After the unforeseen global hiccup of the Covid-19 pandemic that halted our plans, we are finally ready to launch the 5th edition of Bombastic Magazine. Unlike other editions that we have launched with a dispatch of the hard copy magazines into the public arena, we will be talking an alternate route and launching our new edition online.
This year’s edition is specially focused on the refugee and asylum crisis with many of the stories shared therein being from Ugandan LGBTI refugees in Nairobi as well as those of other nationalities. This edition saw our editorial team visit Nairobi for story collection to better experience and understand the reality being lived by our brothers and sisters that were forced to leave their homeland to seek refuge in a foreign nation in the hope of finding freedom to authentically be who they are.
The online launch which will be held on Friday 17th July will run for two hours, from 19:00hrs EAT to 21:00hrs EAT. It will be live on the Kuchu Times Facebook page and we encourage all community members, leaders, allies, well-wishers and the general public to be a part of this very important and long overdue conversation.
Speaking about the yet to be released magazine and what the team hopes to achieve from this edition, Ruth Muganzithe KTMG Programs Director who is also a panelist said, “As Kuchu Times, our mandate is to ensure that LGBTIQ persons, we speak for and represent ourselves as well as have information relevant to each of our unique needs. With this edition, we want to give urgency to the seemingly endless plight of our community who in seeking safety are subjected to perhaps even more inhumane treatments within the refugee camos, host communities and the immigration system as a whole.”
Our five-person panel which comprises of individuals that are either refugees or have gone through the asylum process will shed more light on their lived realities. The panel also has a couple of people that have worked closely with the LGBTI refugees in Kakuma Nairobi and they too will share their experience and expertise on the issue.
Special focus will be drawn to the unfortunate increase in the attacks on LGBTI persons in Kakuma, especially in the recent past as we analyse the situation and attempt to find lasting solutions for the security of the LGBTIQ refugee community as a whole.
