Gay rights advocates recently broke their socially imposed silence in historically repressive Eastern Africa. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people have convened in Nairobi, Kenya and Entebbe, Uganda to hold the countries’ first ever gay pride events.

On Saturday, August 4th, nearly a hundred people gathered on the Ugandan shores of Lake Victoria to celebrate their existence and dispel recent media stereotypes of life there for the LGBT community. While the media’s portrayal of life-or-death repression is not completely unfounded, advocates sought to paint a more complete picture of their community’s struggle—and to share experiences of joy as well as hardship. Nearly 250 tickets had been sold to various events during the weekend-long celebration, though it took a couple days to ease established fears of gathering in large groups. The parade contained all the necessary elements: a group of passionate citizens, cars blasting music, signs reading “African and Gay. Not a Choice,” and chants of “We are here,” a bold rebuttal to recent claims by the Nigerian Foreign Minister, Ojo Maduekwe, that “there are no gays in Africa.” Dancing and singing begged the participation of local children and commanded the attention of adults who were, to say the least, shocked by the spectacle. Hours after the parade—in a stark reminder of the struggle this community faces—police raided the gathering due to a supposed report of a gay wedding taking place. Three participants were arrested, and one photographer was detained. According to a vendor at the gathering, Ambrose, Uganda’s LGBT community remains unmoved after their brush with the law. “This is who we are. We are here to stay; and we are not going anywhere.” The momentum surrounding gay rights has maintained since these events, as Uganda’s first play exploring homosexuality, titled “The River and the Mountain,” premiered in Kampala on August 17th.

While Uganda’s celebration was relatively well received, it didn’t have the surprising international backing that Kenya’s inaugural gay pride event did. In keeping with U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent support of LGBT communities, the American Embassy in Nairobi hosted Kenya’s first LGBT Pride event in late June. Public affairs officer John Haynes introduced the event, saying “The U.S. government for its part has made it clear that the advancement of human rights for LGBT people is central to our human rights policies around the world and to the realization of our foreign policy goals.” This framing of LGBT rights as a foreign policy issue follows statements made by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, equating gay rights with human rights. “Like being a woman, like being a racial, religious, tribal or ethnic minority, being LGBT does not make you less human and that is why gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights,” Clinton said last December. While Kenya’s event boasted the blessing and security of the U.S. Department of State, it didn’t exhibit the same grassroots flair of Uganda’s homemade celebration. They opted for a small, invite-only forum to merely introduce the idea of “Gay Pride” in Kenya, a nation where homosexuality is widely frowned upon.

FSD’s International Programs Officer for Africa, Adam Eads, commented on the news with an appreciation for their efforts and hope for the future of this movement. “It's heartening to see this group, who has been repressed in Uganda for so long, taking the first brave steps towards full and free participation in mainstream society without fear of persecution. The road is long, but I applaud the efforts of these activists to move this issue forward.” Because FSD promotes cross-cultural understanding and supports programs for marginalized communities including LGBT at its sites the world over, this news comes to us at FSD as a harbinger of positive social change for those in East Africa—and beyond.

We proudly announce the launch of a wide-scale corporate funding outreach program, the largest in FSD’s history. Our goal: to engage North American companies (and their foundations) to partner with us to advance the communities we collectively serve.

“This is a pivotal time for FSD,” said Board President Dr. Marc Shapiro, “as we strengthen our core programs and seek to identify new areas for growth. The CSR (corporate social responsibility) program is one way we have identified to help FSD advance its mission at our present sites, as well as ones in our purview.”

To generate interest in this program among corporate targets, we proudly announce a redesigned subsite at http://fsdinternational.org/csr. We invite you to share this information with socially conscious companies, or to write to David Andrusia at david@fsdinternational.org for more information on this program launch.

Though FSD has long embraced the participation of gap year students in our international programs, we have just “officially” launched our gap year program for highly motivated high school students seeking a period of personal development between their senior year and college.

“The ‘gap year’ concept, based on the British practice of a year of service or growth before starting university, has begun to take hold in the U.S.” notes FSD Executive Director Mireille Cronin Mather. “Given the demand, as well as the positive experiences our previous participants have enjoyed, we are delighted to extend this internship through an official program launch.”

One such intern is Alejandro Sutphen, now a freshman at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. He tells us that “At the end of my high school career, I knew that I wanted to study something with an international focus. As a young adult preparing to start a college career, I wasn’t exactly sure what international development meant or required. Many students go straight into college at a young age without completely knowing what they are interested in and/or what a certain career entails. I wanted a clearer sense of the work and people that went into sustainable development. Through my experience as an international volunteer with FSD, I gained valuable insight in the field of socio-economic development. My internship cemented within me a drive to learn about international development and made me excited to go back to school where I could learn and be ambitious about my studies.

For my FSD internship, I worked with an organization called Changuito Dios on the outskirts of Salta, Argentina. Changuito Dios is primarily a daycare for children from birth to age 14. I taught English language lessons and led physical education activities for approximately 90 kids in small classes. In Argentina, students only go to school for half a day, so daycares and after school programs have become a key part of their lives. I also wrote a proposal which focused on workshops for the women who worked at the daycare. Six of the ten mothers/teachers had not completed secondary school, and none of them had received professional training of any kind. The goal of my proposal was to have the mothers attend workshops in educational strategies and classroom management. The process of writing a proposal and working with an instructor to create a new project was instructive and very rewarding.

One day, I mentioned to a FSD staff member that I was concerned that I wasn’t doing enough. She replied that just my presence at the daycare was huge for the kids, since very few of them had any positive male role model in their lives. She believed that my presence alone helped the children understand that men can be both strong and caring. I learned that we are often helping others in ways we might not realize. My favorite part of the internship in Argentina was meeting the locals and becoming a part of the Argentine culture. When you meet an Argentine, they’re interested in knowing you, not necessarily what you’ve accomplished in your life. They are thrilled when you pick up on cultural specifics. Adding Argentine slang like “dále” and “che” into my Spanish and having dinner at 10 at night was new and exciting for me. Learning dances to traditional music and how to cook empanadas allowed me to truly experience another culture.

I was moved by how relaxed and family-oriented Argentines can be. It was refreshing to be part of a less consumer-oriented culture and to truly value relationships and the small things in life; something we forget in the US all too often. The host families were excited to share their lives with the interns and I felt extremely comfortable in my homestay because I always knew that I belonged.

Coming from a small town in Vermont, I’m accustomed to tight-knit communities and I felt that same feeling of support and happiness in Salta. I knew that the site team was always there if I needed it. They were more than just facilitators for the interns; they were also friends. Our group of interns was very supportive of each other and we made a lot of close connections.

My only piece of advice for a prospective FSD intern would be this: do not rely on the other site interns and friends back home for comfort and entertainment. Argentina is a wonderful place and the people are even better. It’s easy to fall back on those who are like you and who are from the same culture. If you let this happen, you’ll lose the authentic atmosphere and miss an opportunity to step out of your comfort zone and into a new culture.” To learn. Please visit our Gap Year Program page today.

Writer Anita Bruzzese featured FSD as the sole subject of her piece, “On the Job: Young workers leave U.S. for internships” in America’s highest-circulation newspaper, USA Today. Participant Corrie Burdett shared her positive intern experience, and Mireille Cronin Mather discusses the benefits international experience can bring to students entering the workforce, whatever their field. Read about our international internships.