We're going to make a left here.
What these women do for fifty bucks, we did for ten when we needed heroin.
You had to do everything, which you did, you know.
Let's move on.
The red light district is located in the oldest part of Amsterdam.
An area with a dodgy reputation, full of prejudices and dark sides.
In Behind the Red Light District, we visit people who make an honest living here...
and see the neighbourhood from their perspective.
Behind the Red Light District
Walking Tours by Former Homeless People
This is Amsterdam East, two kilometres from the red light district.
We're going to visit Sonja Groot Obbink. She was homeless for years.
She was addicted to heroin and hung out in the red light district.
I'm Sonja. Come in. -I'm Gwen.
She now makes a living as a tour guide.
She compares the dark side of back then with how the red light district is now.
But she also tells about her personal experiences.
Come inside and make yourself at home.
How long have you been living here? -Since 2014.
So, two years now. -Indeed.
This is my first house, which is amazing of course.
This is the fifth anniversary of Amsterdam Underground.
These are all our tour guides with the mayor in the middle.
They give tours just like you? -That's right.
Amsterdam Underground is a part of De Regenbooggroep.
They do all kinds of things for the less fortunate.
What are we going to do?
A group has booked a tour. I'm going to show them how I lived.
I'm going to tell them how it was to live in the red light district...
which is where I lived when I was homeless.
I'm going to tell them how I lived and survived.
In the hope of changing their opinion on addiction, prostitution and beggars.
It's enough to give them a smile when you walk past them.
Don't pretend you can't see them.
In my day, they'd spit on me and walk on the other side of the road.
It's very important to make them feel like they're human beings.
I'm prepared to work hard to achieve that.
Are you the group that's been waiting for me?
Let me introduce myself. I'm Sonja, your guide for today.
I'm Sonja, 50 years old. I was addicted to hard drugs for 25 years.
For 20 years, I lived without a home or shelter.
I'm going to give you a peek in my life. You can ask me anything.
There are no weird, stupid, silly or disgusting questions.
Shall we start walking? Yes? Okay.
Sonja always takes a fixed route.
She stops by places important to her or where she has experienced something.
I can't show you, but behind here is a staircase for drug-users.
I injected drugs back then. The staircase leads down to the canal.
If I forgot water, I used water from the canal to mix my heroin or cocaine.
You can imagine how messed up it was.
Did you use heroin every day? -Yes. You need it every day.
Cocaine is a mental addiction, while heroine is a physical addiction.
If we were to use coke for five days, we'd all have headaches on day six.
If we used heroin instead, we'd all be hooked on day six.
What's it like to have your own bedroom and your own bed?
As you can see I have a television. I must have one.
I can't sleep when it's quiet and dark. I can't do that.
I always have nightmares and that makes it worse.
Whenever I wake up, I have to go downstairs and sleep on the couch.
Why is that? -I've been raped in the past.
That's what causes the nightmares.
I need to have an overview.
This is actually a storage room.
My cat is in there. It was a homeless cat.
He's your roommate. -Exactly.
A cat is very homely, isn't it? -It is.
I can imagine that a lot of people who have experienced the same as you...
can feel very ashamed or would want to keep it a secret.
This didn't happen overnight of course. I had to learn how to deal with it.
It's a coping process.
I felt I had to do something for the community.
There's nothing I could do better than prevent people from using drugs.
When I'm with a group, I shouldn't have to think about what I can and cannot say.
I would no longer be who I am.
I always tell two stories about how I made money.
They're not amusing and I'm not proud of it.
We're going to visit the 'pill bridge'. The name says it all.
It's where you can buys pills to drug people with.
Rohypnol was back then, what GHB is now.
Pardon my French, but the tourists were simply screwed.
I'm sorry to say, but they were just easy targets.
The easiest way is to slip into the tourist's coffee.
Isn't it odd to take a drunk person to a hotel and offer them coffee?
He may need to recover a bit. He needs to go upstairs and have sex.
I was extremely cunning back then.
We'd go straight to the room. The tourist would pass out right away.
The only thing I would do was trace the signatures.
People often used credit cards then, visa cards and such.
I'd empty out his accounts and stay in a hotel room for a few days.
I would buy my dope and go back onto the streets.
I'll show you where I worked with Dutch people.
This was the streetwalking zone.
You have to imagine that the street was filled with prostitutes...
and cars would be driving around, day and night.
You'd get in the car and... -Where did you go when you got in?
Did you do it on the spot? -Yes.
Or would you park somewhere? -Exactly.
I was kicked out of the car in the middle of nowhere once.
How did you get back? -By foot or by hitching a ride.
You barely experience what's going on because of the drugs.
I was prepared to do anything for drugs. Anything.
It's harrowing to hear, but it's the truth.
After hearing anecdotes about drug abuse, sex in cars...
and cheating tourists for two hours, the tour comes to an end.
This is the end of the tour. I hope you enjoyed yourselves.
I hope you learned something. -Certainly.
Hopefully, you have changed your opinion of the less fortunate.
I find that important. Can I give you a hug?
Until next time. -Goodbye. Thank you.
Sonja said she had more anecdotes.
But the more she talks about it the harder it is for her.
Do you feel like you're repeating the story to yourself during the tours?
It's part of the coping process, every time again.
At times, I find it difficult, and sometimes I crave drugs again.
When that happens, I write down all the pros and cons.
A pro is that I'll get a nice buzz. That's the only pro.
The cons are: I'll blow all my money, I won't be able to sleep...
and that I have to work tomorrow. By then my craving has subsided.
How do you see the red light district now?
What has changed? How's the atmosphere?
I only come here because of my job. I wouldn't come here without a reason.
I can't separate the two.
So for you, it's still the late 80's, early 90's?
The only difference is, that it's less dangerous and I'm clean.
I work here, but in a different capacity.
But it's still the same red light district? -That's right.
Subtitling: EinionMedia.com