HELP Ugandan LGBTQ Refugees Survive
Donativo protegido
My name is Jamie. I am a 24 year old Ugandan LGBTIQ refugee who received asylum and recently resettled in the United States. I fled Uganda and spent three and a half years in a large refugee camp called Kakuma in Kenya.
LGBTIQ refugees are forced to leave Uganda because of the extreme homophobia and violence that we encounter in every aspect of our daily lives. The sharp increase since 2014 was the result of the Anti-Homosexuality Act which imposed a prison sentence up to 14 years for the ‘crime’ of being gay.
Although the law was overturned because of a technicality, being LGBTIQ in Uganda often ends in tragedy.
Kakuma is one of the largest refugee camps in Africa with a population of nearly 200,000. Within the camp 200 Ugandan LGBTIQ refugees are living in miserable conditions, suffering from malnutrition and homophobic violence.
This is a personal plea. I am trying to raise money for basic food, shelter, and medicine for the LGBTIQ men and women in the camp who risk their lives every time they leave the confines of their ‘designated’ area. Unlike the other refugees, LGBTIQ folks can’t take jobs in the camp. Those who have found jobs are frequently beaten to the point of death when people from other African countries find out that they are LGBTIQ. A young man was recently brutally attacked on his way back from his job and lost an eye.
Everyone deserves to be happy and live a good life. I hope to raise enough money so that the LGBTIQ men and women in Kakuma don't have to go to sleep hungry or face sickness and sometimes even death because they don't have having access to medical care.
The money that is collected will be spent on:
FOOD
The food provided by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is barely enough to sustain people and we often go to bed hungry.
SHELTER
There is a great need for structures that cannot be burnt down. Those provided by the UNHCR are constructed from tarps which are easily cut. The UNHCR doesn’t replace a structure once it’s destroyed
Basic bedding, because many must escape quickly and come with nothing but the clothes on their back.
MEDICINE
We are denied public medical assistance at the camp and have to resort to private hospitals which is expensive. There are many that are HIV positive which makes them more vulnerable to diseases because of their weak immune system.
With gratitude
Jamie
LGBTIQ refugees are forced to leave Uganda because of the extreme homophobia and violence that we encounter in every aspect of our daily lives. The sharp increase since 2014 was the result of the Anti-Homosexuality Act which imposed a prison sentence up to 14 years for the ‘crime’ of being gay.
Although the law was overturned because of a technicality, being LGBTIQ in Uganda often ends in tragedy.
Kakuma is one of the largest refugee camps in Africa with a population of nearly 200,000. Within the camp 200 Ugandan LGBTIQ refugees are living in miserable conditions, suffering from malnutrition and homophobic violence.
This is a personal plea. I am trying to raise money for basic food, shelter, and medicine for the LGBTIQ men and women in the camp who risk their lives every time they leave the confines of their ‘designated’ area. Unlike the other refugees, LGBTIQ folks can’t take jobs in the camp. Those who have found jobs are frequently beaten to the point of death when people from other African countries find out that they are LGBTIQ. A young man was recently brutally attacked on his way back from his job and lost an eye.
Everyone deserves to be happy and live a good life. I hope to raise enough money so that the LGBTIQ men and women in Kakuma don't have to go to sleep hungry or face sickness and sometimes even death because they don't have having access to medical care.
The money that is collected will be spent on:
FOOD
The food provided by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is barely enough to sustain people and we often go to bed hungry.
SHELTER
There is a great need for structures that cannot be burnt down. Those provided by the UNHCR are constructed from tarps which are easily cut. The UNHCR doesn’t replace a structure once it’s destroyed
Basic bedding, because many must escape quickly and come with nothing but the clothes on their back.
MEDICINE
We are denied public medical assistance at the camp and have to resort to private hospitals which is expensive. There are many that are HIV positive which makes them more vulnerable to diseases because of their weak immune system.
With gratitude
Jamie
Organizador
Liz Jacobs
Organizador
Oakland, CA
