I am ugly so I have to buy sex!

Dear pastor,

I am regular reader of your column in THE STAR. You give people good advice. It would be great if you could give me advice or help me understand what is happening to me. I am 17 years old. I did not graduate from high school because I was living outside the country with my mother. She brought me back to Jamaica when I was too old to go back to high school. I left school without any subjects, but I was fortunate to get into HEART. I am learning a skill, which is food and

beverage.

Please pray for me to pass the course because I am not doing well and the programme will be finished in July of this year. Examination will be in June. I need the certificate so that I can get a job in the hospitality industry when I finish the programme. I also want to do photography. I spoke to the human resource manager. He said I should send in an application and rEsumE.

Anyway, I am turning 18 in April and I have been having problems getting a girlfriend. No girl wants me. Maybe it is because I don't look like my age and I am short, or maybe it is because I am ugly and black.

I have never been with a young girl. I don't know what a young girl's love feels like. But I have had sex with a big woman. I have to pay for the sex. They sell their private area to me. I do it because I can't get a girlfriend. Sometimes I cry and tell God that all I want to do is to show a girl real love and give her the world. But I am afraid that won't happen. Pastor, is it because I am short, ugly, and don't look like my age?

H.A

Dear H.A,

I am glad that you are in school. You did not have the opportunity that some young people got. But you are trying. Thank God you are attending HEART, and I hope you will do well. You said that the work is hard. I want to encourage you to stick with it, don't give up at all. Pray and ask God to help you and you will succeed. Concerning your desire to find a girlfriend, don't give up on that either. You say that you are short and not good-looking. A man does not have to be tall and good-looking to get a girlfriend. It is said that 'Every hoe have him stick a bush'. So there is a young woman somewhere for you. You mentioned that you have been having sex with some "big women" but you have to pay them. These women are going to take away all your money. Be careful how you handle yourself. These women would not refuse to have sex with you because they know they are being paid. But I hope that if you are determined to have sex with them you will use a condom and protect yourself from STIs. I will be praying for you.

Pastor