MOMBASA SEX INDUSTRY-BITTER SWEET-WHO IS TO BLAME?

I was a visitor of the Old town on the shores of the Indian Ocean-in the Coast Province of Kenya. The beaches and the food were breath taking and the people warm and beautiful. When I heard a native talk about the thriving Sex Industry of the town and the prevalence of HIV and AIDS, it saddened me what the government, the culture and the white man and woman have done to this great city that once upheld the greatest values of human life.                 Imagine a father raising his daughter upto the age of fifteen and even younger and releasing her into the world to fend for her family because he cannot afford to do that. OR A mother or a father dies and the young children are left without a provider,the eldest, a girl, takes initiative to take care of her siblings but the only way she can make money is by selling her body.

There's one lady who at the age of fifteen became an orphan and since she had ten siblings to take care of,she had to get a job. She tried so hard and got one as a bar maid but it was on condition that she sleeps with the owner of the bar every night. After a while, she quit because she couldn't take it anymore. She got another job as a bar maid in a different area in Mombasa,the only difference here was that the customers were the clients and the owner, the pimp. With not much to go on and especially with the demands at home,she had to do what it took for her to support her family.This is how she got into prostitution at the age of 16. She knew she could make more money by establishing herself as a prostitute. This beautiful lady started getting rich clients and especially the tourists who visit the town frequently. She has managed to put her Siblings through school with her body and she is ashamed. Honestly, can we blame her?
Today, you walk around the town and see old white men and women coupled with the young men and women of this town.

What happened to our old wise men and women who nurtured integrity and societal values?
What has happened to our government or are we so blinded by the money the industry brings?
What happened to the NGOs that get funding from donors to help prevent the vice of Child Sex and Prostitution?
What happened to our mothers who fought for us when we needed them?
What happened to us and our independence?

I blame the government, the NGOs, the white man, our grand mothers, our grand fathers and anybody else who contributed to the worsening of this ill in society.

May God help us!