At PHRU we meet peer educator PHUMEZA MNGQUNGWANA (25) – striped blue & white jersey
Phumeza or Phumi leads a lively session for women who have come to the clinic drop in area for a variety of services.
Also counsels BOITUMELO BOHALU (23) – slim, big smile, wearing a striped cap and blue jacket
Boitumelo doesn’t mind her name being used, did a short interview.
She lost her mom to AIDS at age 10; she thinks her mother was also doing sex work. Growing up she was cared for mostly by her brother, but a few years ago he moved to Pretoria to work in a bank. She is from Diepkloof (in Soweto) and was born and raised in Soweto. She finished matric (high school) in 2013 at age 20.
She needs to provide for her child, and stared sex work in a tavern at age 21, when she became quite desperate for lack of other work or means. She has a long distance partner who she sees once or twice a month; neither he nor her aunt (also in Soweto) know about the sex work. She assumes if her boyfriend finds out he will leave her.