Get Clayd Home
Donation protected
***THIS GOFUNDME WILL END ON SATURDAY 19TH DECEMBER 2015***
Fellow humans -
Yesterday, one of my closest friends, Clayd Yila, received the news that his father had suddenly passed away. Whilst no-one will disagree that this is a tragedy for anyone to go through, it's possible the question of "is this really campaign worthy?" may lurk in the minds of some. Please allow me to explain...
Clayd in a nutshell
- Clayd (pronounced Clyde) was born in the Ukrane, of a Ukranian mother and a Conganese father in 1991. He is 24.
- He spent most of his life in South Africa, though the hugely cutthroat immigration system there meant his father had to return back to his native Congo a few years ago, leaving Clayd, his mother and brother behind in South Africa. No choice. Clayd obtained his undergrad from the University of Cape Town in 2013.
- In 2014, Clayd got a partial scholarship to attend the totally unique Graduate Musical Theatre Writers Program at New York University - where I study alongside him and 26 other wonderful, brilliant people.
- The same visa issues that meant Clayd's father had to leave the home he'd made in South Africa are now to affect Clayd - and, as of 31st December 2015, Clayd will no longer be able to freely return home to South Africa without navigating seriously tough immigration policies.
Clayd now
The financial stretches it takes for all us International students to live in New York are really tough. Though, for most of us, we have a luxury of somehow getting home for Christmas breaks, Clayd didn't have that luxury last year, and he wasn't in a position to return home this year, either. Instead, he spent Christmas alone in New York in 2014, and is set for the same thing this year. That being close to our family over the festive period could ever be considered luxury is foreign to many of us. As if this would be reason enough to try and get Clayd home for Christmas, in light of yesterday's tragic news, I think (and I hope you do, too) that it's imperative he is given the option of returning to his home in South Africa this Christmas. If nothing else, to hug his mother, and be with his brother, say goodbye to his father and freely return to the place he grew up, for one last time.
Flights are expensive - especially around this time of year (circa $2200 at the moment) - so, my hope is if every single person can donate even the smallest amount to this little campaign, we can collectively give Clayd the gift of being home. As by South African law he must have left South Africa by 31st December 2015, we need to get him there ASAP. So, we have just 3 days to raise this money. Should it turn out that we don't raise the whole amount needed, we have other options to present to Clayd - including a trip to my family home in Brighton, England (with the possibility of a standby flight to South Africa) or, as a final option for December, getting him to one of our many classmates houses in America. The money will be used in any event - even if to get him a tourist visa/flight to South Africa in the future.
Please share - please spare. At this time of the year, I hope we can all appreciate that whilst lifes most difficult scenarios can be so much worse than usual, we humans have the hearts, minds and powers to make the tougher things so much better with the tinest of efforts.
Love, peace, and a toast to one of my best friends,
Jude x
***PLEASE KEEP THIS CAMPAIGN PRIVATE AND NOT SHARED WITH CLAYD***
“No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.”
― Taylor Swift
Fellow humans -
Yesterday, one of my closest friends, Clayd Yila, received the news that his father had suddenly passed away. Whilst no-one will disagree that this is a tragedy for anyone to go through, it's possible the question of "is this really campaign worthy?" may lurk in the minds of some. Please allow me to explain...
Clayd in a nutshell
- Clayd (pronounced Clyde) was born in the Ukrane, of a Ukranian mother and a Conganese father in 1991. He is 24.
- He spent most of his life in South Africa, though the hugely cutthroat immigration system there meant his father had to return back to his native Congo a few years ago, leaving Clayd, his mother and brother behind in South Africa. No choice. Clayd obtained his undergrad from the University of Cape Town in 2013.- In 2014, Clayd got a partial scholarship to attend the totally unique Graduate Musical Theatre Writers Program at New York University - where I study alongside him and 26 other wonderful, brilliant people.
- The same visa issues that meant Clayd's father had to leave the home he'd made in South Africa are now to affect Clayd - and, as of 31st December 2015, Clayd will no longer be able to freely return home to South Africa without navigating seriously tough immigration policies.Clayd now
The financial stretches it takes for all us International students to live in New York are really tough. Though, for most of us, we have a luxury of somehow getting home for Christmas breaks, Clayd didn't have that luxury last year, and he wasn't in a position to return home this year, either. Instead, he spent Christmas alone in New York in 2014, and is set for the same thing this year. That being close to our family over the festive period could ever be considered luxury is foreign to many of us. As if this would be reason enough to try and get Clayd home for Christmas, in light of yesterday's tragic news, I think (and I hope you do, too) that it's imperative he is given the option of returning to his home in South Africa this Christmas. If nothing else, to hug his mother, and be with his brother, say goodbye to his father and freely return to the place he grew up, for one last time.
Flights are expensive - especially around this time of year (circa $2200 at the moment) - so, my hope is if every single person can donate even the smallest amount to this little campaign, we can collectively give Clayd the gift of being home. As by South African law he must have left South Africa by 31st December 2015, we need to get him there ASAP. So, we have just 3 days to raise this money. Should it turn out that we don't raise the whole amount needed, we have other options to present to Clayd - including a trip to my family home in Brighton, England (with the possibility of a standby flight to South Africa) or, as a final option for December, getting him to one of our many classmates houses in America. The money will be used in any event - even if to get him a tourist visa/flight to South Africa in the future.
Please share - please spare. At this time of the year, I hope we can all appreciate that whilst lifes most difficult scenarios can be so much worse than usual, we humans have the hearts, minds and powers to make the tougher things so much better with the tinest of efforts.
Love, peace, and a toast to one of my best friends,
Jude x
***PLEASE KEEP THIS CAMPAIGN PRIVATE AND NOT SHARED WITH CLAYD***
“No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.”
― Taylor Swift
Organizer and beneficiary
Jude Obermüller
Organizer
New York, NY
Clayd Yila
Beneficiary