WESTMINSTER WEST — A house concert featuring new music from Patty Carpenter and Verandah Porche on June 20 will benefit an organization supporting LGBTQ Ugandan refugees.
“Some of them are on [HIV] treatment. Some need food or nutritional supplements. Some of them just need safe spaces,” said John Abdallah Wambere, who left Uganda and settled in the Boston area where he was granted asylum and who later founded AmeriGanda, which has a mission, according to its website, “to improve, sustain, and support the standard of living of the LGBTQ community in Uganda as well as LGBTQ+ refugees in the region.”
Uganda has been hostile to its LGBTQ community, and recently passed an anti-homosexual law that includes penalties of 20 years in jail and a death penalty.
“Ugandan LGBTQ folks and refugees are in danger and need a community like us so they can access healthcare services, basic needs like food and water, transport to doctors appointments or to pick up life saving medications for those living with HIV, or to simply have a roof over their heads,” said Wambere.
“Sadly,” said Porche, “the crisis for LGBTQ residents and refugees is not on anyone’s radar right now.”
The benefit is scheduled for June 20 and there is a recommended donation of $150, though Kevin Connors, who is organizing the event, said people can pay what they can afford.
Reservations should be made at AmeriGandaVermont@gmail.com.
The evening includes traditional Ugandan cuisine prepared by the Putney Kitchen Queens, an informal group of cooks.
Wambere will speak about the lives of LGBTQ Ugandans and the mission and work of AmeriGanda International.
“Patty and I will play original songs with John Weeks, Travis Light, and Jeremy Gold,” said Porche. “We will debut a song written for this benefit, ‘Love How You Love.’ It has a catchy chorus that everyone can sing together, with harmony.”
Connors, who has lived in Vermont since 1978 and has traveled the world for work, met Wambere about a decade ago in when he was living in The Hague in the Netherlands.
“Just a couple of months ago, the Ugandan Supreme Court approved the government law that makes homosexuality a capital offense,” said Connors. “They have also been closing down any local, non-profit NGOs that support the gay and lesbian community there.”
Connors said contributing to AmeriGanda is one way Vermonters can support those people being threatened by their own government.
Wambere said he enjoys doing these sorts of small-town get-togethers where he meets local people.
“When it gets local, it creates more sense, because it touches the hearts of the grassroot communities,” he said.
And it’s also important for Americans to get involved.
“Many of the laws that are being passed around the world … most of this is funded by American evangelicals,” said Wambere.
Credit: Source link