MATHIDA'S STORY (A sacrifice for th

[ausgeo@xxxxxxx]

Subject: MATHIDA'S STORY (A sacrifice for the family)

June 13, 1997

MATHIDA'S STORY

A sacrifice for the family

If Mathida's lifetime experience could be swapped for an academic degree, the 
Burmese woman would probably be awarded a PhD. After years of hard work and 
struggle, however, 27-year-old Mathida has instead got HIV.

Before political chaos arose in Burma, Mathida lived a happy life in Keng Tung 
in Shan State. She graduated from primary school and then, at the age 14, 
married a Burmese soldier. The young wife gave birth to a daughter before the 
couple separated.

Mathida remarried and then moved to Tachilek with her mother's new family. Her 
second husband is a gambler and a drunkard. He once sold her to a brothel in 
Chiang Mai to pay a debt. She worked there for a month, after which she 
returned home and forgave him.

Later, civil war broke out in Shan State, and this political turbulence was 
matched by disruptions in Mathida's own family. Her stepfather became 
seriously ill, and Mathida's mother told her to find some much-needed money. 
The obedient daughter realised that the only way she could earn any cash was 
to become a sex worker, and decided to work in a brothel in Mae Sai, Chiang 
Rai.

Mathida asked for an advance of 10,000 baht from her boss. A month later, 
before she could repay this first debt, her mother asked her to send another 
sum of money. As time passed, she owned more and more.

As these debts mounted, Mathida could not imagine how long she would have to 
work to pay them all off. Day by day, her body became weaker and weaker.

The reason was that her blood was infected with HIV, a fact of which she was 
unaware. A language barrier kept her from approaching Thai officials who might 
have helped her, but fortunately the research group from Mahidol University 
found her and tried to negotiate with the brothel owner to let Mathida return 
home. Informed that she had HIV, the owner agreed, but the researchers had to 
pay 3,500 baht to cover Mathida's debt.

Mathida was very happy to go home. Despite her worsening health and meagre 
savings, she spent a lot of money on toys for her child, clothes for her 
sisters, and also a cassette player for the whole family.

The Burmese woman was determined never to work again as a prostitute, but she 
had very few choices. Her step father died, and her large family needed 
someone to earn money to feed them. That person had to be Mathida.

At first, she worked for a short period as a waitress at a bar in Tachilek. 
Her 2,000-baht-a-month salary, however, was not enough to provide for all 
eight family members.

Within a few weeks, Mathida had to break her promise to herself. Now she is 
heading for Malaysia. Her second husband found this work for her, and her 
family has received a large cash advance. This means Mathida has already 
fallen heavily into debt.

The Mahidol researchers never had a chance to talk to Mathida about her 
illness, and she has no idea what she will face in the future.

But for the education of her daughter, the happiness of her mother, and the 
welfare of the whole family, she is ready to endure it.

Kham Euay's and Mathida's stories are based on information from in- depth 
interviews in a paper titled "The Passage of Women from Neighbouring Countries 
to the Sex Trade in Thai land" published by Dr Kritaya Archavanitkul and 
Ponsook Kertsawang in May 1997.



MATHIDA'S STORY


Fly away, little bird

"I wish I were a small bird so I could fly as far as I desire. I'd laugh at 
those big, clumsy ones who are too heavy to fly," said Kham Euay, a 
19-year-old Tai Lue girl from Burma.

"But right now, I can go nowhere," she lamented.

Four years ago, Kham Euay, then 15, left her home in a small town in Shan 
State, despite her mother's objections. An uneducated country girl like her, 
she thought, could not pursue any kind of profession that would make as much 
money as being a sex worker.

"I wanted to build a comfortable house for my mother and send my younger 
sister to school. That's all," recalled the dutiful daughter who is currently 
working in a brothel in central Thailand.

Kham Euay started working in a teahouse in Bangkok where she met several girls 
from her home town. Her "first time" with an old Chinese man earned her 15,000 
baht. However, splitting it with the tea house owner reduced her share to 
7,500 baht. Kham Euay sent all of it to her family.

>From then on, the girl earned 40 baht for each man she had sex with, and each 
day she had more than 10 customers. She saved an average of 8,000 baht a 
month.

After working hard for eight months, Kham Euay decided to go home, as she 
believed she had made enough money. However, she re-entered the business six 
months later. She explains: "I could make no money at home. I had already done 
this kind of job, so I had nothing else to lose, did I?"

Kham Euay's journey to the south started again. At first, she worked in a 
karaoke bar in Chon Buri. She then became a call girl in Bangkok's Saphan 
Khwai area. This time she was not so lucky. The girl fell ill, infected with a 
sexually transmitted disease. To quell her fear of Aids, she had a blood test. 
The doctor told her that her blood was positive, but when Kham Euay asked 
whether that meant she had Aids, he didn't answer.

The young woman then quit her job, returned home and married her Shan 
boyfriend. But married life soon turned bitter. Her in-laws could not accept 
an ex-prostitute into the family. The couple split months later. Kham Euay, 
therefore, took up the flesh trade for the third time.

She always worried that she might be infected with HIV as she was continuously 
ill. She often got the flu, her hair fell out and nodules kept popping up on 
her limbs.

"Why didn't the doctor tell me whether I had Aids or not? I have dreams I want 
to pursue, but he left me in uncertainty. I need to know to have more control 
of my life. I want to go home," the Tai Lue girl said.

Although she wanted to re-unite with her family, Kham Euay did not want to 
return empty-handed. She planned to stay in the business for a year to save up 
a sum of money.

"My hometown is the best place. I can breathe in the fragrant air. When 
thirsty, I can ask neighbours for water. Thailand is not a paradise as 
everybody thought. For me, it's a nightmare," she revealed.

Kham Euay has recently been informed that she is indeed infected with the Aids 
virus. However, it is not her own health that she's most concerned about, but 
her elderly mother's.

"Can I still cook for my mum? Can I wash her clothes? Will doing that infect 
her?."

Although she has paid all her debts, Kham Euay intends to continue working. 
She now uses a condom every time she has sex. However, her illness hinders her 
from making as much money as she desires.

"Some days I just feel too ill to work. At times, I have lesions all over my 
body, and customers find that unappealing."

But she is determined to go home by the end of this year.

"I never blame anybody for this disease. It was me who wanted to seek my 
fortune here. But I'll never let my sister come to Thailand. I'm afraid she'll 
be lost. And too often we can't correct the wrongs we have done. But life is 
always like this, isn't it?"


Bangkok Post