She Cost Less Than My Salad

We asked, "How do you know she is a prostitute?" The man responded,  "She just propositioned herself to me." So off we went - to encourage a group of prostitutes.

It was my first street outreach since I moved to Uganda, and there I was standing in the middle of the red light district at 11 at night, along with four other girls and one (big and tough) guy.

Unable to understand, I stood and listened as two women explained explicitly what their "job" entailed and the harsh way they are treated while simultaneously spreading their legs open and shut, provocatively.

At this time, a group of men walked past with lustful eyes. It was then that one of the very young girls stood up and walked over to this group of men. I did not need to understand the language to know that she was selling herself to them. She attempted to sell herself for 5,000 shillings, which is equivalent to less than two dollars. All the men responded, "that is too high."

Many times during this short conversation, both women took turns walking away to sell themselves. The response was the same every single time; "that is too much money."

I left that night overwhelmed with hurt. Yes, I knew that women prostituted themselves, but seeing it occur made it real.

The next day I had lunch with one of the girls who also participated in this street outreach. We were eating at a western place where we were overjoyed to order a salad. It is crazy how much joy eating something familiar brings. It was during this joy that my friend looked up and said, "our salads cost more than they did," and my heart sank.

Isn't that mind blowing? How is it possible I consumed one meal that was worth more than the price of a young girl. How is it possible, that one meal cost three times more than the cost that girl was told she wasn't worth. How is it possible, that there are girls that think they should be sold.

The sad fact is that the average prostitute goes for 25 cents in the slums of Kampala.

As much as I hope you never have to watch a young girl sell herself, it was actually seeing it happen that opened my eyes to the reality of it all.

Let your eyes be opened that women like these are all around you. They aren't just in Africa. The truth is, there are a LOT of woman like these in your city wherever you may reside.

I pray we all will be motivated to pray and even act in such a way that these women know that they are worth so much more, that they know they have already been bought at a very high price, and that their eyes be opened and they see the Gospel and price paid on the cross.


"But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?" - Romans 10:14

"For God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body." - 1 Corinthians 6:20