In order to help women she had found who were forced into prostitution either by physical force or through economic constraint, Sister Ann set up an organisation and opened a centre for them which came to be known as Action for REACH OUT (AFRO). There, with the help of co-workers and volunteers, a wide range of services were provided. For the women, this centre was a place to which they came slowly and almost reluctantly in the beginning because they felt that to spend time in the centre would be to waste valuable working time.

Gradually, the women came “just to chat” and as they slowly felt secure enough to share, a lot of pain was expressed – the loneliness of not being accepted by others, the shame of constantly being looked down upon, the fear that their children would discover what they were doing, the desperation when their health began to break down. Joys were shared too and the walls of the centre often resounded to the sound of laughter – as dances and songs from different cultures were shared, as staff and clients relaxed together with “women talk”, as dreams were shared (“At the end of this year, I’ll find other work.”), and as the bonds of trust and friendship deepened.

Besides the drop in centre services, one of the ongoing and crucial services of AFRO is to walk the streets at night and visit the nightclubs in order to be where the women are. Celebrating the tenth anniversary of the setting up of AFRO, Ann wrote,

‘I have been the coordinator in Action for REACH OUT for the last ten years. At the same time I also contribute to the delivery of our direct services. Today as I prepare to go on outreach, I am thinking of the preparations I would have made in 1993 when the outreach service began.

This evening I will visit four nightclubs so first of all I have checked on the names of the doorwomen, doormen, mama sans and the dancers, a total of forty seven in all. As I approach each club I will take a quick look at the name list of dancers to refresh my memory. (With over four hundred names which change regularly every few months, I ask myself, “How will I ever remember them all!”) Next I check the notes made after the outreach last month – are there any requests for information that need to be followed up on? Then with my co-outreach worker we pack the supply of materials to be distributed. This includes the basic information pack which we will give to each new dancer we meet and the education materials set for this particular month – two heavy bags full of materials plus the lap top for an HIV prevention workshop presentation.

Now we are all set and off we go. On arrival in Wan Chai we are greeted warmly – “Come in. Welcome! Would you like a drink?” And then it’s down to work as we conduct the workshop, answer a wide variety of questions and just talk – about health, about work or about families left behind. There are also times when we laugh together, cry together or just talk woman to woman. I go home late, tired, still carrying some of what I have heard and seen and not yet processed – but with a strong sense of having been gifted with the trust that has been placed in me. The next day, in the centre, we will make a record of all that we have experienced so that on the outreach the following month the outreach workers will know the needs and interests of particular women. This is