soupy says

In early January, the National Aids Foundation (NAF) hosted a two day training for 25 of the sex workers in Khovd. They taught about STIs, AIDs, how to put on a condom with your mouth and other related health topics.

A week later, Luslaa, my counterpart, set up a follow-up meeting with the women to discuss the training and ideas about further trainings. Six came and we agreed to have a short information session about reproductive health and alcohol the next week. They said they would try and bring friends as well. The training happened last Thursday. Again, six women came. Some had come the week before and others were new faces. We asked them what other topics they wanted to learn about. They mentioned things like birth control and stress management. I asked if they wanted information on sex trafficking. They said yes and the topic seemed to strike a cord with one woman. She practicly jumped up and down in her seat when it was mentioned.

The women that show up are great. They are really interested in learning, and there is a wide range of personalities. Some are really outspoken, and some are really shy. They are also really young. Most are between 18-25, but there is one that is 16. Yeah, 16. Luslaa told me that some girls stop going to secondary school and get involved in sex work when their families need money. University students are pretty poor in Mongolia, and it is “common” for women students to sell sex for money for food.

It seems that many women go in and out of sex work depending on their finanical situation. In Ulaanbaatar and Darkhan, massage palors and brothels are starting to pop up, but in the countryside (Khovd and other aimag centers), it is much more informal, but there are definately certain hotels and bars in town where sex workers and clients meet.

My head is simply bursting of ideas of health lessons, self-esteem and skill building activities that are possible with this group. They are a couple that are clearly “leaders” of the group, and I would love to train them as trainers for peer education work. In early March, Luslaa and I head to UB for Peace Corps’ Project Design and Management (PDM) seminar in. The purpose of the seminar is develop a community project idea into reality. Both Luslaa and I are quite excited for PDM, and I can’t wait to see how this group develops.