Discrimination Faced by People with Albinism

In a few of the emails we’ve gotten from Kofi, our representative in Ghana for our adoption, he has noted when describing Samuel that ‘he is an albino and finds himself dejected by society’. And, another time he wrote in a different email ‘Samuel being an albino, is dejected both at home and outside, hardly to find friends. Africans have a culture or custom about these types of kids in the society’. I’ve been trying to figure out why? Why would they 'deject' him because of this? I mean, I can obviously come up with a few lame reasons in my own common sense, but nothing concrete. Then the other day I came across the following fantastic article that really shed a lot of light into my question of why. The answers are very sad, but at least I now understand it a little more. Here is a short excerpt from the article:

Discrimination faced by people with albinism
http://www.copperwiki.org/index.php/Albino

People with albinism often experience social difficulties. As children they may be stared and pointed at and even teased and bullied, mostly due to ignorance. Since most people with albinism look vastly different from their families their sense of isolation is heightened.

They are also the subject of sympathetic looks and are treated as if they have severe disability or are ‘dying of a horrible disease’ rather than a genetic condition that does not affect their minds.

The color of skin has been a sensitive topic in all cultures throughout the ages. The issue is more heightened in people with albinism of African descent as they bear no resemblance to their race and their skin and hair resemble Caucasians. In many African societies, albino children were killed or abandoned at birth, or were denied breast milk and subjected to harsh conditions. They were even offered as ritual sacrifices. Albinos were thought of as cursed, a sign that punishment would befall the family. In Jamaica too, albinos are considered cursed and are therefore degraded.

Albino children were often regarded as illegitimate children, and their mothers suspected of infidelity with white men. Due to this discrimination, many albinos remain uneducated or drop out of school and end up in poverty.

There are also many myths and superstitions surrounding albinos that exist to this day, especially in Africa. In Zimbabwe, it is believed that having sex with a woman with albinism will cure a man of HIV. This caused a number of rapes in the area. In Chad, albinos are eliminated through secret practices by some ethnic groups as an albino birth is considered ‘false’, i.e, an albino is not a real person. They are also supposed to be associated with witchcraft and people avoid them in order to avoid bad spells.

In Tanzania, there has been growing media attention to albino killings. According to a myth, albino organs possess mystical powers. This is fuelling a demand for albino organs, particularly genitals, limbs, breasts, fingers and the tongue. To counter this problem, awareness days such as the National Albino Day have been created to dispel the myths and superstitions that surround this condition.

There was actually a story in the Des Moines Register last week about this last paragraph. It highlighted a woman with albinism in Tanzania who is literally fearing for her life because of this false myth that albino limbs/parts are magical. Here is the link to that article if you want to read it:

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/world/10000-east-african-albinos-displaced-in-hiding-after-rash-of-killings-report-says-77362402.html

The lack of melanin involved with albinism can occur at varying degrees. Samuel’s skin is dark brown, his eyes look brown from the picture, and his hair orange-ish. However, some Africans with albinism can have it to such a degree that their skin is milky white, their hair white, and their eyes blue. It’s been quite interesting to learn about this condition. It has given me another way that I can be praying for Samuel, and his emotional comfort as he goes through the rejection and trials from having this condition.