Albinism is something which is still abhorred in various sects of the African continent as a result of several superstitious myths that continue to be passed on from generation to generation.
I myself have not been spared from those superstitious myths. Growing up conversations which had to do with Albinism was often associated with curses, witchcraft and immorality. I never got to understand why people would say such things about another human being until I started learning about the notion of cultural beliefs and social norms.
Ever since, I have tried my level best to educate and inform people about Albinism and let them understand the fact that a human being is not defined by gender, sex, race, social status, academia or wealth.
Nevertheless, before I penned this article my editor advised me to elaborate on how someone gets to be born with Albinism.
How is one born with Albinism?
To be honest, there is no answer to that because if I were to delve into this direction I would propagate something which I am constantly fighting, which is stigma. It is the same as asking how one gets to be gay, lesbian, trans or how one gets to be black, brown or white it just happens and it does not make you less of a human.
A knee on the people with Albinism
Coming back to the continent, people with Albinism continue to be sidelined, persecuted and killed for ritual purposes. The continent actually has its knee on people with Albinism even though it is not given much traction by media platforms but that is the case and those with Albinism have just learned to be passive about it but not that it is not happening.
According to last July’s report issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), people with Albinism continue to be killed for ritual purposes with the numbers increasing drastically last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Well to get some insight pertaining to the report and how it is to live with Albinism in Africa I spoke to Mary Regina Ndlovu-Kabosha, a human rights activist, actress, producer and motivational speaker from South Africa.
“Due to the fact that I have Albinism, I was raped 15 times, I was locked up in a mental institution, and I attempted 11 suicides. I was locked up in the toilet when I was in primary school due to the colour of my skin. I hated myself with passion. I had to teach myself how to read and write through audio. I had to secretly become one of the worst villains in the entire school because I wanted to hurt other people. I became a liar and a thief, my job was to give back what life gave to me which was pain, hatred, revenge, bitterness anything repugnant that was going to hurt you and make you feel pain,” said Regina.
You can just imagine how I was feeling after she poured out all of this daunting and hideous thing that transpired to her even when she was still a child just an innocent child and the world had already rejected her just because she has less skin pigmentation nothing else but just that.
As she continued, my heart and mind were already heavy and full of different emotions, nevertheless, I composed myself and let her carry on.
“Skin cancer is one of the biggest challenges we have and the biggest challenge of being a woman with Albinism is that you are always outside, outside in the sun doing chores, looking for work, taking care of kids and so forth and two seconds in the sun can leave you all burnt out. Moreover, they are very few schools that cater to people with Albinism out of 100 schools you might just find three. There is a lot of education that is needed to raise Albinism awareness. Being born with Albinism is not a curse like what other people alluded to, it just means I was born with pale skin it’s just an issue of skin pigmentation some have the right amount, some less and some more but it does not mean I am less of a human so all of these myths that associate Albinism with debauchery and witchcraft are just utter hogwash that’s why there is need for people to be equipped with the right kind of information,” she added on.
In addition, she further highlighted the unambiguous stigma I cited earlier that people with Albinism continue to incur even in this so-called woke generation we perceive to be in, “Anyone can give birth to a baby with Albinism a lot needs to be done as you look at the media in cartoons, books, the protagonists are black and white people no sign of those with Albinism which just shows you how rampant the issue of stigma on those with Albinism is. Our stories are not validated and colour does not determine humanity. It’s just not right to treat someone like a lesser human being just because of how they look it’s not right to let us all change that narrative.”
Before we parted ways I wondered how she had managed to overcome all of these challenges putting them to bed and carrying on with her life as well as raising awareness in the process but even before I asked her the question she took it upon herself to profess how she did it and how she now lives her life to the fullest.
“When I came across the audio Bible my life changed and then when I started listening to that audio Bible I started to rediscover myself and here I am producer of My Voice Albinism The New Era, talk show host, motivational speaker, evangelist, actress the list goes on,” said Regina.
All I could say was look at you with tears in my eyes. That is just how bizarre it is for those living with Albinism a total fiasco!
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