African sisters have fled extreme anti-queer attitudes in home countries such as Uganda and the Republic of Congo where their lives were in danger. Forced into arranged marriages, abused, and when discovered to have  relationships with women, threatened with death by family members, they needed to flee, with their children. Many landed at this giant Kakuma refugee camp, in the northern desert of Kenya.  Even in the Kakuma refugee camp, they continued to experience harassment and violence at the hands of other residents, police, and the UNHCR authorities who should be ensuring their safety. 

Lotus Insight Sangha works with the Seattle-Indianola Group that is part of the  International Kakuma Lesbian Collaboration. We are helping  gather funds for medicine, food, shelters, and rents, for  lesbian sisters and their families stranded in Kenya and nearby countries waiting to be granted exit visas. Because they are queer, they  have been waiting many years to get official status to emigrate to safe countries. And with the US currently  closed as an option, many refugees are stranded, needing to wait for other overburdened countries to respond.

The reality of life for lesbian refugees and their kids in Africa

Really happy meeting when the first of the Kakuma Sisters in our group finally got tickets to go to Canada for her and her 2 children.

Get a look at how mutual aid and international advocacy can work in practice. Discover concrete ways you can stand in solidarity and make a difference.

Register in advance for this webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PEJfJsbZRlaqJiVYye1LRQ

If you can’t make it and would like to give financial support to the African Sisters and Family that are in fragile positions waiting for immigration, please see the tax deductible links below.