Support for Ronald

As you may know, the anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments that exist in Uganda are not much different from those in the neighboring country of Kenya. You may be questioning whether this option is right for Ronald and that question is valid.

Right now, the most important course of action is to get Ronald outside the borders of Uganda so that he can't be arrested based on his sexual orientation. Because of the complicated nature of seeking asylum in another country (like the United States, Canada) can take months, if not years. Given Ronald's situation, staying in Uganda for even days is risky enough.

Due to the East African Community (EAC) Agreement, Ronald is able to easily move to the countries of Kenya, South Sudan, DR Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanzania. Throughout this process, we have done our best to empower Ronald to make decisions for himself rather than dictating the best course of action to him. Therefore, given the immediate goal of getting him outside the borders of Uganda where he is being actively hunted by powerful people connected to the government, Ronald believes that Kenya is the most sensible option given his circumstances.

While this is Ronald's immediate goal, the hope is that in the future, he can seek asylum in another country where he is fully capable of being himself.

No. Joshua and Adam are not making a dime off of this effort. Both of them have contributed personally to this effort. 100% of funds being raised for this effort will be used for Ronald's benefit. All funds are being tracked through this spreadsheet so that you can verify that all funds are accounted for.

If you want to learn more about what is happening in Uganda, visit some of the links below:

BBC News: Uganda bans identifying as LGBT with new bill (video)

Human Rights Campaign: Anti-LGBTQ+ Law in Uganda

Human Rights Watch: Uganda's President Signs Repressive Anti-LGBT Law

No. Any Invisible Children employees, present or past, who are involved in supporting Ronald are doing so individually and not on behalf of the organization.

The information provided in these videos is extremely sensitive. If you know of someone who you think may feel called to support Ronald, please reach out to Josh and Adam to loop them into the conversation.

Please feel free to reach out to Ronald. We just ask that you ONLY communicate with him through WhatsApp. Please DO NOT contact him via Facebook Messenger or Gmail. These accounts have been breached on multiple occasions and Ronald regularly has people trying to access these accounts for details about him.

If you'd like to donate to this effort in a different way, please reach out to us! We're happy to coordinate another method (sending a check, PayPal, CashApp, etc.).

Because this is a grassroots effort that isn't affiliated with a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, donations are unfortunately not tax deductible.