ALBINOS: THEY ARE PART OF US. THEY DINT CHOOSE TO BE LIKE THIS. sTOP vIOLENCE and dISCRIMINATION TOWARDS ALBINOS

I stared at the three boys for quite some time. Anyone would, because they are always the center of attraction wherever they go. Their clad is also very different from normal peoples. With big hats and long sleeved shirts that had a written message on their backs said “Mungu Ananithamini”. A Swahili sentence that means God Values me. Now that’s a rather powerful message. It reminded me of the discrimination and violence people with complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes went through in their communities. 

Violence towards albinism has grossly increased in the east African countries especially Tanzania due to the notion of the uncouth naive native witch doctors that getting a specific body part of a person suffering from albinism can make you rich. To my disappointment some people in our communities heed to the notions and do unjust things like killing or cutting of the body parts forcefully. Recently in Mwanza Tanzania some people attacked a woman with a toddler a few months old baby, forcefully took the child and hacked the poor mother who was trying to protect her sibling with a machete on the forehead on the right eye through the nose to the left cheek bone. 

Damn you ghouls, whoever you are decapitating and killing albinos. You must pay for your sins one day. And shame on the reluctant Tanzanian government. This has forced many of those with albinism especially children to live in Care Centers managed by NGO’s and this completely separates them from the community. In Kenya the cases of discrimination and violence encouraged by naïve notions has reduced greatly. And thanks to the Kenya citizens because they elected a senator with the melanin deficiency. This shows how they are accepted and appreciated in the community.

People with albinism suffer from far much problems that with fear included they feel already dead. 

This is what you must understand about albinism. 

 

Albinism includes a group of inherited disorders that are characterized by little or no production of the pigment melanin. The type and amount of melanin your body produces determines the color of your skin, hair and eyes. Most people with albinism are sensitive to sun exposure and are at increased risk of developing skin cancer. Albinism is caused by a mutation in one of several genes. Each of these genes provides instructions for making one of several proteins involved in the production of melanin. Melanin is produced by cells called melanocytes, which are found in your skin and eyes. A mutation may result in no melanin at all or a significant decline in the amount of melanin. In some types of albinism, a person must inherit two copies of a mutated gene — one from each parent — in order to have albinism (recessive inheritance).
Regardless of which gene mutation is present, vision impairment is a key feature of all types of albinism. These impairments are caused by irregular development of the optic nerve pathways from the eye to the brain and from abnormal development of the retina.
 Though there's no cure for albinism, people with the disorder can take steps to protect their skin and maximize their vision. Signs of albinism are usually, but not always, apparent in a person's skin, hair and eye color. However, all people with the disorder experience vision problems.
Skin: Although the most recognizable form of albinism results in white hair and pinkish skin, skin coloring (pigmentation) can range from white to brown, and may be nearly the same as that of parents or siblings without albinism. For some people with albinism, skin pigmentation never changes. For others, melanin production may begin or increase during childhood and the teen years, resulting in slight changes in pigmentation. With exposure to the sun, some people may develop:

• Freckles
• Moles, with or without pigment — moles without pigment are generally pink-colored
• Large freckle-like spots (lentigines)
• The ability to tan

Hair: Hair color can range from very white to brown. People of African or Asian descent who have albinism may have hair color that's yellow, reddish or brown. Hair color may also darken by early adulthood.

Eye color: Eye color can range from very light blue to brown and may change with age.

The lack of pigment in the colored part of the eyes (irises) makes them somewhat translucent. This means that the irises can't completely block light from entering the eye. Because of this, very light-colored eyes may appear red in some lighting. This occurs because you're seeing light reflected off the back of the eye and passing back out through the iris again — similar to the red-eye that occurs in a flash photo.

Vision: Signs and symptoms of albinism related to eye function include:

• Rapid, involuntary back-and-forth movement of the eyes (nystagmus)
• Inability of both eyes to stay directed at the same point or to move in unison (strabismus)
• Extreme nearsightedness or farsightedness
• Sensitivity to light (photophobia)
• Abnormal curvature of the front surface of your eye or the lens inside your eye (astigmatism), which causes blurred vision

PEOPLE WITH THIS DISORDER DID NOT CHOOSE TO BE THAT WAY AND CANT ESCAPE FROM IT BECAUSE IT IS INHERITED. STOP VIOLENCE AND DISCRIMINATION TOWARDS ALBINOS.

Thanks to the courtesy of Mayo Clinic.