The story of Aisha

Aisha rocks her two-month-old daughter Nadja in her lap. The smiles express a close relationship between the mother and the daughter. There are, however, cracks in the harmony. Aisha and Nadja are in the shelter designated for young street mothers in Cairo.  Nobody knows about Nadja’s father. The 17-year-old Aisha has no family except other mothers living in the shelter and its workers.

"My father died when I was five. I haven’t seen my mother for years. I know where she lives but she doesn’t want to see me and I don’t really want to see her either. I haven’t forgiven her yet", Aisha says with an expressionless face. Aisha tells with a low voice about her childhood experiences, which she would like to forget if she could. 

"After my father died, my mother found a new man and married soon. I got many little sisters and brother who were all more important and dear to my mother than me. All I got was responsibility and beating, never appreciation." Worse than her mother’s indifference was her step-father’s physical abuse which turned into frequent rapes.

"My step-father came to me after my mother had fallen into sleep and touched and hurt me. I had no idea what it was all about. He threatened to kill me if I told my mother. I can’t remember how long it went on – in the end, I could not stand any longer and told my mother."

Instead of help, her mother beat her. "My mother said I had been indecent and offered myself to my step-father. She said I was a sinful woman and that I would never have any hope in life." Soon after this Aisha’s step-father started battering her in daytime.

"I could not take it any longer, I ran away. I had no place to go because I was ashamed of myself. I couldn’t ask for help from my relatives – they would have been on my mother’s side anyway", Aisha tells.

When Aisha ran away from home, she was 14 years old, a beautiful young woman. On the street, she got to know other young people who told her that they earned their living by selling themselves to older men. "I had lost my virginity and honour so I had nothing to lose. I had to find a way to support myself ", Aisha explains the reasons behind her becoming a street prostitute. 

Aisha does not want to recall the details about her life on the streets. "It was even worse than all the suffering at home. I once even tried to go back home but my mother beat me and shouted I was no longer her daughter."
   

From her peers on the streets Aisha learnt ways to get momentarily away from the bad world. "We snorted glue or anything which got our heads mixed up and gave us some happiness for a while. I was also offered heroin and pills but I didn’t have enough money for those."

Some of Aisha’s customers were violent. "I was once beaten badly by a customer, my eye swell and closed and I think my arm was broken. I could not go into the hospital because I didn’t have an ID and private doctors were far too expensive. By chance, I met a friendly man on the street and he asked if I needed help."

Aisha was lucky. The man who offered help was a social worker in a local street children organisation and he took Aisha to a first aid centre run by the organisation. "The man told me about his organisation and its day centres where I could take a shower and get free food and clothes. He also assured me that I would have a chance to get out of the street if I really wanted."
 

Aisha visited the day centre mentioned by the social worker and she asked to be taken into one of the organisation’s temporary shelters. "I knew I was pregnant. I had to get help for myself and my child that was growing inside me. I also knew that I wanted to keep the child. Many of the street girls I knew had sold their children for a good price to older women who beg on the streets. I could not even think about giving away my child and I wanted a better life for her than I could have offered her on the street."

"I have a dream that God would lead me to a man who in spite of all would love me and also accept my daughter. I try to be optimistic and I am happy to know that I can stay at this shelter as long as I marry or can support myself by some other means. I would like to become a hairdresser and have my own salon one day."

Aisha’s and Nadja’s real names are changed.