While
governments study ways to combat the AIDS epidemic
in Africa, CBN WorldReach is helping women escape
exposure to the deadly disease.
A
Dismal Life in Legal Brothels
In
the land-locked west African nation of Mali, prostitution
is an accepted way of life. Women and girls, some
as young as 17, bring male "clients" to small, stiflingly
hot rooms, furnished only with filthy mattresses.
Daily, they attempt a deadly balancing act, risking
infection with AIDS against the certain death that
comes from unrelenting poverty. Many
find themselves subjected to knife attacks and beatings
on a regular basis. One 18-year-old, who goes by the
street name of Fatima, was severely wounded on her
neck by a man who, after receiving sex, demanded the
return of his money.
Earlier
abandoned by her husband and conservative Muslim family,
she despairs of any solution to her hopeless situation.
Unless
a direct intervention takes place, Fatima, and countless
other prostitutes, will either succumb to a violent
death or join the horrifyingly high percentage of
people in sub-Saharan Africa currently infected with
the HIV virus.
The
Myth of Condom Protection
Spurred
on by more than 30 agencies of the United Nations,
many African governments, such as the one seated in
the Mali capital of Bamako, promote the use of condoms
as the primary answer to the continent's AIDS epidemic.
Sadly,
these campaigns have done little to stem the tide
of HIV-related death.
In some regions, life expectancy is expected to plummet
to as low as age 30 by the year 2010.
A
Simple Gift
So
what can be done to help women such as Fatima, trapped
in prostitution, facing heightened exposure to death
from AIDS? For a growing number of women in Bamako,
Mali, a way of escape is being provided by CBN WorldReach
Director, Yiranou Traore. It all begins with a simple
gift of soap.
"First
of all, once we came here we distributed soaps to
all of them. So that attracted them. And showed them
Christian love," said Pastor Traore. "And I saw that
it opened the doors. Because they understood that
we loved them." In a predominately Islamic culture,
girls are raised to fear and avoid Christians. The
prostitutes are amazed to learn that someone cares
about them as people, and is interested in helping
them change their lives.
"They
have no help. That's why they are here," said Traore.
"And they want us to take our ministry seriously
so that they can all leave the streets and do something
else. That's their deep desire."
Escaping
a Deadly Lifestyle
The
process is actually quite simple. Women who choose
to leave are given safe shelter, and an opportunity
to create new lives. Besides often-needed medical
attention, former prostitutes are taught skills that
will enable them to survive, and even prosper, away
from the deadly brothels.
Some learn the lucrative trade of cloth dyeing, a
traditional Mali artistry that can provide a decent
income and self-sufficiency. Others learn to craft
popular items sold in crowded urban markets.
According to Traore, "It surely will have an impact
on the society. For example, in one place where you
find fifty prostitutes, and the next day you find
no prostitutes there, people will notice their absence!"
Changing
Lives
Few
Christians today have the vision, or opportunity,
to
seek out the spiritually lost and
dying, particularly in AIDS-stricken Africa.
Traore
and CBN WorldReach are offering a new hope to women
in Bamako Mali. More effective than merely changing
unsafe sexual practices, this
extraordinary project focuses on changing lives, one
by one.
CBN Africa
