Lewis: "Being a refugee means courage and hope"
Lewis along with his designs. Photography: Carmen Valiente
Resolution of the asylum application: granted the residence permit for humanitarian reasons.
Lewis traveled to Spain from Venezuela for a job promise at a beauty pageant that turned out to be a fraud. After finding herself without resources in a foreign country and being incited into prostitution, she decided to apply for asylum.
In just a couple of minutes of conversation you can see how much he has matured since the first interview. At that time, Lewis was 25 years old, he had been in Spain for 8 months and what he missed the most was the fame and recognition he had in his country. There she had been one of the crowned in the Miss Gay Venezuela pageant in 2013.
Still, he was adamant about his decision not to return. He had fallen out of love with Venezuela. "I had always wanted to leave Venezuela. That love you profess for your land, I don't have it. It sounds ugly, but that's the way it is. It's like when you're with your partner, love ends and you stay with her. It's wrong, Because what do you do with a person you don't love anymore. That's how it happened to me. What would I do in Venezuela if I didn't love her anymore . "
Although he dressed it in romanticism, that was not the only reason that led him to leave the country. Venezuela is the fifth country in the world with the most murders of trans people and she had already received threats . Also, being the daughter of a government opponent posed an extra risk.
As a child, Lewis fantasized about living in Spain. For this reason, when he received a proposal from a compatriot to come to work in a beauty pageant, he did not hesitate to pack his bags. The disappointment was harsh: "The agreement was that I would work with him in exchange for lodging while he solved the issue of the papers. The coexistence was fatal, he was living badly. There were even nights that he left me sleeping outside the door. Then he asked me to help him with money, which was impossible because I did not have a job, so he suggested that I should prostitute myself ". It was then that she decided to process the asylum application that led her to live in the Seville Refugee Reception Center (CAR). For her, "being a refugee is difficult, nobody wants to go through this " but "it means courage and hope" .
Lewis has decorated his apartment for the new interview. As soon as you enter, there is a pleasant sweet smell that becomes more intense when you arrive at the living room. There is his work table, where the sewing machines rest behind which he confesses that it has been an intense day. Ahead is the sofa, full of cushions that, in some cases, she has sewn herself. In front of him, the television is on and a well-known Spanish series is broadcast on it. The room is presided over by a mannequin wearing an elegant metallic dress that reflects the light from the television throughout the room . This, in a way, answers the first question of the interview.
Lewis holds the crown of Miss Gay Venezuela. Photo courtesy
Question. When you lived in the CAR, among your main objectives was to obtain a residence permit, which you already have, to dedicate yourself to your profession and study drama. Have you been able to fulfill those purposes?
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Answer. I have started to practice as a fashion designer. I am working for the Miss Grand pageant , where last year I had the opportunity to dress the representative of Spain in the international pageant, and this year I have dressed three provincial candidates. More girls wrote to me interested in me to dress them, but they wanted me to do it for collaboration and, as a migrant who does not have a stable job, I cannot afford it. In Venezuela I worked for other designers, so sewing designs that bear my name is a great achievement. The model I have left behind because my doctrines are difficult to remove and I do not consider that right now it has a weight to model. However, I did start as an actress. Last year I took the ESAD tests and failed the physical test, but I have already applied again to try again.
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Q. It seems that you are meeting all your goals.
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A. Little by little yes. Sometimes I felt down from receiving many no's. It's not easy, and I think I have it more
difficult because of my condition. I keep thinking why many times I have been in job interviews and they have not caught me even though my CV was much higher. Given this, I have a job and I can get ahead, but what about the ones that aren't? I am Venezuelan, the issue of papers is much easier for me, but not sub-Saharan women. Many girls end up on the street (prostituting themselves) and then they say "get them off the street", but they are the ones who have taken them there, because they have to live on something.
Lewis is especially concerned about her future work, which leads her to reflect on the pros and cons of her life in Venezuela compared to her current life. " In my country I had three jobs . I worked on weekends in a nightclub, for a stylist as a model and for a designer as an assistant and embroiderer. In Spain I have not worked yet, I maintain myself by selling my dresses . With the little contacts that I have , a dress today, another tomorrow ... And the prices that are managed maintain me here. If it is true that the quality of life here is different, there is no comparison, you can live freely. Yes, there I had work, but here I have quality of life . It's like a vicious circle. You say why don't you come back if you had a job? Because my life is in danger And why are you staying if you don't have a job? Because at least I can live. Somehow I can to live".
Q. So, do you consider that you are integrated in Spain?
R. Socially yes, bureaucratically no. They make things very difficult. I do not understand how, for example, a official who is in front of me and is looking at me can write "male sex" in my job search report.
Models María Rivero and Clara Navas wearing designs by Lewis Andry in the Miss Grand Spain pageant. Photographs provided
When talking about his happiness, in 2018 she replied: "I am happy sometimes because I wake up and say: you are where you wanted to be, not how you wanted , but in the place." It was and still is essential for her to be independent and not depend on aid to support herself.
Now, she responds optimistically about the changes he has undergone since then.
Q. How has your life changed?
A. It has changed 180 degrees. I went from receiving help to being able to pay the rent with my work, which is something that any human being should feel proud of because it means that I am working on it, I am working on it and, as has always been said, it is my money and I do with it what I want. It is super rewarding. No one is going to say "they are helping you", no, I am earning this from what I know, from what I work and from what I have studied. I wanted to go to Madrid and I still love it, but I have fallen in love with Seville little by little. I also believe that it is the area, that since I have changed to this area where you see people and you see life, everything has changed. So yeah, 180 degrees. No, I'm not the person you met at the CAR. I have changed a lot, now I am more open, more resilient, more accepting , searching ... The no's are beginning to change for a yes. I believe that everything is a matter of patience. A cousin of mine who emigrated to the United States told me "the first three years are bad, then you will see how you freak out."
In addition to designing dresses, Lewis also spends her time collaborating with various associations related to the LGTBI collective, where she confesses that he has made most of his friends. Recently, she has proposed in one of them to volunteer to accompany adolescents in the transition process: "I saw many girls with their heads down in the medical center where the treatment is carried out and I consider that this process is not to lower the head, it is to feel happy. You are becoming what you want. "
Q. Now that we have talked about how you are fulfilling your past purposes. Let's talk about the future. What do you expect from him?
R. I would like to open a store with my name and have attached to it a modeling academy specialized in miss, because when you do modeling you have to sell the clothes you wear, but when you are a miss, you sell yourself.
Q. Do you have the life you hoped to have in Spain?
A. Not yet.
Q. And is it on track?
A. Yes. I gave it three years and it seems to be responding. Call it destiny or, as a famous character from a TV show says, "call it god, call it energy", but it seems that there is something. I promised myself that if I didn't get "something" in three years, I would fly again and Spain would become a bridge, but I think it will become my home.
