"I was lured by clothes and cars and now I am HIV-positive"

Source: PlusNews
Source: www.Plusnews.org
Photo: IRIN

Article: Alem Tilahun: "I was lured by clothes and cars and now I am HIV-positive"

*The following are excerpts from the aforementioned article:

ADDIS ABABA, *Alem Tilahun is a high school drop out living in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. She told IRIN/PlusNews how, lured by the desire for a better lifestyle, she became involved with a much older man.

"There was a girl who used to live next door and while I spent my days sitting by our gate, she used to dress well and was picked up by different beautiful cars. I was always jealous of her and wanted to be like her.

"One day I approached her when she was dropped off and talked to her. I told her I wanted to get a job and be like her; she told me to come back the next day. I was so excited and could not sleep the whole night.

"The next day she took me to her house and gave me one of her beautiful dresses. She made up my face until I couldn't recognise myself. After a while a beautiful car came and picked us up - there were two men in the car and she introduced me to them.

"Starting from that day I became a friend to one of the men. I told him that I was looking for a job; he promised me that he would help me and from then on he started giving me money and buying new clothes for me. I lied to my mother that I had found a job. I started supporting her and the whole family. Everyone was so proud of me.

"My life changed; he was treating me very nicely and although he was very old for me, I liked him. I even slept with him. He used to tell me that he would marry me.

Click here to read the full article!

*Note the abovementioned excerpts are direct quotes from the article and thus all credit and references should be afforded to the authors/sources.