Life after prostitution...

My name is Poppy Baloyi (*not real name) and I am 24. I turned to prostitution after I had my first child.
I come from a family where I watched my father beat up my stepmother every second day. I found peace in the street. I met a guy and we started dating. The day I lost my virginity, I fell pregnant...
I did not want the pregnancy. I tried several concoctions to get rid of the child - I remember I mixed Coke and Eno, thinking it would kill the child. I drank alcohol, took drugs, but nothing happened. The father denied that the child was his and I became a mother at 17 years of age.
I realised that motherhood was difficult. The child needed food, clothes and so did I. We could barely survive financially at home and I began sleeping with men for money.
Business was so great that I would make about R1 500 in a day. I looked pretty, had the coolest hairstyles, clothes, was bunking school and teachers would not say anything. I had sugar daddies and was on top of the world. Even the kids at school wanted to be like me.
I was breaking up families, causing tension and disrespected my parents. The objective was to look after my child, but little did I know that this life, the drugs, sex and prostitution would become an addiction.
One night we went clubbing. A man put drugs in my alcohol and I became very drunk. I woke up naked in the bathroom the next morning, and all my friends were gone.
I contracted several sexually transmitted diseases … and then I learned I was pregnant with my second child and did not know who the father of my child was.
I have to look at my child every day, and I think of the life I had. I realised my life had fallen apart. I had dropped out of school and become miserable. Luckily I tested negative for HIV and began to look for a way out.
I realised that prostitution was not the way out, regardless of everything that one can be going through. I joint support groups, volunteered my time teaching teenagers about teenage pregnancy and the importance of school. I started sharing my problems and to pray that I can forgive myself and be able to pray again.
I applied for a bursary and am currently studying at an FET in Limpopo. I am looking after my child and am building my life again.
I believe that I am a living testimony, because now I can look back at my life and inspire people. I teach the youth and feel that I have been given a second chance in life and not everybody can be that lucky.
To all the young mothers out there - build your life and study, abstain or use contraceptives, talk to someone. No matter how big your problems might seem, there is always someone reaching out. To the young girls who are into get-rich-quick schemes and want shortcuts in life, reassess your life. Let your beauty and body be your temple, not a money-making machine.
We are all brought into life for a reason and let my story be a lesson to you all.