LGBTIQ refugees in Kenya enjoyed some special holiday cheer this year thanks to two very special supporters and friends of ORAM. For the third year in a row, Dominique Jackson, Emmy-nominated actress and model, and her fiancé, Edwin Torres, provided hot, home-cooked meals to hundreds of queer refugees in Nairobi.
Through their generous gift, Dominique and Edwin are also supporting ORAM’s capacity-building initiatives. All the home-cooked meals were prepared by LGBTIQ refugee-owned catering businesses, whom ORAM has supported or worked with in the past.
200 members of the LGBTIQ refugee community enjoyed a delicious lunch on Christmas day to celebrate the holidays.
Dominique and Edwin had a wish to extend the holiday cheer to other queer communities in Kenya. Through their generosity, they are also providing cash assistance for dozens of vulnerable LGBTIQ individuals and families living in Kakuma Refugee Camp in northwest Kenya. The cash assistance will be used for families to buy food and presents for children to celebrate the holidays.
We are incredibly grateful for Dominique and Edwin’s continued support of ORAM and the queer refugees we serve. ORAM officially met Dominique three years ago when she participated in an interview with members of the LGBTIQ refugee community in Kenya (you can watch the interview here). A group of queer refugees from Nairobi also performed a skit from Pose (the television show Dominique starred in) for her.
Dominique immediately felt connected to the LGBTIQ refugee community ORAM serves because she identified with many of their challenges as an immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago and as a transgender woman. She and Edwin wanted to do something special for the LGBTIQ refugees in Nairobi and started what has now become a beautiful holiday tradition of providing delicious meals on Christmas.
We can’t thank Dominique and Edwin enough for bringing this wonderful gift to the LGBTIQ refugee communities in Kenya whom ORAM serves and supporting queer refugee-led small catering businesses.
Thank you, Dominique and Edwin, for bringing holiday cheer again this year.