TEI Binder Distribution Fund

We are excited to inform you that our second Binder Drive event themed "Binding Bridges, Remembering Resilience" is set for November 19th. On this day, We aim to distribute Binders Donated to us by GC2B for the benefit of the transmasc/GNC community.

WHAT IS THE BINDER DRIVE?

Trans Empowerment Initiative (TEI) is a Nairobi-based collective that aims to elevate visibility and awareness of trans men, transmasculine, gender-diverse, and gender non-conforming people in East Africa. With your support, in 2020 we raised $2,000 to retrieve 60 new donated binders from customs and to distribute these binders at a community event that included free food, transportation, and a safe-binding workshop. Read more about our inaugural Binder Drive Event!

For our 2023 Binder Drive, we have a new budget of $2500 (details below), and we're striving to fundraise this amount. Your generous donations will be allocated for food, drinks, Printing materials, painting materials and compensating our entertainers and panelists.

We expect to have;

● Entertainment

● Art Activities

● Photo Exhibition

● Panel discussion with conversations focused on Health, Safety, and Security

● Networking

While we have secured the venue, we need support in Logistics, food and refreshment for the smooth operation of the event.

Binders are an essential support for transgender individuals, offering comfort, confidence, and empowerment. We firmly believe in equal access to these resources for everyone, irrespective of their circumstances. This event is more than just distributing binders; it's about forging a supportive and thriving community.

Your contribution, large or small, will directly impact our mission to empower the transmasc community. Please consider donating and spreading the word to support our cause. Your involvement will make a tremendous difference in creating a more inclusive and safer environment. Thank you for helping us make a positive change!

----------------

PROPOSED BUDGET: $2,500 USD

-------------------------------

About this GoFundMe

This fundraiser is being organized and directed by TEI, and is being hosted on the account of Ellis Locke, an Idaho-based friend of TEI. All funds raised will be sent directly to the TEI organizers via WorldRemit.

-------------------------------

WHO ARE WE?

Trans Empowerment Initiative (TEI) is a collective growing on the shoulders of young, creative, gender-diverse people in Kenya. We are mobilising to address our basic right to health, wellness, and housing in order to mitigate rife homelessness and displacement that leaves us vulnerable to systemic oppression. Our community faces sexual harassment and assault, physical and verbal harassment, and insidious microaggressions from local organizations that serve some segments of the LGBTQI community while ignoring others. These challenges have deep, long-lasting socioeconomic impacts on trans and gender-diverse people. We aim to harness our experiences of our community’s lived realities to promote prompt and coordinated actions that directly address our most pressing needs.

Our objectives are:

1. To elevate visibility and awareness of trans men, transmasculine, gender-diverse, and gender non-conforming people. We hope to collect and share a vast reference of individual experiences to inform, empower, and impact gender-diverse people. We are currently invested in archiving these stories for a photo-documentary as exhibited on social media as @maschartNBO .

2. To provide a resource for trans men, gender non-conforming, and transmasculine people in our community to access information on health and wellness. The Binder Distribution Event is part of our ongoing campaign to educate about the potential risks of improper binding practices and to improve access to safe, comfortable binders for the empowerment of transmasculine and gender-diverse people. 

We hope you are as passionate and invested in our liberation and pleasure as we are! Please feel free to pledge support to the projected budget below or contact us if you would like to contribute non-financial resources: [email redacted] . com