Sagittarius
I heard many stories similar to this from some of the girls I was acquainted with on the street. I took one, Alyssa, under my wing when she was 14-years-old to protect her from the abuse she was apparently receiving at home. She worked the street to support the numbing fix she needed after selling herself to older men. It broke my heart as I watched her sleep, for she had violent dreams, screaming, "No, don't, no-no." Her arms would be flying around as though she was fighting off her abuser. Diane, her older sister, worked the street as well. She was 16-years-old, and after a few years of I.V. use (intravenous needles), she lost her leg due to gangrene.
The pain hit close to home as I watched women I shared the streets with suffer. My street sister Chrissie, was so full of raging anger when she was drinking, but when she wasn't drinking, she kept the pain well-hidden. She'd swing punches in the air, cursing at everyone. When she was at that point, I would just keep out her way. She finally got a plane ticket back home to Ontario, and I haven't seen her since. Another street sister, Marina, took her life with drugs. She had two kids, but couldn't live with herself and the loneliness of the street or her past.
Society needs to be aware of and try to comprehend stories like these, because this is why most of these girls are down on Hastings Street, or "the skids," in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. These are only some of the horror stories I've been told from the sisters of the street, but there are countless more. It's only getting worse with crystal meth being used nowadays.
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Pauline, My teenage daughter
By Jacqueline, February 25, 2007 at 16:50Pauline,
My teenage daughter told me the other day that a fella she works that replaced the words of the Hip hop song called "slap that" with the words that say "slap that, your mom's a ho, slap that we all know", and so forth. To my sadness, my daughter thought that it was funny. From my heart of sadness, I told her that if you ever hear of any body, I don't care who, putting down women like that, you stop them. Right now here in Alberta and in Vancouver there are big cases going on over women who have been killed thoughtlessly and with no care whatsoever to them as humans. We need to stop and educate those who are putting down women, especially native women in whatever form they use. My heart cries for all the sadness that exists every moment of this time, especially that of First Nations women and men. I am on my journey to become a teacher here in Alberta. I look at these incredibly sad stories and I know that I have a big job in front of me. And that is to also educate pride, purpose, compassion and love for our people and to our people who I will be engaged in during my future journeys. It is stories such as yours that keep me focused on the reasons why I must be strong in my spirit and my heart. I will not give up. Keep it up Pauline. Our Grandmothers are beside you.