You may remember the Refugee Coalition on East Africa (RefCEA), the umbrella organization in Nairobi that unites and supports LGBTIQ refugees regionally through advocacy, strategy, fundraising and research. Jacob heads up RefCEA, dedicating his waking hours lifting up the voices of other LGBTIQ refugees and help them transition from surviving to thriving. Because Kenya is a country where being LGBTIQ is criminalized, it is often a a place of transit for the refugee community. Finding a persecution and discrimination-free world through resettlement in a third country is a common dream for any refugee, but especially LGBTIQ refugees who face double persecution and discrimination. Unfortunately, the percentage of people who are granted resettlement is very low. And earlier this summer, Jacob was one of the lucky ones to receive a notice of his resettlement hearing, the process by which you appear before a judge to be granted permission to leave the country and be resettled … [Read more...] about Staying Well

We’re back with Vanilla at the Refugee Trans Initiative, sitting in her cozy safe house for trans refugees. As she gives us the tour, we can’t help but notice books on every surface. Vanilla explains that for her, reading is an escape into another world. When things get tough, books provide a place where we can retreat away from our current problems, if only for a minute, and enter into a world of possibility, where we can be whoever we want to be and go wherever we want to go. We can learn new skills and see the world through another’s eyes. We often take for granted just how powerful reading can be, but Vanilla doesn’t. Vanilla reads whatever she can find. Unable to go out and buy books she really wants to read Vanilla picks up any and every book she comes across and reads it hungrily just for those few hours. As we sit together, Vanilla explains how the members of the house long for stolen moments of escape. We at Alight know that creativity is a beacon of hope just … [Read more...] about Unleashing Creativity

Unable to hide from the discrimination, violence and abuse which has followed them from their home countries to Kenya, Refugee Trans Initiative (RTI) is a safe haven for 15 trans asylum seekers from across East Africa and the Great Lakes Region. When we visited their safe house just outside the urban sprawl in August, Vanilla, their Executive Director, greeted us with a hug as she ushered us through the gates and into the house. “This is a place where we can just be ourselves – we can dress how we want, act how we want, and we know that we are safe inside the house,” she explains. “It’s not just a place where trans people can stay, but we also have held a few parties and events here – we want to start training programs for other LGBTQI refugees soon.” RTI’s safe house was nearly perfect. The price was affordable, and it was surrounded by a high security gate and tall bushes which ensured near total privacy from the ever-too-real dangers of the outside world. The only problem … [Read more...] about Closing the Gap

Life can be tough for LGBTQI refugees living in Kenya. With abuse and violence from family members and the surrounding community being their primary reason for flight, most LGBTQI refugees find themselves alone in Nairobi facing renewed discrimination, abuse, and violence. On top of this, fear and negative attitudes towards them result in many support programs being inaccessible to the community, compounding feelings of isolation, and for some, bringing their mental health to breaking point. While changing attitudes towards LGBTQIs among service providers is an endeavor that Alight is embarking on to ensure all are included in humanitarian programs, training sessions are costly and time consuming. During our visit we heard stories of suffering in the community and the desperate need for quick and accessible mental health support. so we kept thinking - there must be something that we can do now. We were desperate to find some quick relief for the suffering that we were … [Read more...] about Reigniting Hope, Finding Solidarity

Finding support is tricky for all humanitarians who are passionate about getting their dream off the ground, especially for those just starting out. This is particularly true for the eight community-led organizations that we’ve been working with in Nairobi. Through numerous conversations we’ve had about their needs, one topic keeps coming up – the need for training. While community leaders have tried to access private training programs on fundraising, they have proved too expensive, leaving them struggling against well-trained competition. We at Alight have seen this injustice too many times. Refugee-led organizations are often excluded from funding simply because, unlike us, they haven’t had the privilege to be carefully trained on the intricacies of grant proposal writing. We see capacity building as our obligation, employing our own privilege to equip our customers with the skills and tools that they need to take full charge of their destinies, working for autonomy and agency … [Read more...] about Focus on Training

