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I created this fundraiser on behalf of Vivian in Gorom Refugee Camp.
Her is her story:
MY PERSONAL STORY:
Hello everyone! I'm trans Vivian ️⚧️ and my legal name is Abola. I'm a transgender woman refugee, currently living in Gorom refugee camp in South Sudan. As of April 2025, Gorom refugee camp hosts about 450 queer refugees and asylum seekers from Uganda, DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, and Ethiopia. All of us were previously residing in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya.
When I first came out as a transgender woman (a homosexual) in my home country, Uganda, I faced a lot of discrimination, arbitrary arrests and assaults not only from law enforcement officers but also from members in my community including my friends and relatives. The dislike and homophobia was so intense that even my relatives and friends disowned and ostracized me.
As a result of the persecution (arbitrary arrests and assaults), discrimination, and the draconian homophobic laws, I fled Uganda to Kenya in 2021 and claimed asylum; I filed my asylum case with the UNHCR (the United Nations Refugee Agency) and the Government of Kenya. The Government of Kenya reserves the mandate of conducting Refugee Status Determination and granting refugee status to asylum seekers. Unfortunately the Government of Kenya refused to grant me and other queer refugees, a Refugee Status Determination (RSD) interview because they didn't want to grant refugee status and thus legal residence status to queer asylum seekers.
Towards the end of 2023 when they (Government officers working in Kakuma refugee camp) explicitly told us (the LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers) to go away and find somewhere else to claim asylum and safety, I moved to South Sudan together with my fellow LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers and we sought asylum with the UNHCR in South Sudan — this time not with the Government. Fortunately, the UNHCR granted me a Refugee Status Determination (RSD) interview which I passed and I was granted refugee status.
I have been a refugee and an Asylum seeker for nearly four years in Kenya and now South Sudan. I still face a lot of psychological torture and trauma as a result of the persecution I faced in my home country Uganda; I was also disowned and ostracized by my relatives and friends, a fact that is significantly contributing to the psychological torture that I am experiencing.
My unfortunate experience of persecution and discrimination has pushed me to becoming an LGBTQ rights activist and advocate. I dream about the day when I will speak for the voiceless queer people on the world stage. I hope for a world where no queer person has to forcefully leave the comfort of their home country to seek asylum in a foreign country in an attempt to save their lives, a world where no queer person is discriminated against, a world where draconian laws criminalizing homosexuality are a subject of history. Such a world is possible only when you and I join hands and resources and amplify each other's voices.
While in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, I participated in a lot of advocacy and activism regarding LGBTQ refugee rights and safety. My advocacy work was documented on the Instagram account @sevencolorspectrumkakuma.
Click the link below to check out the Instagram profile and see the work of my activism and advocacy while the LGBTQ refugee community was still residing in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya.
Find me on the social media platforms below:
Tumblr (@transvivian256)
Blue Sky (@transvivian256)
WHY YOU SHOULD DONATE:
The 450 LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers are divided into groups of 25 individuals for easy administration and appropriation of donor support. Each group of 25 individuals has a group leader who is also the representative, advocate, and activist tasked with mobilizing for funds for the queer refugees and asylum seekers in their group. I am one of the group leaders heading groups of 25 LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers in Gorom refugee camp in South Sudan. As an LGBTQ refugee rights activist and advocate, a representative and a leader, one of my tasks is to advocate for the betterment of the living conditions of the LGBTQ refugee community in Gorom refugee camp.
The LGBTQ refugees in Gorom refugee camp in South Sudan face numerous challenges. Mental challenges such as psychological torture and stress are very common among the members of the LGBTQ refugee community in Gorom refugee camp. We also face discrimination from the rest of the refugee population and the host community. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) provides only $10 per refugee per month for basic needs. This money can't even sustain an unemployed refugee for a day. Therefore there is a challenge of lack of basic needs like food, clean drinking water, clothes, decent shelters, healthcare, etc. There are a considerable number of LGBTQ refugees in the camp who suffer from diseases such as HIV/AIDS, asthma, epilepsy, sickle cells, and of recent, cholera has become very common.
Your donations will be used to meet the basic needs of the LGBTQ refugee community in Gorom refugee camp such as food, vital medication, more decent shelters, etc.
No donation is small. Please donate and save a life today.
Organizer
V O
Organizer
Waukegan, IL