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 waiting to be unleashed in us all, and we’ve seen its fundamental importance to the mental well-being of people we work with. Having seen the old books that Vanilla was pouring over, and the limited art supplies that the house had, we knew that we had to act to keep community spirits lifted and individuals inspired.
Alight’s COO Sarah headed straight to the nearest shopping center to buy pencils, paints and pads for the inhabitants of the RTI house, as well as a wide range of books to keep them busy for a few months! We can’t wait to see what the RTI house does with these supplies!
Sometimes life presents challenges that we never could have imagined, but if we have the right tools available to us then these challenges arrived, the darkness can give way to creativity and inspiration.
Meet Jamie! Jamie is Alight’s Global Inclusivity Advisor based out of London, UK, and works with our teams internationally to ensure marginalized communities are given the tools necessary to live lives filled with joy, meaning and purpose. He is particularly passionate about working with LGBTIQ asylum seekers and refugees in East Africa, who are some of the world’s most vulnerable. Need to contact Jamie? Feel free to reach out: jamiec@wearealight.org.
