Peace Brigades International has welcomed a new Shelter City guest this Fall! Tsano is an HIV/AIDS activist and transgender and intersex rights defender from Zimbabwe who will be joining us for the next couple of months.
Tsano is the director of Trans Smart Trust, an organization dedicated to the support of transgender and intersex people in Zimbabwe. Through their organization, Tsano creates safe spaces for transgender and intersex people to access shelter, information, and resources to support them.
They focus on educating the general public as well as local communities, churches, and traditional chiefs on gender identity and expression.
They work to gain easier and safer access to medical care for transgender and intersex people, especially those who are HIV positive. As someone who has been living with HIV for the past 22 years, they are a fierce advocate for accessible healthcare. They also emphasize the mental wellbeing of transgender and intersex people, using community-based activities, such as gardening or textiles and crafts as therapy.
Additionally, Tsano is determined that transgender and intersex youth are able to access secondary education and raises money to send them to school every year.
During their stay in the Netherlands, Tsano will continue to expand their network with international organizations to gain valuable insight and connections in order to support their own work. They are also building a community of friendly faces, joining local events, and getting to know the city!
The crafts (bags, purses, necklaces) that Tsano’s organization have made will be available at our film screening on December 11th! (more information about this event will follow soon). Please bring a donation if you would like to take some of the crafts! Tsano will use the donations for their organization as well as to keep trans and intersex children in school.