He’s Feeding Those He Can
How one LGBTQ refugee from Uganda is helping others in the same boat.
People say the quickest way through misery is to get out of your head and onto your feet. Help someone else to restore your soul. In Nairobi, Kenya, many refugees are fighting the same battle; they are fighting for the right to live, and they are fighting for the right to identify as they know themselves.
Please meet my friend. He goes by Rufus. Many refugees take on a new name as a matter of safety in Nairobi. The laws and most of the people want to see everyone like him dead.
So, who is Rufus? The first thing I learned was he feeds people.
Instant heart connection here.
Anyone who finds a way to stand up in the worst possible circumstances and survives by helping his brothers in the street is my kind of human. For safety, he hides more than just his name. He also must hide the fact that he is gay.
Because Rufus is not a heterosexual, he is not allowed to have a job here. And the agency that was mandated to help him is letting all these refugees down. Help is simply not coming. Yes, Covid19 has slowed down charitable work across the globe. But for people like Rufus, there are a lot more problems than Covid19.
Between the dangers of police officers seeking to harm them and the desperation of the situation, people are dying. Two members of this community of refugees are already gone. One by hanging, the other an overdose. Suicide, both
Even so, many of these refugees still hope. And help others.
But they know that before you get out of hell, you have to find a place you can survive in.
Every refugee’s dream is a home somewhere safe. Rufus is creating a place where ten men from the LGBTQ community can live and learn a trade, earn their own money and afford a place to live.
Rufus is also of an organization known as Kashfoods. Created by LGBTQ students, Kashfoods is a critical part of Nairobi’s society. It’s an agency that helps prevent dying people survive after all. There are so many LGBTQ refugees without a place to live, no way to earn a living, no food to eat. Places like Kashfoods save people’s lives.
Rufus’ heart leads him to serve his community in a more significant way. The beneficiaries of his plans would be men who also hide who they are, or risk being beaten to unconsciousness and left for dead. Guys that are gay. The violence comes from every direction: law enforcement, other refugees who are straight, and an entire homophobic culture.
Rufus is raising funds to build a safe house for ten homeless, LGBTQ men. They could all wind up arrested and imprisoned together as a consequence, but the risks are worth taking in exchange for a place to rest. To have the refuge they are seeking. To exist. A safe house would restore hope for these men.
Part of the safehouse is teaching the residents a trade. Many people here make cloth goods like curtains, scarves, blankets and more at home. They sell them to raise money. The safehouse will have three sewing machines and teachers who would teach men the skill of tailoring. As they earn enough to make it outside, others can find the help promised for so long.
There is seemingly extraordinarily little hope for resettlement for these people, without the intervention of people outside Africa. Nairobi and its dangers are the life they are living. The refugees are begging for help. And some, like Rufus, are striving to give that help through the generosity of donors. They are taking the hell they live in to create a haven for others.
Update: If this cause touches your heart like it does mine, you can express that love right here.
For more about the situation in Africa, I suggest reading this piece:
And this one:
For a bit about me, try this:
To see the reason I started writing on this platform, this one:
Thanks for your time! I’m grateful you were here!