Life in Nairobi is tough for all asylum seekers and refugees, but particularly for LGBTQI people. “We’re out of the frying pan and into the fire,” one Ugandan woman told us as we sat with her in August. Many have been cast out and disowned by their families and friends at home, and abuse, discrimination, and violence continue to mar their daily lives in Nairobi. Faced with these challenges and thoughts of the loss of family, it’s easy for them to forget that there is love and hope in the world. But in this seemingly scarce and desperate environment, the community have come to learn that they are one another’s family. They act as mother and father, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles for one another all in one. They share the little they have amongst themselves to make sure they all have enough to eat, respond quickly if one of their fellows is threatened or attacked, and open their doors to one another to ensure no-one is left homeless. They are the epitome of love and hope … [Read more...] about We Are Family

“How are you supposed to run an NGO without tables and chairs?” Craig, Executive Director of the Refugee Coalition of East Africa, asked us as we sat down in their new office space on the few plastic garden chairs. They had managed to rent them from another organization for our meeting. Good question, I thought, and we laughed about how hard it is to be taken seriously when you don’t even have a chair for your guests. The Refugee Coalition’s new office space is a beautiful house located in the suburbs of Nairobi, which doubles as a safe house for LGBTQI asylum seekers and refugees. With a large garden (complete with a swing set!) surrounded by high walls and enough space to house 20 asylum seekers comfortably, it was easy to see why they had selected this house as their new base of operations – you could feel the safety and tranquility as you walked through the gate. The only problem was they were struggling to work without any office furniture, or an office space that felt like … [Read more...] about Back to Business

I arrived in Nairobi only days after Shamaila had flown onto the next stop on her trip, eager to pick up where she had left off. For those of you who read the post from Day 248, Crane will be a familiar face. The Executive Director of Lunko Haute Couture, a community-led organization equipping the LGBTIQ community with tailoring and modelling skills, Crane is fast becoming known in the Nairobi fashion scene. He's a shining example of finding abundance in a space that, upon first glance, seems so scarce. We heard rumors that Crane was planning a charity fashion show - and I couldn’t resist investigating. As we sat down together in the Lunko Haute Couture safe house, Crane chatted excitedly about the big event he was planning. The Ubuntu Refugee Charity Fashion Walk will take place in November, and will harness the power and creativity of designers across Nairobi to fund the establishment of a refugee learning center. Here LGBTQI refugees can easily access skills training and … [Read more...] about One Stitch at a Time

In Nairobi, one of our strongest alliances is with a coalition of grassroots, community-based organizations called the Refugee Coalition of East Africa. The “Coalition,” as it’s informally known, is well respected among the international humanitarian agencies based in Nairobi for its unified support to the LGBTIQ refugee community. I’m personally super inspired by their commitment to see beyond time and resources to serve with love and compassion. They’re leaders, activists, counselors, and humanitarians, all rolled into one. And we’re on a mission to find ways to elevate their role in the community. During my short trip to Nairobi, I was honored with an invitation to their first strategy meeting after their recent elections. With a new Executive Director in place and other new team members, this meeting was mostly about building a strong team foundation so they could continue to expand their vision and programming. Given that food should really be a part of any meeting (it … [Read more...] about Breaking Bread

One of my favorite people I've met in Nairobi is Crane, an incredibly kind-hearted and hardworking person who has dreams to re-establish his fashion businesses. Before he fled to Kenya as a refugee, he was a well-known designer who also ran a successful modeling agency. Many knew him and his beautiful kitenge designs for both men and women across Uganda. Those who went through his modeling agency often found themselves at the doors of success in the modeling world. When I saw pictures and videos of his previous work, it was no wonder why! It was clear he was talented beyond words.  Now, on the outskirts of Nairobi, he has found his creative space and is well on the road to re-establishing himself. Community members and beyond are rocking his designs - a range of casual t-shirts, dresses, and formal wear. Even his modeling agency has seen tremendous growth over the last few months since we had last met! Crane is a leader with a beautiful mission: his business Lunko Haute … [Read more...] about Where Beauty Meets Bravery