Open Your Mind

I believe in open minded-ness, and everything that includes. The policy that I grew up with- “How do you know you don’t like it if you have never tried it?” when my family tried to get me to eat something foreign or unfamiliar is definitely a policy that can be applied to life in general. I mean, definitely keep trying new foods, but try new places, new beliefs, clothes, and new ways of thinking.

I am not saying that you need to change your name or religion or commit to radically different lifestyles simply to try it. Though, if you do try it and commit to life changing ideas, more power to you. I am just saying that before you judge it saying you don’t like it, won’t like it, won’t do it, or say even what it is, try it. Or, for a better explanation- one that may apply better to bookworm type mentality- “Do not judge a book by its cover.” I can’t say that I particularly enjoyed a particular book a friend recommended to me, but I read it, and can criticize it now because I read it. I have the ability to comment on what the book actually was and not just something that I heard about it or something that I had pre-decided it was.

This blog, then, comes on the back of two different parts of my life in the last few weeks. The first being a change of perspective I gained at a PEPFAR Conference that I attended here in Ukraine, and the second is the 10th Anniversary of the September 11th Tragedy.

The PEPFAR Conference was fairly standard as far as conferences go. We participated in awesome discussions, panels, lectures, and projects concerning HIV/AIDS. We learned more about the biology of the disease- for both how it is transmitted and for how it affects the body. We learned about the stigma and discrimination about the disease, and we learned how to train people and enable them to continue the education and information distribution. Apart from the language sessions where we learned the Ukrainian (or Russian) vocab necessary for teaching HIV Education in Ukraine, most of the information was relatively familiar for me, having had previous experience in researching about the international HIV crisis when I lived in India and just having had a few sessions on PEPFAR information when I swore in as a Peace Corps Volunteer (which, in two days I will celebrate my half-year mark of living in this wonderful country). But what caught me off guard at the conference that reminded me to always keep an open mind were the panels with HIV infected individuals.

There were three separate panels and the speaker at each panel represented each one of the target groups of HIV infection; Injecting Drug Users (IDUs), Gay Men (MSM), and Commercial Sex Workers (CSWs). And the one that I would like to focus on now is the panel with the CSW. We, as participants, were not given any biography or introduction to this panel prior to its occurrence. We knew that we would be meeting with a CSW and if we would like there would be a box for us to drop questions in for her to read and answer. Now, for perspectives’ sake, I am asking you to take a moment to think about what questions you would drop into that box, and imagine yourself preparing for that session. And I mean it, I would really like you to close your eyes and think about this before reading on.


Ready? OK, so, since I can’t actually talk to you and hear your theoretical questions or thoughts, I will just tell you what mine were when I was in this situation. First, I assumed that she was no longer in the profession, that she had been either trafficked into the job or had started working there because of harsh and desperate living situations. Then I assumed that she was working as an advocate for the current victims of the profession either in rehabilitation, criminalizing and punishing traffickers or providing services to CSWs in Ukraine today. As a PCV and working in the Community Development track, I decided my questions should be tailored to helping to resolve the problem. What did she think was the best way to provide services (HIV education, occupational education to give them alternative solutions, legal services, advocacy etc.) for the women in the industry? If she could go back, before becoming a CSW what information or education would have helped her avoid this lifestyle? What age group should be targeted for education distribution? I wanted to ask those types of questions, essentially doing a Needs Assessment for the problem and getting an inside opinion to help determine the best method of addressing those needs.

But now, let’s introduce what actually happened at this panel. Disclaimer note, if you have sensitivities to this topic in general and are not particularly interested in hearing a different perspective, I would not recommend reading on. If you do though, please continue to have an open mind. Additionally, this is from my personal perspective and is not the opinion of the United States Government or The United States Peace Corps. (Also, this may be rated PG 16ish)

The presenting CSW introduced herself by stating her name and general information. She then went on to say that she was indeed an advocate for the profession, but not as you are guessing, an advocate against the profession. Rather, she supported the profession and wanted more of a legal support of the profession in order to regulate, protect, and provide for the workers. When the question came up about whether she would do it differently if she could do it again, she stated that she would enter the industry again, and the only change she would have made would have been insisting on protection (appropriate condom use and increased education and usage of good sexual health practices) every single time. When she was asked “Why?” her response was just as difficult to comprehend. She said that she enjoyed the attention that she received, that it made her feel wanted and appreciated, that she could feel beautiful and cherished as a woman.

Shocked? We were. And there were definitely some moments that the translation didn’t go through as intended- she spoke in Ukrainian so we understood some, and then there was a translation by one of the event’s organizers. So there were points that what we heard did not match up with the following English bits- such as her describing one experience where she was beaten, raped and essentially imprisoned by the organization that hired her, she said, in Ukrainian, that she felt like a piece of meat rather than a human being, but the English translation went only to the fact that she had been abused and was in a bad situation. What I took out of this part was the understanding of why she felt that it should be a legitimate profession but that the government should provide rights and protection to the workers.

Now, and only as a personal opinion I think that commercial sex work is a profession that is on the bottom rung of society and that every single effort should be made to eliminate it in modern society. But, I also understand that it is one of the oldest professions in the world and will be extremely hard to eliminate. So I think that maybe she has a point. Educate the workers; protect them physically, mentally and legally. This would protect them and would help towards decreasing the HIV rates worldwide. If the workers are tested and provided for, they are educated to either quit the profession if they are infected or take critical steps towards not infecting others. When they are in a black market type profession, they are less secure and confident about accessing the aid and care they need.

How is that for a different opinion? It sure was different for me, because it is new and foreign it sits awkwardly alongside my "normal" Christian and American values. But there you have it.

And for an equally thought provoking, but less in-depth detailing, I want to talk about my second open-mind situation: the 10th Anniversary of the September 11th Tragedy. I remember where I was that day, sitting on my bed in New Delhi, India trying to get through my homework for my humanities class- reading Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle when Katelyn comes running into my room exclaiming that “America is under attack!” And I remember that we would miss school the following day for security reasons- attending an international school has its risks- and then when the American response began in Afghanistan we missed even more school, again for security reasons. I remember the phone tree establishment, the packing of emergency bags, and the actual evacuation. Then I remember keeping newspapers detailing the following events, the headlines of attacks and deaths. The count of individuals trapped in burning buildings, the count of heroes who lost their lives trying to save others, the count of soldiers dying overseas and the count of Afghani and Middle Eastern lives lost.

How many all told? I know there are estimates made by professionals, and that I can easily access those numbers via the internet. Somehow though, I just can’t look that up. The number is too high. And the fact that so many of the lives lost were needless, that there were women and children and civilians as well as the soldiers and terrorists. That so many lives have been ripped apart, ruined, and taken away. No, that number is too high to estimate in my head and seeing a total makes it painfully more real.

The real part I like to question though, is why? Why did America think that they were just and right when they interfered in foreign governments and beliefs? Why were these foreigners so anti-American that they decided to become terrorists? Why did America believe that foreigners need to have an American system of government and ideals? Why do foreigners believe that all Americans qualify as one characteristic? Why do Americans think they know what foreigners believe?

Why can’t Americans read the Koran and try to understand what it actually says rather than what they think it says? Why can’t foreigners spend time with Americans and learn about them before deciding what all of America is?

Why can’t everyone have an open mind? Is it so threatening to maybe see something through a different perspective? Are we so secure in our beliefs that instead of constantly changing and strengthening them we spend more time attacking others? Personally, I believe that I believe what I believe because I try to see it from other perspectives, and I challenge myself with new beliefs to make me stronger.

But maybe, I am an idealist and just want people to have strength enough to open their minds.