teresa Rehman,Womens Feature Service
She calmly waits for her turn at the Pumwani Majengo Dispensary at a slum in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, to collect her dose of ARV (Antiretroviral) drugs. Attired in a bright pink Kitenge (traditional African dress), Miriam seems to be oblivious to the frenetic city life outside the gates of the clinic with roadside vendors lined up on both sides of the street loudly alerting customers to their wares - ranging from pineapples and curtains to trousers, winter wear and a wide array of shoes.
Miriam, a former commercial sex worker (CSW), is a towering figure, who speaks fluent English. She has completed her high school education. Coming to Nairobi from a remote village in the central province of Kenya, she first worked in a hair salon in 1992. A single mother, with two children, she had decided to migrate because there was no money or any employment opportunities in her village. The lack of choices forced her to leave her children with her mother and came to Nairobi to join her sister, who was working as a sex worker in a brothel.
Initially, when Miriam went out with her sister and people asked her if they were together, she felt embarrassed. However, gradually she came to realise that her earnings of around 1,000 shilling every month at the hair salon were inadequate since she had to send money home.
The harsh living conditions drove her to join the large community of prostitutes in Kenya. As a UNICEF report puts it, "many families see the sex industry as the only way of putting food on the table." Miriam too decided to become a sex worker because she would earn more that way. "It was a difficult choice but it was difficult to run a family with the income from a salon, unless you own a salon yourself," she says in her strong, resonating voice.
She still recalls her first day in the new profession in 1995. She got 900 shilling after catering to 12 clients. "When you are a newcomer in this profession, you are sought after," she says. Her colleagues taught her the basics and initially bought her breakfast and lunch. They used to share four beds in a single room and there were curtains drawn to separate the beds. They had to pay 130 shillings per head for the use of the room. Despite the nature of her work, she took comfort in the fact that her family and children back home believed that she was working in a salon.
But, now at the age of 46, Miriam is wiser. She decided to retire when she discovered that she was HIV positive. She was tested positive in 2005. She had fallen sick and had come to a clinic. The nurse told her that she had something to share with her. "When she said that, I felt in my heart that I was not positive since I had always insisted that my clients wear condoms. When I was told that I was HIV positive, I really wept," she says.
Today, her son is working as a taxi driver and Miriam herself sells green groceries. "You enter this profession with nothing and leave it with nothing. Nobody asked me to save for tomorrow," she reveals, poignantly. She joined a cooperative and borrowed some money to start her present business.
But Miriam is very bitter when she narrates her experiences with clients. According to her, there are of all kinds of clients, some even very decent looking men. And it may sound shocking but at times they even come with their wives, who wait in the car. The men 'do it' and then drive off with their waiting wife. But Miriam says she always insisted they wore a condom. Elaborating on the kinds of situations the sex workers encounter, she says that sometimes even though the man agrees to wear a condom, he deliberately tears it by pricking a hole in it. And while the women usually take the money before the act there have been instances when men beat them up and take back the money after the session.
She recalls that once a regular customer, who used to visit over the weekend, took her outside the brothel. They sat and drank in a bar until midnight. Then they spent the night in a hotel and when they woke up in the morning at around 10 am, he refused to pay her. He even told the manager of the hotel that she was his wife. She had wanted to go and complain to the police but thought the better of it. "Who would listen to a prostitute?" she asks.
The brothels had toilets and washbasins and there was plenty of running water. There were times when the clients were very dirty and obnoxious and she wanted to run away. But in that situation there was really no option but to take a shower later.
"I really regret leaving my salon job and ending up as a commercial sex worker. We should realise that AIDS is real and one will definitely die," she says. Her sister is still in the profession although Miriam keeps asking her to come out of it. She feels that she has been fortunate in that her grandchildren don't know that she was once a CSW.
Today, Miriam is on ARVs. She comes to the clinic once a month for a checkup and to collect her drugs. She disclosed her positive status to her son, who has promised to take care of her.
Miriam has heard about vaccines being developed for AIDS and she hopes that they become a reality some day. What keeps her going these days is her strong religious faith. "I have accepted Jesus as my saviour. It gives me strength," she says. Earlier she had no time but now she goes to church every Sunday.
Miriam is living on hope and faith. But never a day goes by when she does not wish that she had been more careful. Now she hopes that her former colleagues, including her sister, learn from her experience and save themselves before it is too late.
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