Hello, hello everyone! It’s Sam again, and welcome to Nairobi! We’re spending the next few days working with the LGBTQI refugee community. Many of these refugees have come from Uganda and are trying to build a safe life here, but Kenya also houses LGBTQI refugees from across East Africa and even further away too.
We’re starting today with a community-based organization called Refugee Trans Initiative (RTI). We know RTI well, and have spent many days with members like Vanilla, Doreen and Purity.
In our time getting to know them, we’ve come to learn that a computer is a particular need of theirs…
It’s hard to establish yourself as a serious organization without the ability to draft necessary documents and connect with the world, so, we brought them a computer they’d be able to use.
They were elated when I told them we were coming down to visit them with it. Vanilla, the head of RTI, told us, “thank you, Alight, for this precious gift to us, RTI, we are forever grateful and humbled.”
Meet Sam!
Sam developed an interest in forced displacement, food insecurity, and identity while working on her master’s degree. She’s now using this knowledge to support Changemakers 365 across our country programs. When she’s not off on a work trip, she’s busy fermenting beverages, training for half marathons, or listening to podcasts at her home in Minneapolis.
