No two days look the same for Camille Ogoti, ORAM’s Ukraine Program Manager based in Berlin, Germany. In a single day, Camille can be found hunting for available housing in Berlin; responding to requests from displaced LGBTIQ Ukrainians in need of ORAM’s support; networking with housing management companies; and visiting folks whom ORAM is housing in order to “give a personal touch to the work,” in her words.
Pictured: Camille Ogoti (left), ORAM’s Ukraine Program Manager meeting with a queer Ukrainian couple, Yuliya and Anastasia (right) and Alina (second to left), who is living in the same apartment block.
Camille joined the ORAM team shortly after we launched our response to the crisis in Ukraine, to advance our efforts to provide short-term and longer-term housing, as well as social support, to our Ukrainian family members. (You can read more about ORAM’s Ukraine efforts here.)
“It feels good to hear stories that we are helping them, especially the queer community who has been through a lot of discrimination,” Camille tells me, her warm smile lighting up my computer screen. “They see Berlin as a safe space and don’t feel the need to hide any part of themselves.”
Like any job, some days are harder than others. “The challenging part comes about when the individuals tell you about their personal experiences coming from Ukraine to Berlin … Not taking those stories home is something that I had to learn how to do,” she admits, adding that it’s often difficult to accept that “you cannot solve all the issues at once and … [sometimes] you feel like your work has not been enough.”
But ultimately, Camille has made a conscious decision to help manage her personal expectations. “You’ve got to keep your head up and keep doing the work,” she says. It’s easy enough for her to maintain a healthy perspective because she knows that the individuals whom she is helping “have gone through discrimination just for being part of the queer community … because queer refugees face even more discrimination than most …”
Camille works with John Helderman, a volunteer for ORAM, to vet displaced Ukrainians who apply for housing via a survey on ORAM’s website, due to the high volume of applications that we receive which are not always from members of the LGBTIQ community.
Camille then works to coordinate Airbnb stays of up to 30 days —made possible by ORAM’s parent organization Alight’s partnership with the company—for qualified individuals. For folks who need longer-term housing, Camille communicates with local housing management companies like Berlinovo to rent apartments on behalf of ORAM’s clients for stays of up to six months.
Pictured: One of ORAM's longer-term housing apartment buildings.
She doesn’t stop there. In addition to housing provision, Camille also prioritizes visiting the displaced queer Ukrainians whom ORAM serves in person with John. During these visits, Camille and John aim “to understand where the refugees are mentally and assess if there are any issues with [danger] or violence.” The pair also informs ORAM’s clients about the process of registering for social welfare and securing jobs in Berlin.
On behalf of ORAM, Camille also works with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to enroll displaced queer Ukrainians whom ORAM serves in workshops intended to guide them through Berlin’s job market, and with the Lesbian and Gay Association Berlin-Brandenburg (LSVD) to introduce them to the local queer community.
In Camille’s eyes, it’s important for ORAM to provide services beyond housing to displaced queer Ukrainians because “I put myself in the situation that these refugees are in, coming into a completely new country after leaving your life behind … so offering a little bit of case management work is very important, and holding their hands to help them integrate into Germany.” She also believes that “it’s really essential to take care of these individuals so that they can also take care of each other.”
Pictured: Viktoriaa in one of our longer-term housing units in Berlin.
A prime example of that is Viktoriaa, one of the Ukrainian folks whom ORAM provided with case management support. Viktoriaa was so moved by ORAM’s work that she recently decided to join our organization as a part-time employee. She will be helping Camille and John to translate and process requests from other LGBTIQ displaced Ukrainians through ORAM’s new Ukraine-focused Instagram account. With her ties to the community, as well as her experience with communications work for German LGBTIQ organizations, Viktoriaa will be a great asset to the ORAM team.
In addition to Viktoriaa’s story, I ask Camille if there are any other particularly inspiring stories that she has come across throughout her work with ORAM. “So many,” she says. She tells me about a lesbian couple with a child. “I have seen the apartment that they were living in Ukraine. It was basically destroyed by a missile … It’s amazing to see how well they are doing … how they put the needs of the child first, even though they have gone through traumatizing times.”
This week marks the third meeting that the couple is attending hosted by Regenbogenfamilien Zentrum (Rainbow Families), a local group that Camille connected them with that gathers blended families for social events. So far, it’s been a huge help for the couple.
“You can see the difference when you offer someone longer-term housing,” Camille tells me. “All [ORAM’s] clients want to stay in Berlin permanently because they feel like it’s a very vibrant queer community.” Camille undoubtedly shares responsibility for that, and the ORAM team could not be prouder.
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