Reporters on the Job

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"For those of us from the wealthy world, it seems an astonishing choice. But the slum Jauhara worked in was full of people who survive on less than a dollar a day. In a city full of big beautiful hills, this slum sits in a swampland. Whenever it rains, streets and houses are filled with up to two feet of dirty water. In this context of poverty, the sex workers' choice carried a logic of its own. Pregnancy prevents them from working - and getting money to survive until tomorrow. AIDS may threaten their lives, but it isn't seen as an immediate threat to income," Abe says.

• Difficult Subject: Hispanics are traveling to Mexican resorts in greater numbers ( see story), but how does a journalist spot a living example? Staff writer Danna Harman spoke with government tourism offices and hotels in and around Cancún to see if any could give her names of Mexican-American tourists. But last names aren't much of a clue. So, she applied the man-on-the-street approach. "I literally walked up to people in hotel lobbies, restaurants, and pool areas and tried to guess who might be from the US. That was a complete failure. "I kept approaching Mexicans, who were offended that I'd think they were Americans, and vice versa. I also found English-speaking Spaniards, Argentines, and even a Pakistani family," she says.

Ultimately, Danna called the Mexican Embassy in Washington and through friends of friends, they hooked her up with live examples of middle-class Mexican-Americans making the journey south for Christmas.

David Clark Scott
World editor

		JUST SAY YES? Members of the European Parliament hold up "yes" signs during a vote to open talks about Turkey's membership in the EU. AP

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