HELP A BRAZILIAN TRANS WOMAN FUND HER STUDIES ABROAD!
hey, everyone! my name is wendi yu, iâm a travesti writer and researcher from Brasil. I make tabletop games (you can find them here), I have a Masterâs in Contemporary Communications and Culture, and Iâm currently doing a PhD in the same area, researching the possibilities of trans life in Brasil in audiovisual performances by trans people.
i just got a letter of acceptance to do a semester of my PhD studies at Bayreuth University in Germany. This is going to make a huge difference in my education and future work possibilities, and studying abroad has always been a dream of mine. The problem is that I have no funding to go, and my currency (Brazilian Real) is worth more than 6 times less than the Euro.
My girlfriendâs going too, and sheâs got a scholarship funding, so part of the living costs are thankfully covered, but I still need:
165 euros (around 191 US dollars) for the semester fees;
230 euros (~266 US dollars) for visa-related costs;
90 euros (~104 US dollars) a month for the health insurance (that Iâm officially required to get), for a total of 540 euros (~626 USD);
780 euros (~900 US dollars) for plane tickets;
210 euros (245 USD) for the english profiency test (yeah, even if Iâm a published author with original works in english, i still gotta pay for a piece of paper proving that);
11.904 euros (~13.800 US dollars) for living costs (proof of financial stability for a year required for the visa, even if Iâm staying less than a year);
In total, that means I gotta figure out a way to get 13.829 euros (~16k US dollars) â 11.904 euros (~13.800 USD) just for proof that I can finance myself there and 1.925 euros (~2230 USD) for the other costs.
My current income as a PhD student is around 460 euros (540 USD) a month. Thatâs how big the difference in currencies is.
The worst and most urgent part is proving I can have those 11.904 euros (13.800 USD) all at once for the visa, so thatâs my primary goal. If I take out my income (which I still donât know if theyâll accept as part of the proof), thereâs still around 7.200 euros (~8.350 US dollars) I need to find. Maybe if I get the right visa I can make it so I only need proof for 6 months instead of a whole year (I'm still trying to understand the laws), but even so that'd still be around 5952 euros AND the other 1925 euros for all the other costs. It's a lot, anyways.
But you can help with all that!
here is a link to my ko-fi, where you can donate to me: https://ko-fi.com/wendiyu
For any donation, you get the files for my 2 PWYW games, Apotheosis Janitors and Marvelous Mutations and Merry Musicians (you can already get them anyways on itch.io, but I thought itâd be more organized if I put them here as well).
For any donation above 12 euros (14 US dollars), you get the files for all my games, including the Award-winning here, there, be monsters!.
Above 30 euros (35 US dollars), Iâll throw in the posters Iâve made for them in high printing quality as well.
Above 50 Euros (58 US dollars), Iâll also write a short little monster description for you to throw in your games as a thank you (no stats).
But no donation is too small (nor too big!), everything and anything helps, especially considering the disparity in our currencies (if you donate in European or USAmerican money). So Iâm truly grateful to anyone who donate any amount.
Since I canât figure out a way to send the thank you perks automatically through ko-fi, just send me a message after donating or wait until I get the notification and Iâll send them to you ASAP.
Those were all the things I could think of as thank yous, but feel free to send me suggestions if you think of something else. Unfortunately, Iâll be a little busy in the following months with the whole bureaucracy of getting the visa, finding an apartment etc, for anything too elaborate, but Iâm open to ideas!
once again, here's the link: https://ko-fi.com/wendiyu
If you have a project and want to hire me as a writer and/or artist, hit me up as well!
PS: thereâs the risk that I donât raise enough funds, or have my visa denied, and cannot go. Since I cannot use platforms like GFM and Iâm doing this through ko-fi, I have no clear way of returning the donations in case that happens. I will then use whatever money is raised to pay my rent and bills without having to do freelance work and study at the same time (which Iâm currently doing), and then try and finish my next project as soon as possible, in which case Iâll send everyone who donated a free digital copy when itâs done.
