Welcome back to Nairobi, where we’re working with the Foundation for Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer Refugees. Yesterday I went with Dhalie, their director, to Ibis Styles Hotel to get them set up for a month of selling their jewelry outside the hotel at their small market. The women have plenty of artisan wares to sell, but what they were lacking was a tent or something else to protect them as they sat at the market. This was going to be a problem - the rainy season in Kenya often means heavy afternoon rains when the vendors would normally be out there selling their items. And outside of the rainy season, it would mean they’re left unprotected from the hot sun. So we decided to get a tent that they would be able to sell their goods under! The group decided they wanted a purple and green tent, and had it custom made for them and exactly what they needed! Now, they’d be comfortable at Ibis, and while earning a livelihood for themselves. Meet Sam! Sam developed an … [Read more...] about Some Shelter
Archives for November 2019
In Style
Welcome back to Nairobi! Today we're working with the Foundation for Lesbian, Bisexual, and Queer Refugees (FLBQR), a group of women and children living in Nairobi who aim to sustain themselves and live collectively. Some of the members of FLBQR went through a jewelry-making training, and although they had plenty of jewelry to sell, they were having trouble finding potential customers. For a while, they had been selling at the Maasai Market in Nairobi, but other vendors found out they didn’t speak Swahili, they started questioning why they were there and what they were doing. We saw that the Ibis Styles hotel in Nairobi had some local vendors, and asked whether these women might be able to sell their goods there. To check it out, I sat down with Dhalie, the head of FLBQR, and Maryanne, from Ibis Styles. Maryanne told us more about the project, how each of the vendors are able to sell their goods Wednesday - Sunday, and how they pay monthly rent that includes lunch for the … [Read more...] about In Style
Getting Connected
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 … [Read more...] about Getting Connected
Stitching Together
Handicrafts are one of the most popular small business ideas amongst displaced women around the world, and the women of the Rohingya widows block are no different! Last year we had supplied five sewing machines for the widows block as well as hired a trainer through our partner organization so the women could learn how to sew at a professional standard. This year, I went back to check in on how things are progressing and whether there were any gaps which I could support. Joshna and Senwara, two women from the block with small children, told us they had made clothes for their kiddos and others during the colder months. Their friends – other women in the block – had started selling handmade clothing in the area, but soon the market became oversaturated with other female tailors with the same idea. This didn’t stop them from losing interest in this trade though. They continued to teach each other, building on their skills, and started to experiment with other techniques. We … [Read more...] about Stitching Together
Growing Power
We’re back in the Rohingya widow’s block with our partner Anando, supporting women by amplifying their talents and voices! One of my favorite things about being back here was spending hours of time having conversations, learning from the women about who they are, what their life is like, and their hopes for the future. It was during these conversations that I learned that many of them had gardens and fields back home, where they grew all sorts of fruits and vegetables to sell as well as to supplement their meals. A lot of women worked alongside the men of the household tending to these gardens. This was one of the biggest things they missed about their home, along with the open fields and ample space to roam around. While we couldn’t relocate them into homes with open fields, we definitely COULD bring gardening tools and seeds and saplings to them so that they could find a bit of comfort in what was once familiar. We were even able to provide training in best … [Read more...] about Growing Power
Space to Play
When you step into the Rohingya camps in Bangladesh, you see children with the biggest smiles, playing with homemade toys, trailing their older siblings everywhere you look. Some attend informal schools or religious schools. The very few that can afford it may have in-home tutors, which provide additional support to the kids in the evenings. While some families may earn a small income thanks to the small businesses they’ve started – selling tea or vegetables, or perhaps offering salon services – most of our friends living in the widows block don’t have enough to support their families and buy many of things I had as a child, like spare clothes and toys. During one of my visits, we came with our hands full of toys, sports equipment, and board games for the littlest kids of the block. I have never seen such excitement over blocks and balls! Faruq, an 8-year old boy with a boat load of curiosity and a much bigger heart, told me that they hadn’t played with many of these toys … [Read more...] about Space to Play
Rekindling Friendships
Hello hello everybody! It's Shamaila, back in Bangladesh and doing the doable with our partner Anando! I'm visiting the incredible Rohingya women at a refugee camp near Cox's bazaar, who I had worked with before but hadn't seen in quite some time. It was so wonderful to see - and work with them- again. Given the unease around what the future holds for these women and their families, we felt that a reunion, complete with an afternoon full of fun, joy, and connection was in order! Many times, meaningful friendships with people like me, a person from outside their community, signifies hope that change is possible. This afternoon of fun was the perfect way to solidify everything that came with our friendship. We kicked off our time together with a lunch party featuring a handpicked menu delivered from a local lunch hotspot that the Rohingya community rarely got to frequent. With gratitude in her eyes, one of the women said, “This is the second time I am eating meat since we fled … [Read more...] about Rekindling Friendships