you never realize how lucky you are...

I apologize so much for being horrible at updating lately. I actually have a really long blog post in the making equipped with beautiful pictures and everything but I fell asleep last night before I could finish it. Unfortunately it is still not finished- but instead I decided to write you a little blurb on some of my experiences today. It is tough here sometimes because I have nobody to really talk to here in Diego (I am the only student from my program here) and if I do wish to talk to someone, it is a lot harder to express myself in French. So please read and enjoy what I have to offer you tonight- and spend some time afterward to reflect as well...


So today I got my first chance to have an interview with sex workers. Now, my project concerns sex workers but is specifically focusing on sex tourism. After many failed attempts at trying to have rendez-vous with the doctor in charge of seeing sex workers, I tried my luck with an NGO that operates in the area called PSI who was wonderful enough to set up a meeting between me and 9 sex workers (with translators). It was so great and informative for my project but good lord, it was heartbreaking. The sad thing too was that the women talked about this just as their job. they just did it for the money because they had no other option. Many of these women has difficult family lives, dropped out of school at a young age, and thus were uneducated and did not understand the importance of an education. Many of them once had husbands or partners and about 2/3 of the women (aged 19-30) had one or more children that they were trying to support. 

Many of these women worked six or seven nights a week and really saw no hope of getting out of it. the only hope is that they will one day marry a foreigner. When I asked these women what they thought solutions to their problems were and what there dreams for the future were, all nine said that their dream was to marry a foreigner. It is so sad to me to see these women so dependent on men, especially men that do not even come fromm their country. It puts them in such a potion of submission which leaves them with no confidence to pursue any other dreams. I just wish these women could be empowered and taught that they can be independent- this would show them that they are so much more than their bodies. 

These women were all just beautiful and so sweet and open. It is one thing reading about this and then actually talking to the faces that give the statistics. 

Though the problem lies much deeper than these women's personal problems, although education is a big part of it- since Madagascar is a developing country and in the midst of a political crisis right now, it leaves many people struggling and living in poverty. There's nothing I can do to change their government, I guess I am just trying to come to terms with what I can do. This country has given me so much throughout my three months here. I guess what I am struggling with right now is, what can I give back?

An anti-sex tourism poster that another NGO gave me yesterday- These types of things are hanging on walls of hotels and restaurants discouraging people from sex tourism and trafficking of minors

Mbola Tsara

Hi All- I am so sorry that I have been horrible lately at updates. The truth is, I am SUPER BUSY with my ISP preparations and have spent that last few days establishing contacts, making observations and finding my way around the city. All has been going well so far. One thing is for sure, I am definitely going to have a lot of material and observations as far as the topic of my project is concerned. 

For those of you that do not know, I am doing my independent study project on the topic of sex tourism and female sex workers. Prostitution is legal in Madagascar and due to the economic and political crises, there has been an increase in the amount of sex workers. The is especially evident in coastal cities such as Majunga, Nosy Be and Diego because of the high levels of tourism. Actually, as far as tourism goes here, it is pretty uncommon to see families or young people as tourists in Diego. The young, white people you see are usually students or volunteers. The most common type of tourist here is the "old man vazaha" as we SIT students call them. Not all older European men are here for sex tourism, but it is very common to see them traveling in groups on the lookout for groups of young Malagasy prostitutes or, even in the company of Malagasy girls who could be young enough to be their granddaughters. 

I have not yet started to conduct interviews- I am beginning my project with simply observing the goings on of these populations (and trust me there is a lot to observe- you will most likely see it sitting down at any restaurant). Tonight my host sister is going to accompany me to a few night clubs to observe more. It should be interesting- but very disturbing at the same time. I will keep you all posted!

On the subject of my host family, the directors of SIT were great enough to set me up with a family here to get me started being integrated into the life of Diego. The family that I am staying with is super sweet and has hosted students in the past (the program used to do homestays in Diego a few years ago, they change things around every so often).  I actually live in a high school- our house is a converted classroom on the third floor so it has a cool, studio feel. And an incredible view (the above picture is from the balcony and below is right outside my window).

So I need to get going to do some more observations. I'm sorry these updates have been so short. When I get some good material I will post a few field journal entires for you guys to read :-)

love~love~love

Liv