A typical day in the life of our MWAH Project Co-ordinator who works with the migrant sex working community:
I guide myself on this journey by this motivational quote: “DO IT WITH PASSION OR NOT AT ALL”
9:00 AM – Making camp at my dining room table, super strong second coffee of the day, 15 minutes to fire up my old laptop. Before it starts my phone rings, who can it be so early?
“Hi, it’s X, please, please, help! I had a split condom accident this early morning, what can I do?”
No wonder she calling so early when usually my first phone call comes in after 2pm. I phone the pharmacy in her area and signpost her to collect the morning after pill. I later on look into a self-testing kit to be delivered by the outreach team to her doorstep so she could test herself. When the time comes my colleagues will drop the kit on X’s door step and wait in the car until I explain in her own language how she needs to prick her finger, where to drop the blood, how to preserve the samples until they will be handed to the POW team. She’s worried that she might have caught something from that punter. She’s crying. She has got 4 kids.
Phone rings again: “Hi, it’s me Y…. Could you support me with applying for Universal Credit?’’
I am scratching my head thinking of the long hours I will have to wait on the phone to make an appointment, but no, today is my lucky day, they are going to phone her back!
It’s already 2:30, the phone rings again:
“Hi, it’s me Z, I think I am pregnant, can you help? I don’t want to keep it.“
Even though I feel a stab in my heart I pick the phone up and call BPAS for an appointment. I get through very easily, not too many questions and I get an appointment for her. I call her back to let her know and she asks me millions of questions wants me to go with her. But I am not allowed in so will need to support her over the phone emotionally and with interpreting. She doesn’t want a stranger to do interpreting for her and know her secrets.
I still have time to make some well-being checks and look on the advertising platforms for new potential service users.
4:40PM I start my end of the day report and my goals board looks like this:
- 3 goals achieved
- 2 people that I couldn’t support today and I had to signpost them for legal advice
- 2 chats for moral support. One of them asking me to call her mum to tell her she’s fine and she’s got somebody she could trust that speaks her own language. Goal achieved.
Is it a good day or a bad day?
I sit back and reflect, could I be proud of myself? I think I could, and you know why?
Because I am able to see life from a different angle, because I am capable of understanding, respecting and acknowledging people’s choices.
