If you asked me why I set out to write a sex worker diary on my blog, I would tell you I did it out of sheer curiosity.
I had heard stories that in Bwaise, a slum in Northern Kampala, women were selling themselves for as little as 500 Uganda shillings (US$0.14).
I wanted to hear the story for myself, and maybe share it with readers of my blog. So I called up my friend Joseph, a community worker who has worked in this area for years.
Not the Kampala I am used to
After exchanging pleasantries, he led me through a narrow corridor. At the end of the corridor, the scene suddenly changed: this was not the Kampala I am used to. I saw mud-walled drinking joints full of men and women at noon. There was rubbish everywhere and Lingala music playing in the background.
To navigate, Joseph and I had to jump over streams of sewage. We meandered our way through alleyways lined with wooden and iron sheeting-walled shacks. I later discovered these were brothels, and that over 300 women come to this area daily to sell sex, by both day and night.
She invited us into a small room of about eight square meters, with a mud floor. In one corner was a run-down shelf with bottles of local gin. A double-decker bed and single bed were on the other side of the room. A child sleeping on the lower bunk caught my eye.
The Mama told us she rents out these beds to those that buy and sell sex. A bed goes for 500 Uganda shillings per use.
Læs hele artiklen hos Global Voices
Denne artikel er en del af The Bridge, som rummer originale artikler, holdninger, kommentarer og undersøgende journalistik. Find mere på Global Voices.
