By Steven Enatu
SOROTI CITY
In the remote areas of Mbale a young girl named Rehema (not her real name) was raised by a woman she thought was her biological mother, but little did she know that her life was going to take a turn that would shatter her innocence and push her towards a path she never imagined.
The fate arose when the lady’s husband attempted on several occasions to defile her.
“My mum, whom I did not know wasn’t my real mother, got to know about it and decided to chase me away, I got some lady who picked me up and brought me to Soroti with her as a house helper. That’s how I got my way to Soroti” she narrated.
She accepted to come with her and later asked her that she would wish to go to school. This she was humbly turned down with the lady saying she has no money.
“She is staying with me because I help her a lot and she doesn’t pay me. It’s how I appreciate her and she appreciates me by offering me a shelter and food” she noted.
Like any other young person with a dream of becoming a lawyer, Rehema could not sit and see her future tear. This is when she began commercial sex to pay school fees.
When destiny led her to Soroti, Rehema clung to the support of her guardian even when her dreams were shattered when she discovered that this woman had no intentions of supporting her education or nurturing her aspirations.
Determined to overcome any circumstances, Rehema resolved to pursue her dreams against all odds.
Rehema sneaks from home without the knowledge of her boss lady to make sure that she captures some five to ten men in the night for sex in the seemingly busy corridor famously known as ‘town talks’ in Soroti city.
It doesn’t matter whether lodge, or just standing, Rehema offers sex to men in exchange for shillings. With a short at 5000shs, Rehema said on good days she goes back home with 50,000shs.
When I asked her whether her boss is aware about her act and source of school fees, she said, “no, she doesn’t know. I tell her it’s some uncle of mine paying my school fees. So, I make sure I finish doing all the home chores by 7:30pm if that day I want to go and make money. I leave by 8pm and go back home by 1am. The streets become busy at around 9pm there, that’s when clients become many” she expressed.
To a surprise, not any of her friends know she is doing this.
How much and how many men will you have come across by that time?
“Me, I come with my target of at least ten men, not more than that, by the time I get that number, I know I will have made some money that can push me for two weeks again without going back to the street. I also have special clients who call me for a night and they offer good pay. Sometimes 40,000shs and on good days 50,000shs for a night” she noted.
Rehema does not go to the streets on a daily basis like other staged prostitutes in Soroti city, she goes when need arises at school and survival.
She pays 150,000shs as school fees and this is the mathematics that runs in her mind for this act.
As Rehema treaded through the dark alleys of Soroti’s underbelly of the sex corridors, she became an outcast among her fellow prostitutes who refer to her as a bad omen or the ‘short one’ they as well distanced themselves from her fostering a sense of loneliness and isolation.
However, Rehema says that the biggest risk that she faces in this act is the higher risks of contracting STDS, STIs and unwanted pregnancies.
Much as she carries condoms along with her, so far, she has had two different occasions where condoms burst and this leaves her life in danger.
“I make sure I seek PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV immediately and post emergency pills. Some of these men come very drunk and they don’t care but just because you want money, you endure with caution but they are too rough” she said.
These she buys from pharmacies in town with a tablet of PEP costing her 10,000shs.
Prostitution in Uganda is an illegal act according to Uganda’s 1950 Penal Code, but is widespread despite this. Many turn to prostitution because of poverty and lack of other opportunities in Uganda.
Should you wish to reach Rehema for any assistance or any kind of help please use +256742395390
