In June 2020 the Ugandan LGBTQIA+ refugees in the Kakuma Refugee Camp reached out to activist Victor Mukasa, saying

“Victor, we are dying, we are dying in the refugee camp”.

Not much had changed since the last time Victor had worked with the refugees in 2014, even though global activists and organisations had become involved. By 2020 Victor had established The Victor Mukasa Podcast and Talk Show and decided to feature the plight of the refugees in a live conversation.

The Kuchus (a Swahili word roughly translating to “queer”, adopted by the Ugandan LGBTQIA+ refugees in the Camp) needed food, bedding, medicines — everything. Victor started fundraising campaigns again using crowdfunding and approached targeted donors. Close to $70,000 USD was raised.

The other thing Victor did was to mobilise resources for psychosocial support, which was a growing need due to the trauma caused by the continuous attacks and previous attacks. Victor mobilised psychologists from the US, Europe, Australia and Israel who would counsel online on a pro-bono basis to support the community members. They would themselves come up with a schedule for sessions and each therapist could indicate how many hours per week they could donate to counsel the Kuchu refugees. There was a team of about 15 therapists. Attention was also given to trauma counselling for children. 

Later, resources were used to start a school in Block 13 (a section of the Camp with the highest population of LGBTQIA+ refugees) for the children as they were refused entry to the general schools and also beaten for being children of LGBTQIA+ people. Kuchu teachers from Block 13 mobilised for teachers who came in from outside. Victor also organised entertainment for the children, such as puppet shows, movie screenings and sometimes when activists from Europe came, they brought their children to play with the kids in Block 13. 

A 2021 report, “The Challenges Facing LGBTQI+ Refugees in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya” by the Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration (ORAM) and Rainbow Railroad, highlights the plight of the refugees within Block 13.

There was also a Kuchu refugee, Regina, (who has now moved to Ottawa) who was a nurse and she and another refugee who is a pharmacist, started a medical program, procuring antibiotics, pain tablets and first aid kits to help the Kuchus when there were attacked. 

On the political side, Victor started calling on advocates in Africa and beyond. That is when the Consortium was found. The Consortium was made up of organisations such as the Black LGBTQ Migrant Project, Jass Associated, Coalition of African Lesbians, The Victor Mukasa Show, Triangle Project and the Global Interfaith Network (GIN). Pan Africa ILGA (PAI) was also a part of the Coalition for a period. This larger group of organisations that joined the cause took the advocacy to a higher level. The Coalition started a campaign, #FreeBlock13, which raised the issues faced by the Kuchus, but also served as a fundraising platform. Members inside Block 13 in Kakuma Refugee Camp could use the website to also share their stories and personal experiences of living in Block 13. 

On the Victor Mukasa Show, Victor hosted a special talk at the start of the Coalition’s Free Block 13 Week of Action; April 7 – 13.

Lucretia, a Ugandan trans woman based in Kakuma Camp, wrote a heartfelt essay to an online news blog about her friend Chriton Atuhwera who was known as known as “Trinidad Jerry”, who died in the UNHRC’s hospital after an arson attack in Kakuma’s Block 13. 

In an interview with Liesl Theron on The Victor Mukasa Show, Victor continues to explain about the advocacy that was being done through the Consortium, with Embassies and other UN bodies, including the UNHCR. The Coalition also pushed to evacuate the two persons who suffered from an arson attack to airlift them to a hospital in Nairobi.