Donate to support Usalama House- LGBTQ safe space

Tanzania is a country where LGBT rights are not respected and LGBT youth are continue to be rejected in their family and the community at large, making it more difficult for them to enjoy fundamental human rights. As a result, they lose their families; do not access structural education, health care services and other basic needs. Hundreds of youth struggle to survive but surrounded by homophobic law enforcers they find themselves in police custody (Cells).

The Usalama shelter was intended to lessen the burden of these youth by providing a safe home and meeting their daily needs. Due to the political environment in the country we are pushed not to run a shelter which has been targeted by the authorities to home based support

We have been able to find families to adopt 12 LGBT youth who were house because of their safety, but also this will help sustain the project. The current political environment could not allow the youth to live in the shelter because the government feels that it is a way of promoting homosexuality and encouraging same sex relationships. Therefore we are officially closing on 30^th December 2016.

But we will continue supporting these youth through the families that adopted them and we will also recruit new youths but a limited number of 3 -5 a year depending on the availability of families willing to take them in.

Achievements,

In 3 years were able to serve more than 50 LGBT youth through our support project that provided encouragement and counseling to help them deal with the struggles they face in life, 12 youth were sheltered, received medical care in the best hospitals in Dar es Salaam, had three meals a day. 8 youth were sponsored to access skills and training in different trades, all with the hope of alleviating poverty and dependence.

Now we have all 12 LGBT youth living with families and able to support them with a small amount of money for up keep.

A comment from Latifa (Living with one youth)

am 37 and a single mother of 3 children and do love my children very much, I wonder how a parent can reject his/her own son because of his sex orientation, I know we are in a world where people do not want to understand but judge them based of the first sight. I love everyone in this world and ready to adopt one gay boy and live with him in my house as my son, I`ll give him an opportunity to live with my children and grow together as a family my God help me.

I thank these brave people who decided to set up this organization that cares for the unfortunate young people; they need our support for their good work.

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