Donation Campaign for Trans People during Quarantine

We are currently in Peru in a period of Health Emergency due to the pandemic declared by the World Health Organization because of the Covid-19 infection, caused by the new coronavirus.

This has put us in quarantine, leaving many of us, LGBTI people, in uncertainty about our work, education or health situation. The measures taken by the Government are appropriate to slow the pandemic and allow our health system to serve us better, but they don't affect all of us in the same way.

Trans people are one of the groups most affected by lack of income to cover food and health treatment. Many do not have decent work and their existence is not recognized by the State (a basic requirement to access any kind of state support).

In light of this situation, Más Igualdad Perú organized a fundraising campaign to support our peers who are in a vulnerable situation. The organizations Féminas, Diversidades Trans Masculinas and other activists helped map as many trans people as possible who need support to get by during this quarantine period. To collect donations, we made available the institutional BCP account under the name of Asociación Civil Más Igualdad Perú, in order to promote transparency.

Campaña-Donacion-Trans-Covid-19 - Más Igualdad Perú - rights NGO - LGBTI

What did the donation consist of?

Since we are in quarantine and travel outside the home is prohibited and could expose people to infection, it was determined that the safest and most appropriate way to manage the funds raised would be through money transfers to community leaders and/or representatives who could arrange the purchase of supplies (food and essential goods) and distribute them to the people identified by area. Additionally, Féminas managed to secure supplies and consumption vouchers through the organizations Socios en Salud and Qall Way.

How were the beneficiaries chosen?

Through the collaboration of activists from Féminas, Diversidades Transmasculinas, Más Igualdad and activist Gahela Cari a list was compiled mapping various trans and non-binary people who had identified as being in a vulnerable situation.

These people had to meet certain criteria: being trans or non-binary people who have at least one of the following characteristics:

Not having stable employment
Being a victim of violence
Living in poverty or extreme poverty
Racialized people (indigenous / Afro-Peruvian)
Native language other than Spanish
Having some form of disability
Sex worker
Being a minor
Living with a chronic illness

Since we didn't know how much money would be raised, priority was given to people in the most vulnerable situations. This was possible thanks to the hard work of trans activists who are closely familiar with the situations and experiences of other trans people in Lima.

How was an amount per person or area determined?

When we began discussing the idea of making the donations, we thought it would be good to guarantee at least 1 week of supplies for each person. This meant calculating how much a person needs to buy food and essential items, in a way that wasn't too small an amount but could still reach more people.

The Government set an amount of 380 soles for 15 days of quarantine for families in vulnerable situations (understood as two parents and two children). Based on this amount, each family member would receive 95 soles to cover food for 2 weeks, meaning the amount for one week is 47.50 soles. Based on this calculation, we set the amount per person at 50 soles. This would especially benefit families or groups of people living together or sharing a room, space or kitchen.