I am Zaya, a gay man from Rweru in Burundi, aged 34.
I was a fisherman back in Burundi. Fishing was my life, across Lake Victoria, a massive lake crossing the borders of Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.
Most of my time was with men on lakes and lake shores. I developed feelings for men rather than women. There were many customers who used to purchase my fish, and among them three transgender customers whom I used to help cross from one Island to another using my boat.
The day that changed my life
One day, we were at the Islands of Rusinga in Kenya, where we had stopped for touring. We arranged one hotel room with two transgenders. Unfortunately, one of the room services came for bed sheets changing. We forgot to lock our door, and the room attendant just knocked and pushed the door. She found us naked and shouted an alarm, causing people to gather.
My escape
We were arrested, but fortunately, I managed to escape and ran to the lakeside. I was a fisherman and growing up around lakes helped me learn to swim in deep waters. That day, I covered a long distance for survival. I couldn’t go back to Rweru because there were people from where we had been arrested.
The news about us was spread all over. So I headed to Homa Bay in Kenya, found the Red Cross, and they took me to their main headquarters in Kitale.
And I ended up in Kakuma camp.
From there, they arranged transport to Kakuma Refugee Camp. I was registered there as an asylum seeker in 2020. Since then, I have been my LGBTQ+ colleagues. Early in 2024, in small groups, we made an escape plan to leave the camp and join Anna in South Sudan.
Our life here s a little better. Homophobia still exists, so we keep a low profile and, where possible, avoid confrontation.
Here we have renewed hopes for a resettlement solution. Hope is all we have, and that doesn’t help us when we need food and supplies we haven’t got.
I wish I could live freely in my home country. But homophobia crosses many borders here in Africa, and my dream is to find a settlement in a country where being gay is an accepted part of humanity.
Regards
Zaya
