M joined me and YL for a walk this evening. We did not anticipate this walk. It was raining earlier and we did not know if it is suitable to walk. R had the bag of goodies for outreach so we called out outreaching for the night. But we met with M and talked more about Project X and what M's proposal for December would be like. M is interested in the photographs taken by the sex workers.
We decided to bring M through the usual trail for exposure. YL is good at briefing at volunteers, she gives extensive information of the work beginning 9 months ago and the activities following it ever since. She gives case scenarious, focus on population of sex workers she's befriended and a general overview of why this project exists.
It was a quiet night. There were little women but more men around. I saw what looked like a gambling table with a Bangladeshi man overseeing it. He was saying something but I don't understand what it meant. I saw money on the table and a crowd of other men surrounding it. There was a little drizzle, wet pavements to avoid stepping on too.
It was Eid in Bangladesh and workers from Bangladesh are seen in this area donning a kurta/salwar khamiz, the loose fit version that is far more comfortable.
On Lorong 16, I saw a new worker I've never met before. She had on a shiny brown wig and sunglasses. I didn't register anything else when I saw that, I thought how nice it was to see something new on Lorong 16.
E or J were not around either. We stopped at the final location and I spotted a nice-looking dude on bicycle. I told M, I wouldn't mind speaking to him and she said maybe you should say, 'how much?'. It was interesting because I never thought of women paying male sex workers for their service. It made sense for M to tell me that.
YL got in touch with Ai and she invited us to her home. It is in a condo and she lived with her two pet dogs. Be and Sa live with her and share the rent as well. Be was out working for the night. Ai and Sa got back from shopping at Mustafa Centre, they shared their goods with us. Ai's two pet dogs are Jack Russells, the small-sized ones like the one featured as Milo in the movie, The Mask. We had tea, coffee and lemon tea. Sa wanted to make designs on a wall Ai gave her so she could make floral type works painted in black. She started on it mid-way through the conversations we were sharing. At one point, we had a good laugh when Ai's two pet dogs started arguing with each other. Ai pampers her dog to bits, she gives them fresh food and sleeps with them on the bed. She talks to them as if they were her kids.
The mood intensified as we got to know of Sa's recent troubles with her relatives. There were some difficult moments shared here and Sa looked like she was on the verge of tears. YL offered to bring her to the police station if she ever wished to report the issue. I think that it was a good move my YL to offer Sa an option of help even if she did not want to move forward with it.
The conversation went deeper, when Ai shared of her experiences with peers (or sisters as they call other transgenders) who commit suicide. There were various issues influencing this decision but I think one of the more bigger ones are trust with family or boyfriends.
Ai turns out to be a tarot card reader too and she read for me using the Unicorn Oracle cards.
