Friend

One day, one of my transgender friends, asked me: "Do you have the courage to be my friend?"
"I'm a person with HIV, and my family doesn't know," my friend said. "Knowing I'm transgender is already a nightmare for them, and if they knew I'm HIV positive, it would only make things worse. The reality of it was difficult to accept, but life must go on."
Honestly, I was scared. At that time, I knew very little about HIV. The short conversation would forever stay in my mind.
I started asking myself, "Do I genuinely want to be their friend? Or is this just a 'duty' that I need to fulfill?"
I decided to continue my interaction with them in hopes to find the answer along the way.
In 2011, Indonesia Untuk Kemanusiaan (IKA), the resource mobilization organization I currently work with, began supporting a group of young transgender people in Jatinegara, East Jakarta. This group, called Swara, or Sanggar Waria Remaja, was established in 2010 by several transgender activists. In only two years Swara grew rapidly, quickly making a name for itself as a progressive organization supporting more than 150 transgender individuals throughout Jakarta.
"The data shows these people face disproportionate amounts of discrimination in all areas of life, especially in employment, which is exacerbated through unstable jobs and a lack of acceptance of their political identity in the community."

"The organization creates a safe environment for [transgender people], in which they can learn safely learn about their rights through informal education organized by activists and volunteers," Chika said, "We also help them gain financial independence by teaching them ways to create a home business, such as a beauty salon, so they will no longer suffer from socio-economic inequalities from pervasive discrimination in the workplace."
In many cases, transgender youths are shunned by their families and communities. They quickly make their way to the big city, where they hope to find acceptance.
"Here in Jakarta, no one knows me, and I can be myself without worrying about shaming my friends and family," said Aysa, who rarely returns to her hometown. But several months ago, she says, her father fell ill and Aysa's family asked her to return home.

Most of these young individuals decide to run away from home to escape the shame and anger felt by their families. In some cases, they are asked to leave.
As a result, they tend to drop out of school, are left to work on the streets or worse; they end up in debt, addicted to drugs and struggling to get by.
Left with few options, transgenders are often foreced to turn to prostitution or busking on the street. If they are lucky, they may find work at a salon as a beautician.
In the past two and a half years, I've gained a better understanding on the complexity of their lives in exclusion. Still, I can only imagine how hard they must struggle to be accepted as regular citizen in today's society.

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Reflective Pronoun

to mean alone
to emphasize we do something for us

They can learn to look after themselves .
The dangers of letting your children go out by themselves are smaller than you might think.
Children need to make day-to-day decisions themselves.

I enjoy living by myself.
I enjoy living on my own.
They are looking at themselves.
They are looking at each other.

Alica and I met each other when we were teenagers.

We spent a lot of time together and we told each other everything.

Then at college we shared a flat.

We really enjoy ourselves, but in the second year Alica had a car accident.

When she came out of hospital, she couldn’t look after herself for a long time.

So I helped her.

It was absolutely exhausting.

When she got better, I felt I needed to live by myself so I moved out of the flat.

It was hard for her at the first, but since then she’s got herself a really good job and she’s getting married next month.

Her husband’s from Scotland and they have bought themselves a house there.

So I will not see them very often.

I will miss her but I am sure we will keep in touch.

Gradation

This soup is quite hot, I can’t eat it.

This soup is absolutely boiling, I can’t eat it.

It was rather cold at the beach, so we came home.

It was absolutely freezing at the beach, so we came home.

The room they gave us was fairly small and rather noisy.

The room they gave us was absolutely tinny and rather noisy.

I was a bit frightened when he started driving at 100 mph.

I was completely terrified when he started driving at 100 mph.

Have you seen Kate’s new boyfriend? He’s quite good-looking.

Have you seen Kate’s new boyfriend? He’s absolutely gorgeous.

I was quite surprised to hear they’re getting married.

I was absolutely amazed to hear they’re getting married.