LGBTI Ugandan refugees at Kakuma Camp in Kenya are coping with the life-threatening after-effects of recent floods. As if they didn’t already have enough problems — short on food, surrounded by tens of thousands of homophobic refugees, and lacking any immediate hope of reaching asylum in a hospitable country.
LGBTI refugee in Kakuma Camp prepares to enter his flooded shelter. (Photo courtesy of Moses Mbazira)
“The recent flooding left half of our members homeless or in danger, in shelters at risk of caving in,” said Moses Mbazira, one of the LGBTI refugee group’s leaders. He added on May 3:
We have members who have contracted diseases due to this tragedy and we intend to provide them with proper medical care. …
- 3 homes beyond disrepair, where we need to build new ones
- 31 houses in critical condition that can hardly survive the next storm, which need repair before long.
- 4 toilets caved in. We immediately need new ones, this is terribly affecting our PHC [primary health care].
- Almost every single member needs a supplement of food to their monthly rations and the 15 members in a critical situation that lost all they had left.
- Members ailing with malaria and others suffering several waterborne diseases need attention.
Allies are helping them through a GoFundMe page set up by supporter Connell O’Donovan.
O’Donovan wrote:
There are over 200 LGBTI refugees in the United Nations’ Kakuma Camp, northwestern Kenya, who live in deplorable conditions, and are not receiving the food, medicine, goods, and services they need, and their needs are typically ignored by the camp’s UN administration. Their enclave within the larger camp is in the worst location, near a river, so when it rains, they get flooded out, and they also have to deal with snakes, mosquitoes, and malaria.
Through Facebook, I, Connell O’Donovan, am in daily contact with one of the Queer leaders there, Moses Mbazira, who is an extremely trustworthy, competent, and compassionate young man.
Another organization in Tokyo, Japan is helping to raise funds for the LGBT Kakuma refugees, and Moses is meticulous in posting snapshots of monies received, monies spent, photos of inventories, of pallets of goods he purchases, and then how it is equally distributed among the refugees there. …
Every penny I receive will be forwarded to Moses at Kakuma Camp, for him to decide how best to spend it, whether on food, clothing, or medicine/medical services. Please help by giving what you can to ensure that our sisters and brothers in the Kakuma Camp are not forgotten!
Flooding in the LGBTI section of Kakuma Camp in Kenya. (Photo courtesy of Moses Mbazira)
LGBTI refugee in Kakuma Camp wades into his flooded shelter to retrieve household items. (Photo courtesy of Moses Mbazira)
Related articles:
- Kakuma refugees gain supporters, need more help (December 2017, 76crimes.com)
- Food shortages, violence still plague LGBTI refugees (November 2017, 76crimes.com)
- LGBTI refugees in Kenya: Food cutback, new security plan (October 2017, 76crimes.com)
- Kenya: LGBTI refugees trek for protection; funds needed (September 2017, 76crimes.com)
- Desperate LGBT refugees seek a way out, though it’s ‘suicidal’ (September 2017, 76crimes.com)
- Ugandan trans woman flees to Kenya, finds ‘complete hell’(June 2017, 76crimes.com)
- Prison for 17 protesting Ugandan refugees in Kenya (May 2017, 76crimes.com)
- Kenya arrests LGBTI refugees, sends them into danger (May 2017, 76crimes.com)
- For gay refugee, Kenya is tough, but better than Uganda (May 2017, 76crimes.com)
- The lonely life of an LGBT Ugandan refugee in Kenya (May 2017, 76crimes.com)
- Trans man Prince fled Uganda to save his life (March 2017, 76crimes.com)
- I escaped death in Uganda. Now I’m a sex worker in Kenya (March 2017, 76crimes.com)
- Final flights to U.S.? Needy LGBTI refugees seek safety (February 2017, 76crimes.com)
- Kenya: I’m homeless because of Trump’s refugee order (February 2017, 76crimes.com)
- LGBTI Refugees Hurt by Trump Ban (February 2017, O-blog-dee)
- Scarred in Uganda, LGBT refugee is about to reach safety in U.S. (January 2017, 76crimes.com)
- Out of Kampala’s frying pan, into Nairobi’s fire (September 2016, 76crimes.com)
- Ugandan Refugees and Asylum Seekers Start Self Help Project to Make Ends Meet (September 2015, Kuchu Times)
COMMENTS
Dear editor, thanks so much for bringing this to the attention of the readership you reach out to. All the support that can be garnered is welcome. We too are working toward the well being of LGBTIQQ. We run various articles of appeal such as http://kampalagaynews.blogspot.com/2018/04/do-something-for-transgender-refugees.html and we are sure we can sustain this advocacy when we make noise. Once again, thanks so much