Church group pays prostitutes to go to school

IN a positive reaction to the claim by some sex workers that they turned to the profession because they have no other skills, one church group has launched a programme to recruit prostitutes and pay them to attend skills training classes.

More than 35 female sex workers have been sent back to school so far under this initiative, which is spearheaded by the Joy Town Community Development Foundation (JTCDF).

Representatives from the foundation essentially visit the red light districts in Kingston, St Catherine and Clarendon to offer free testing and counselling before introducing the women to the opportunity of furthering their education. Approximately US$900 is used to fund each woman.

“They are very cautious, because you have a lot of persons who come out there and they want to offer things to them. But because of our friendly Christian-like approach, then their guard is kind of lowered,” said Shara Brown, project officer and social worker at the JTCDF.

“Once we mention that we will assist them fully in terms of paying their school fees and that they might get a small stipend, then they are more interested.”

In addition to having their tuition paid, the women are given an average of $2,400 per week as stipend if they enrol in a nine-month programme; and even more money if their course of study is shorter. Funding is provided primarily by USAID, but the Ministry of Health also makes donations.

Tuition can go as high as $50,000 for one student, depending on their course of study. “We put them in vocational education programmes and currently we have had over 17 women doing either housekeeping, food preparation or pottery making,” Brown said.

The social worker explained that in addition to these skill areas, women are often given the opportunity to pursue other areas such as dressmaking and floral arrangement.

Following the completion of their studies, they are given a certificate by HEART Trust/NTA which increases their probability of finding a suitable job.

President of the JTCDF Major Richard Cooke said the institutions the sex workers attend are carefully selected, so as to minimise the likelihood of persons knowing about their background.

“We have been through a lot of institutions, and we are finally settled on some that we use more than the others. There are varying institutions and so we use some for floral arrangement, pattern making and so on.

We tailor the thing to each woman as opposed to taking a cookiecutter approach,” he said, adding that a case management is done of each woman once she is recruited off the streets to see what other profession she would like to pursue if she had the opportunity.

“We have a contract that is signed with the school as it relates to the persons that are coming in, so we meet only with the main administrator and the principal of the school, and those are usually the only persons that know the nature of the programme, unless the girls decide that they want to share their story,” said Brown.

“In the final analysis, what the women need is alternative employment and that’s what the women are looking for and hoping for,” Major Cooke noted.

Brown said that often the women acquire more than one skill set through the initiative, which has been going on for the past two years. Some beneficiaries see an improvement in their self-esteem and their self-worth.

“A number of them have actually stopped going on the road. Since they have been in the programme, they are better parents and they have adjusted their attitude towards themselves and other persons because they are in the programme,” the social worker noted.

“Some of them will tell you that they are excited about school; they can’t wait for the next day for them to come to school; they look forward to the experience,” Brown said.

“Another person told us when we did our focus group that she has never felt important and valued before. It was the first time since she was at school that she actually had a birthday party.”

Most of the women had dropped out of school at the secondary level and so every effort has been made to improve their literacy and numeracy skills. As such, some of the sex workers have to be enrolled in remedial classes.

A particularly fulfilling moment for the JTCDF team was recently witnessing one of the women who had been enrolled in a remedial class prior to doing her level one course in housekeeping, receiving the principal’s award at her school. “The level of education that most of them have is between primary and secondary.

Most of them dropped out of school from first or second form because they got pregnant. Or they were abused from the primary level and didn’t get a secondary education,” Brown said. In addition to the skills training programme for sex workers, the JTCDF also spearheads an education programme for out-of-school youths.

Programme co-ordinator at the Foundation Kenny Waldo said these youths are introduced to entrepreneurial skills, life skills and career development programmes. In addition to this, about 30 young people from Trench Town have been trained as peer leaders, so they can empower other youths in their community.

“Through this, lives have been transformed,” he said. Major Cooke said that funding remains one of the greatest challenges for the foundation, but they are encouraged by the outcome of the initiatives so far.