By James Ouma | Executive director
I sincerely want to thank you for all of your support, and for every single grain of passion that you have invested for #EqualityinTanzania and into our Organization. At the same time, I wanted to make a petition, with all the love and gratitude there is, of course. Lately I have been reflecting on the value of devotion— the value of being united until the end of injustice.
In this walk with those that are marginalized, in this battle against injustice, in this community full of oppression—many people have offered or promised to be at our side in this battle, which is something that we are very thankful for.
Those of you who have chosen to walk with us represent such a great diversity of points of view, gifts, talents, opinions, where every single one of us can and should be who they were supposed to be, in order to contribute what no one else would be able to contribute but themselves. Above everything else, we are grateful for those of you who are so willing to give your time and resources to fight for LGBT freedom.
My special request for you is that your heart would be filled with compassion for the #LGBTinTanzania, and that you would keep moving forward with us.
For God's love and justice: "Let's keep going" no matter what, and let's hope that everything that comes our way keeps us united. Thank you for everything, and let's keep up with this, because millions of people are waiting and counting on our "yes". .
A few achievements in 2017
2017 was a historical year for both the organization and the LGBT community in Tanzania, we experienced increased arrest and detention of LGBT individuals, forced anal examination, ban of importation and distribution of lubricants, closure of health facilities and organizations providing health services to LGBT people and violance against LGBT people. A number of young LGBT youth were expeled from school and many became homeless after being kicked out of their families. If things remain the same we will need your support more than ever.
1: Research and reporting
We were able to documented many stories of harassment including: forcibly detaining individuals without charge, blackmailing LGBT individuals for release, and or sexual violence, beating LGBT individuals while in custody, and dismissing or disregarding complaints brought by LGBT people about harassment from others and identified shortcomings in Tanzania’s human rights laws and practices related to its treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people with recommendations to improve the lives of LGBT Tanzanians. The report focused on three areas identified by LGBT Tanzanians that require the Tanzanian Government’s immediate attention:
(a) Police treatment of LGBT Tanzanians,
(b) Access to health care,
(c) and the right of LGBT youth to education
2: Advocacy and training
LGBT Voice Tanzania managed to conduct advocacy meetings with 20 leaders from non-governmental organizations and discussed the need to unite in the fight for equality, 18 leaders promised to stand Up in the fight but they still need to learn more about homosexuality
Secondly we also managed to train 33 LGBT activists on organizational, informational and personal security and then formed an LGBT reference group to track developments and provide frequent updates on LGBT persecution country wide
3: Crisis response
Because of the confidence, approval, and unconditional love the LGBT individuals we were able to support a number LGBT youth who are kicked out of their families because of who they are,giving then the healthy experiences of their new environment and of course, giving them a restructured start.
I know for certain that most of the youth are on their way to achieve hope for their future, a new sense of belonging, a new and healthier notion of, a healthier self-value and self-acceptance, freedom to be different, vulnerable, and honest, and to learn and grow being who they are.
In the end, we are clear that our job is to provide them with emergency support, counseling, guidance, referral for HIV testing and treatments, relocation to those who were forced to flee persecution and opportunities that will help shape their future.
Comments from beneficiaries:
“My religion taught me to hate gay people because they are sinners, one day I read an article about the LGBT movement in one of the western countries and thought that was western, but meeting LGBT people who are educated and learning from them during this training, I was totally wrong about you guys and now understand that we are all equal regardless of our sex orientation, I promise to work hand in hand with you and make sure there is no discriminative law that will suppress the rights of LGBT in this country, please print books and reports and I personally will distribute them to my network”- Baina
“I believe that the work of LGBT Voice has brought light to most of us and but also has created a platform where LGBT people can stand and air their needs” – Alan
This Work Needs Your Help
We want to make Tanzania safer for LGBTQ individuals by supporting LGBTQ groups and activists leading the fight against the anti-LGBT laws that are being introduced. Preventing such legislation will ensure that no one is denied access to fundamental human rights or equal access based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
Your Donation is more important than ever before
There are many ways for you to help the Tanzanian LGBTQ community. You can:
Future Plans and need for funding
Finance:
We expect to increase funding by 50% through online donations, in order to expand unrestricted funds, and hope to recruit 2 qualified and competent staff that will help in the realization of our mission
Programs:
We want to expand our advocacy Program and to initiate a new educational strategy for the public education to reach more people.
We plan to conduct a nation -wide survey to document and assess the existence and impact of discrimination and harassment of LGBT people within their families; by Tanzanian law enforcement; in access to public services including health services and schools; and the effects of discrimination in employment will give us the current needs, priority areas, best approach and expected results.
Notable Upcoming Events:
Current needs:
We urgently need to riase $3,000 to cover office rent by 1st April 2018,
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