We met Francine on a dark, dirt road in one of Kinshasa’s poorest neighbourhoods. She was among a group of young women, stood outside in the feint flickering light of a small bar. They were waiting for free condoms, and discussing how slow business had been that evening. They weren’t sure why, perhaps men were saving for Christmas. Francine had reason to worry. At 22 she already had 4 children to support.
Her story is not unusual though. There are thousands of women like her in Kinshasa alone. But, Francine stood out. Usually it’s challenging to build rapport in these circumstances and to elicit real substantive insights. Rapport can be broken, and the beauty of people’s language and the depth of their thought lost in translation as things are reinterpreted or paraphrased by the translator. And often you subconsciously expect the character of language and thought to reflect the harsh reality of the person’s life and their surroundings. But for 45 minutes Francine talked openly and eloquently, sharing opinions that were always philosophical, pragmatic and astute.
On how they protect themselves from the risks they face: “We work as a group, and only here. We won’t go away with a man in his car or to his house. We stay here beside this open space where there are lots of places to have sex but we’re always close enough for the others to hear our screams if we need help.”
On how they negotiate safe sex with clients: “If a man demands sex without a condom we argue a lot. If he still refuses but he’s drunk, then we take the money, put a female condom on and guide his penis in a way that avoids him noticing. But it’s difficult...”
On how organisations can help her and her peers to protect themselves: “The best person to protect me is me. Everyone has the knowledge here, it all depends on how you use it… But there are two things. I want to stop falling pregnant. I want the injection [referring to a form of contraceptive]” Would this mean you stop using condoms? “Not with customers because with customers I worry most about HIV. But we don’t use condoms with our boyfriends because they don’t like it. That’s the problem. And I want support for my children...” It wasn’t clear why, but Francine didn’t want to change her career. But she wanted a different life for her children.
On her own childhood, Francine was more withdrawn. It seemed like dropping out of secondary school was a turning point but she didn’t elaborate. There was only one glimpse when discussing her parents: “They are now where I am going to go in the future”.
Her story is not unusual though. There are thousands of women like her in Kinshasa alone. But, Francine stood out. Usually it’s challenging to build rapport in these circumstances and to elicit real substantive insights. Rapport can be broken, and the beauty of people’s language and the depth of their thought lost in translation as things are reinterpreted or paraphrased by the translator. And often you subconsciously expect the character of language and thought to reflect the harsh reality of the person’s life and their surroundings. But for 45 minutes Francine talked openly and eloquently, sharing opinions that were always philosophical, pragmatic and astute.
On how they protect themselves from the risks they face: “We work as a group, and only here. We won’t go away with a man in his car or to his house. We stay here beside this open space where there are lots of places to have sex but we’re always close enough for the others to hear our screams if we need help.”
On how they negotiate safe sex with clients: “If a man demands sex without a condom we argue a lot. If he still refuses but he’s drunk, then we take the money, put a female condom on and guide his penis in a way that avoids him noticing. But it’s difficult...”
On how organisations can help her and her peers to protect themselves: “The best person to protect me is me. Everyone has the knowledge here, it all depends on how you use it… But there are two things. I want to stop falling pregnant. I want the injection [referring to a form of contraceptive]” Would this mean you stop using condoms? “Not with customers because with customers I worry most about HIV. But we don’t use condoms with our boyfriends because they don’t like it. That’s the problem. And I want support for my children...” It wasn’t clear why, but Francine didn’t want to change her career. But she wanted a different life for her children.
On her own childhood, Francine was more withdrawn. It seemed like dropping out of secondary school was a turning point but she didn’t elaborate. There was only one glimpse when discussing her parents: “They are now where I am going to go in the future”.
No comments:
Post a Comment