State of the World's Children 2013 - Unicef

Education is the key to stopping the murder, abuse and
discrimination. It is important that others – even members of
my extended family – learn that we are people just like them.
body parts, they will become
rich and prosperous. Even
though it is illegal to kill people
with albinism, it still happens –
it’s greed that makes people
do it. But it’s all based on lies:
There are people who have
done these terrible things, yet
their lives have remained
the same.
A few months ago, thanks to a
friend of my father, my siblings
and I escaped being the victims
of murder for witchcraft. My
father’s friend came to warn him
that his three albino children
were in danger of being hunted,
and he begged my father to
leave Mwanza. This wasn’t easy
because my parents’ financial
situation was not good, but we
packed up everything and left
at 3 a.m. that night.
We travelled over 500 kilometres
to Dodoma and after two
days received news from home
that people had broken into our
house in Mwanza looking to
kill us.
When these people found that
we had escaped, they went
to our next-door neighbour’s
house. He was our local albino
representative and had done so
much to help us and advocate
for albino rights in our community.
They cut off his genitals
and arms, and left him there to
die. We later received a phone
call from another neighbour
telling us what they did to him.
This news hurt me so much
that I cried a lot, but what
could I do? This is the way
things are.
I don’t understand why people
do such things to fellow human
beings. But I think education is
the key to stopping the murder,
abuse and discrimination. It is
important that others – even
members of my extended
family – learn that we are
people just like them. We
are all the same.
To escape life’s difficulties, I love
to write songs and sing. I have
just written a song about albinos
and our struggle. My dream is
to one day be able to record my
music in a studio and spread
my message. I pray that people
around the world can one day
understand that albinos are no
different from them. We are all
human beings and deserve to be
treated with love and respect.
Note:
Albinism is a rare, genetically
inherited condition found in all
ethnicities. People with albinism
have little or no pigmentation in
their eyes, hair and skin owing to a
lack of melanin. They are sensitive to
bright light and have a higher than
average risk of skin cancer from sun
exposure. Most people with albinism
are also visually impaired. Under
the Same Sun, a Canadian nongovernmental
organization, estimates
that albinism affects 1 in 2,000
Tanzanians. Although the medical
condition itself does not affect life
expectancy, in the United Republic
of Tanzania the average lifespan
of a person with albinism is around
30 years.
INTRODUCTION 7