Hello, I am Leyla. I am a trans woman refugee in Barcelona. I am originally from Antakya and the 24th of May was my first year anniversary of being a refugee.

Crowdfunding was in my mind through all of it but I didn’t want to use this option, I still do not but here we are. I pushed myself a lot, with patience (and a lot of help), I survived this long.

I spent six months in a housing program for refugees. I had to rent a room after my time ended there. I asked help from the Red Cross, various NGOs, immigration offices of Catalunya, local community centers and social services. I have cooked and sold food to get some income. And of course I leaned a lot on my dear friends. I am thankful that it took me until here.

Since February, I have been actively looking for a job. But as you might know, it has not been easy to find employment for a trans woman who cannot properly speak Catalan or Spanish yet.

After 4 months of job search, hundreds of applications, two almost close calls, I signed a final contract in the beginning of May to start the job on 2nd of June.

When I signed the contract for a nice, full time office job, I thought I won this game. I was waiting to finally start working and be done with this survival competition. Unfortunately, the employer canceled the contract two days before the starting date without giving a real reason. Although there are legal procedures to get some compensation, practically it’s not an option for me right now.

I can officially say I am exhausted and want to give up (yet again). But what can a girl do ‍♀️ i am not allowed to give up.

So, here I am, asking for your help to support me through the next one or two months. With your support, I can pay my rent and bills (~425€), afford my monthly groceries (~200€) and pay my other small expenses until I find a job and get my first salary.

I am heartbroken to do this but at this point I feel there is no more options.

Thank you