LIVING IN FEAR: Tanzania's Albinos
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7518049.stm
Article Updated: Monday, July, 21st, 2008
I found this article (among the ten others) when I did my research on the Genetic Diseases Project. It helped me a lot with my research on the project, and it had a lot of useful information that I could use for understanding this development. However, it also devastated and terrified me in a very, very negative way!!!
This article talks about the two totally opposite things considering albino people. While in the civilized parts of the world such as America and Canada, people are trying to help albino patients to improve their life conditions, in another, less developed part of the world, the African country Tanzania, the albinos practically have no life because they live in fear everyday! This is because other people (or more often gangs), are threatening to kill and murder them for their appearances- they sell their body parts (such as: legs, arms, hair or head) thinking that the person wearing it will get rich and lucky. Sorcery and the occult is maintaining very strong in this undeveloped part of the world, so, some witchdoctors are using this to convince the other people that albinos’ peculiar features are 'magical' which is, from my perspective, totally unbelievable. ISN'T THAT HORRIBLE?
This article talks about the two totally opposite things considering albino people. While in the civilized parts of the world such as America and Canada, people are trying to help albino patients to improve their life conditions, in another, less developed part of the world, the African country Tanzania, the albinos practically have no life because they live in fear everyday! This is because other people (or more often gangs), are threatening to kill and murder them for their appearances- they sell their body parts (such as: legs, arms, hair or head) thinking that the person wearing it will get rich and lucky. Sorcery and the occult is maintaining very strong in this undeveloped part of the world, so, some witchdoctors are using this to convince the other people that albinos’ peculiar features are 'magical' which is, from my perspective, totally unbelievable. ISN'T THAT HORRIBLE?
According to the New York Times, Albino people have been murdered and mutilated because of how they look. Some Albinos have snow- white hair, having no or little pigment in their eyes. In Africa, where most people are black, the albino men look very 'different'- and this is the reason why they are tortured or often murdered. According to reports by the BBC News, a seven month old albino baby, a farmer with two children, and a child (who was killed by his own father) were found dead because of their appearance which belongs to this genetic disorder. In addition to this article, sorcery is very strong in Tanzania, so the Albinos are often ostracized by the rest of their family members. This makes them even more vulnerable to gangs who are just wrecking them! In only one year (2008), about 27 people were killed! Police are now trying to help them, but, most often they can’t protect most of the people that are living in the rural, undeveloped part of the country, so the sad story continues…
This article was gruesome and terrifying when I read it!!! I was very surprised when I read how the Albino people are treated so horribly- it's not their fault they have that inherited genetic disease, but in the poor world filled with occultism and bad magic, life is less worth than surviving!
