Albinism--The Documentary

It is quite rare that I watch television. I watch the morning news every day and find myself watching The Unit on Sundays. This weekend was an exception to the rule. Before heading to Zumba class on Saturday morning, I watched a documentary on Albinism.  The documentary highlighted the torment and bullying that happens to children who are Albino in the United States. One girl had done an extreme make-over to “fit in.” She had her hair, eyebrows, and eye lashes dyed. She at least had the resources to do that.

The most shocking thing that I learned from this documentary was that in Tanzania, there are groups of people who are “hunting” Albino people. Their limbs and hair are cut off to be used in a witch doctor’s potions. It is believed that the parts haves special healing and longevity powers. The woman featured in this part of the documentary had a child of her own. Her arms had been cut off at the elbows. Prosthetics had been given to her, but they hurt her too bad for her to wear them. She couldn’t clothe, bathe, or feed herself, let alone care for her child. She was brought to the United States to have prosthesis made especially for her. She learned how to put them on herself and how to use the two hooks that she would use as her hands.

There was a journalist who went in undercover and told the story about a woman who had four children. The woman was threatened by a group of hunters. They demanded the albino 7- month old. They told her if she screamed, they would kill her other three children too. Could you imagine being in this situation? Her baby was killed and her other three children survived.

There are schools and safe places for the albino children to stay. These places are in desperate need of resources of things that I take for granted like hats to protect them from the sun.

Aren’t we especially lucky?