The Perils of Pale Skin:
Albino Killings in Tanzania

Written by: Ccep J. Dew, West Coast Editor

 

I’m sure those of you who saw the movie District 9 couldn’t believe how the leader of a rouge group in Johannesburg, South Africa wanted to capture the main character in order to cut off, and then eat his mutated, alien arm, claiming that if he could ingest it, he would posses the mystical powers that it held. Sound like a fantastical work of science fiction? Well, here, in America, we are so quick to cry “racism” or “discrimination” if someone of a different shade doesn’t hold a door open for us, but, in the rural areas of Tanzania, adults and children alike are being mercilessly hacked with machetes (while still alive) simply because of the color off their skin…

 

Albinism is a hereditary, non-“curable” disorder which affects the pigmentation of an organism’s skin, hair, and eyes. Two parents who are affected by albinism or one who is paired with one who is a carrier (one who carries the gene, yet is not affected by the disorder) can pass it on to multiple offspring. This gene affects the production of melanin (a dark, skin protecting pigment) and results in white or pale skin, hair, and eyes, regardless of gender or “race”. With amelanosis, an individual totally lacks melanin, whereas with hypomelanosis, there may be a single or multiple patches of skin that lack coloration.

 

Because those with albinism lack melanin, they are easily affected by the sun’s UV rays and are more susceptible to sunburn and premature skin aging. There are also problems with vision due to oversensitivity to light. Although, albinistic individuals are generally as healthy as anyone else, those in under-developed nations with more sun exposure experience higher mortality rates due to skin cancer as a result of little to no access to sunscreen.

 

Here, in America, we are so quick to cry “racism” or “discrimination” if someone of a different shade doesn’t hold a door open for us, but, in the rural areas of Tanzania, adults and children alike are being mercilessly hacked with machetes (while still alive) simply because of the color off their skin…

 

In the US, we have access to medical research that helps dispel negative stereotypes about albinism. However, in other areas of the world, people do not have the same medical knowledge and, as a result, numerous myths have arisen about the disorder. For example, HIV infected men in Zimbabwe are raping albinistic women, thus further spreading the infection, because of a belief that they will be cured by having sex with these women. In Tanzania, it was believed that albinos were ghosts who didn’t die, but simply disappeared. Thought to be cursed and bad omens to the family and community, fathers of albinistic children usually desert the family, leaving single-mother homes. Tanzania has one of the largest populations of albinos in the world and, in 2007, this ghost/omen belief changed for the worse.

 

From 2007 to the present, there have been 50+ cases of albino slayings in The United Republic of Tanzania (located in central East Africa) and innumerable deaths that have gone unreported. Jackson Kanerere, a local witch doctor, told ABC News, “There was a man who was not a witch doctor himself, but he came up with the idea that an albino potion can make a person rich, so they started stealing body parts from the graves. When they ran out of graves, they decided that [they] now were going to hunt down live human beings.”

 

There is a primary school where albinistic children can find shelter. Mothers abandon their toddlers to be looked after by other children and teens. There are little to no school supplies to educate them, but they are safe. 11 year-old Eunice Bahati was not so lucky. She was attacked in her home with her two albinistic sisters in a nearby room. She, like a 50 year-old albinistic man, did not survive the limb removal.

 

HIV infected men in Zimbabwe are raping albinistic women, thus further spreading the infection, because of a
belief that they will be cured by having sex with these women. In Tanzania, it was believed that albinos were
ghosts who didn’t die, but simply disappeared… Tanzania has one of the largest populations of albinos in the
world and, in 2007, this ghost/omen belief changed for the worse…

 

As of October 2009, seven people have been convicted for albino killings (four of which where sentenced to death by hanging for the slaying of the 50 year-old man) and even more await trial. The men who attacked 28 year-old Mariamu Stanford were captured, yet, sadly, haven’t been brought to trial. She is thought to be one of only two people to survive these attacks, though she lost both arms and her baby as a result. She had been five months pregnant.

 

The Tanzanian government is doing all it can to capture and convict the attackers of these heinous crimes, as well as to prevent further crimes and dispel the myths, but their resources are fairly limited. Police are unable to properly patrol the rural areas where most of the crimes are being committed. And, even though witch doctor licenses have been banned, witch doctors continue to entice machete-clad men to slaughter for profit. UNICEF and Canadian-based Under the Same Sun have taken up the cause, but much awareness and assistance is still needed…

 

The story doesn’t end here. Each day, more and more people are being mercilessly slain or driven into hiding without the necessary tools to educate and give them hope. We encourage you to do more research and spread awareness…

 

 

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