AIDS education for child prostitutes in Manila

CHIANG MAI, Thailand (JP): Children are not supposed to work, but many do. In rural areas, they work on the farm, while in the city the majority of working children are found either in factories or on the streets.

Street children are a circumstance of urban life. Their work ranges from polishing shoes to prostitution.

The Philippines, home to more than 67 million people, has 1.5 million street children, including 60,000 child prostitutes, according to Maribeth San Miguel from the Children's Laboratory Foundation.

She classifies children as under 18 years old, in accordance with Philippine law.

Maribeth introduced the data about the children when she shared her experiences in reaching street children at last month's Third International Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

She reported that 70 percent of the street children in the Philippines have regular contact with their families. They hit the street during the day and return home at night. Twenty percent don't have regular contact and the remainder don't have families.

Child prostitution is found mainly in Metro Manila, especially in Pasay and Quezon City. The children operate in shopping malls and on the streets.

The majority of street children work to help out or totally support their families. The others work the street to escape "internal and external conflicts of being adolescents" like family pressures and school responsibilities.

Most young sex workers in Quezon City are in the business because of financial trouble.

"Those operating in the parks and shopping malls are young people who consider their work as adventurous or as an escape," Maribeth said.

On the streets, young girls serve rich customers. The young boys hustle homosexual customers in the parks and shopping malls, she explained.

The youths, who have worked as prostitutes for between three months and four years, are frequently harassed and abused both physically and verbally by security guards, police and customers.

When the Children's Laboratory Foundation started the AIDS education project last year, all of the children had heard basic information on AIDS and HIV, but the majority didn't practice safe sex.

The Philippine health department has registered 659 HIV and 212 AIDS cases as of July. It is estimated that for every known case there are 100 undetected cases.

Anticipating the epidemic by educating children about the deadly disease is necessary to keep to infection numbers relatively low.

The genuine involvement and sustained participation of children in AIDS education is no less important than their commitment to change their sexual behavior, Maribeth said.

The Children's Laboratory Foundation, which is supported by the United States Agency for International Development and the AIDS Control and Prevention Project, has two strategies to reach the children: street education and drama in education.

The street education strategy has activists working with children on the streets to cultivate a supportive and facilitating environment in order to change the kids' behavior.

The drama in education strategy offers plays and games as learning tools.

"There is a liberating process as the players interpret the tangible concepts of the plays and games to their personal experiences," Maribeth said.

"Drama in education encourages continuity and dynamism, as the materials are presented to the players are interpreted from the deep level of the consciousness of the individuals and the group, making room for respect and recognition of their strengths and weaknesses," she added.

Drama in education focuses on the central point of the children's interests, which is to explore a world full of fun and excitement.

A workshop with four themes was also presented in a child- friendly language.

The four themes were:

You are in if you know. This theme encourages the children to learn about the basics of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV.

If you are aware you are careful. This theme encourages the children to learn about risk assessment and reduction, and to enhance their self-image and personal hygiene for self protection.

You are cool if you are safe. This theme encourages children to learn how to change their sexual behavior as well as problem solving and negotiation skills.

Now you are teenager but tomorrow you are manager. This theme tells the children about their future and their options in life.

A year after the foundation conducted the workshop, it was able to develop, together with the children, valuable material for an anti-AIDS campaign, including broadcast material, game boards, billboards, games, flyers and songs.

The materials are now used in a school, and the songs are often played in Quezon City's health department clinic and shopping malls.

Education improves public awareness of the danger of AIDS and empowers the young sex workers. What's more, it has motivated some child prostitutes to leave the profession, go home and return to school. (sim)