I'm now teaching English on a volunteer basis in Patong. I work at a small ngo called EMPOWER. EMPOWER is basically a support group for the bar girls and entertainment (sex) workers.
The support given includes legal issues, human rights issues, health issues, anti-discrimination issues, stigma issues, English lessons and Thai lessons for girls who cannot read or write Thai. Many girls have little education whilst others are University educated.
All in all they're an amazing bunch of women. Most of the girls work 7 nights a week. Work usually starts somewhere between 5:00pm and 7:00pm, ending somewhere about 5:00am or so, depending on the customers.
The bar owners rent the bars for about 30,000 baht per month. Each one thinks they can make a killing by selling drink at elevated prices and selling the girls services for a fee. They provide 'free' bottles of whiskey at their bars for their girls. But mostly it's to keep the girls drunk and therefore not in their right senses for making informed decisions. The bar owners also rent houses and 'give' the girls rooms to sleep in for 'free'. Usually 4 girls to a room. The girls see this as a benefit, not realizing that they are being trapped by the bar owners into a dependency situation. Each girl is hoping that one of the Farang customers will fall in love with them, take them away from the bar life, marry them and support them. In some cases this does happen, for most though it does not. Marriages started under these circumstances rarely survive. The cultural differences alone between what a Thai lady expects from marriage and what a foreigner may expect are literally worlds apart.
Most of the girls have children, many with more than one. Each is workig to support not only their children but usually family members as well. They don't like the work, it's simply a job. And in high season, a well paying job. Better than a supermarket, hotel, restaurant or any other work they could get. Home to most is in the North East of Thailand, in a Province called Isaan. It's the poorest Province in the whole of Thailand.
In Isan girls are often still married off at 14 years old. Because of low education levels and low contraception education, they immediately start the cycle of pregnncy, birth, pregnancy, birth.
One girl has had 9 pregnancies since being married at 14, 6 of home died or miscarried simply due to the fact that her childish body was not capable of supporting a pregnancy due to maturity. After a baby is born, the mother and baby are put in a hut with a fire and only given warm water plus a vile tasting herbal concoction for up to 15 days. The longer you stay there the 'better' girl you are. Most people do a minimum of 9 days.
Because of the schedule the girls need to keep, each teaching day is unique. But the motivation and drive to learn usually brings them to class everyday they can make it. Because there's no consistent roll call of people, each day is taken one by one, depending on who turns up class can be anything from simply sitting and trying to read short easy books or it'll be hectic conversational training pieces. Occasionally interrupted with silly review games such as cross-words or flash cards (including cheat sheets so theyc an find the answer and not feel like they fail at something).
Low self esteem, societal pressures and the stigma associated with being a bar girl, lend the girls to having low self esteem. Make no mistake, they want to be accepted by society for who and what they are.
Everyone loves to pronounce the words correctly (meaning like an native English speaker). So in class if someone is reading out loud and they mis-pronounce a word, I will help them pronounce it more correctly. But often I don't even get the chance! One of the other girls will correct the mis-pronounced word to her. They want everyone of their friends and fellow community to speak English as well as they possibly can.
The group are a support to each other in many many ways. Sharing life, loves, hopes, dreams, wishes, problems, failures, successes and simply being big sisters to each other. Or Aunts. It's a powerful base of support to people in one of the most difficult jobs in the world.
But a group of women together is so much more powerful and empowered than individuals each on their own. They are truly empowered to take control of their own lives and futures.
No comments:
Post a Comment