"Twitching, Sweating and Drooling" - the Kenyan Deathstalker, part 1

“Scorpions! That's one reason  I want to get out of here!”

-Sultan, an LGBT refugee from Yemen 

Donate here to help Sultan: https://gofund.me/7142b7f7

  

Take a moment and look up at your ceiling. Do it right now. What do you see? Chances are, not much.

But in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, you can probably see the sky peeking through small holes the roof over your head.  If you are lucky, that's all you see. Yes, a hole in the roof can let in the rain, but it's better than what you might find staring back at you from the ceiling on other occasions: a scorpion!

“Scorpions, poisonous insects and other reptiles spread throughout the camp and enter the homes and rooms where we live and sleep. It's hard to sleep.”

 

Known as the Kenyan Deathstalker, this little fellow is not a good roommate.  But, as Sultan has shown me, the Kenyan Deathstalker seems to do what its name implies, it stalks you.  Symptoms of their sting include muscle twitching, sweating and drooling!

As Sultan and I talk, I am reminded that the life of a refugee is one of two seemingly polar opposite emotions: boredom and dread. Your days consist mostly of waiting: waiting for a change of refugee status, a medical procedure that never seems to materialize, and a future life that hasn't yet come over the horizon. Your life is on an eternal pause.

Yet around the corner danger lurks. While you might survive the odd scorpion sting, the same cannot be said of violent attacks from human beings. When the only protection between you and thieves, rapists, and hate-crimes based on your lgbtq status is a thin wall you have constructed of stinging nettles and an aluminum door, you don't sleep easy.

“An attacker came during the night, but after I screamed out loud, he ran away. Look what he did to the gate.”

 

These dangers, compared to what Sultan has survived thus far in his life, however, are mundane. Scorpions and midnight attacks cannot bring Sultan down. What can bring him down, and this is where you see that the supposed opposites of dread and boredom are not so opposite after all, is hopelessness. The hopelessness he feels when he realizes he has spent seven years as a refugee. 7 years without papers that give him the ability to do such things as work, attend school, get medical treatment, or, to put it bluntly, be human.

In part two of this post, coming soon, we will explore more of this existential dread. But for now, I bid you adieu and I hope to see our fundraiser at least cap out. It has been hard, I know, for everyone, living through this pandemic. But at least most of us have jobs and families. The same cannot be said for refugees. So, if you have a moment and can spare a few dollars, please click on this link and donate. Every single Cent will be given to Sultan. I keep nothing.

Donate here to help Sultan: https://gofund.me/7142b7f7