LGBTQI |LGBT |Refugees| Allyship
How Do You Know It’s Not a Scam?
This is my answer to that oft-asked question.
“Mom, really? You’re gonna get scammed. You’re a sucker.”
Those words were my daughter’s opinion of the thing that grabbed hold of my heart. It scared me, and it irritated me, all at once. I spent years watching Dr. Phil. I do not ever want to be one of his “catfishing” victims. Global shame is not on my Bingo card.
I decided I needed to talk to some people with a more professional kind of thinking. One person said, “I think it’s a scam. Pretty sure I have heard about this.” Followed by, “Yeah, everything you’re telling me, it’s a scam. Do your due diligence before you get in too deep. “
Damn. Too late. I was already in too deep. My whole heart just opened wide for 189 people living in a place called Block 13 and a whole bunch more in their camp and life for other LGBTQ that wasn’t any better in Nairobi.
I couldn’t buy what these loving people said to me about a scamming operation. They were looking out for me with love. I understand that. And they know I’m a soft touch. But, they didn’t know the things I knew. I was speaking with these very real people. A dozen or more of them had conversations with me daily in the beginning. By now, it’s several dozen. I knew this wasn’t a scam. This situation these people were living in was hell on earth. And it was real.
The stories were remarkably consistent. All equally shed the tears. The blood, the pain, poverty, and neglect. They sent me pictures. Pictures that tore at my heart and drained the tears from my body. They were far too sincere and genuine to be scammers. And before I knew it, there were so many that all I could think is, “Man, if these many people are involved, and every one of them is such a great actor in addition to the crafting, creating, and expediting the whole thing? I gotta tell you; I am a little impressed.” J Lo or Pink or someone should fly them all to Hollywood and make a movie!
Either that, or it’s all true.
This journey that took me on a definite twist in my life started with a couple of Facebook groups. I have a transgender grandchild, and I realize what a huge blessing is for all of us. I wanted to…
