AFRICANEWS

Zimbabwe

Albinos: Black yet white

Human rights

They cannot easily get a job, let alone a marriage partner, because they are white and people of their own black race discriminate against them. However, with the formation of the Zimbabwe Albino Association (ZIMAS), there is hope that society will learn to accept albinos as normal human beings.

Even with a good education, albinos cannot easily secure a job. Thirty-four-year-old Felicity Mwamuka, is an albino lady from Harare. Although she is a qualified receptionist, she cannot get a job. She thinks employers discriminate against her because she is an albino. Both albino men and women find it difficult to get a marriage partner, but the situation is even worse for the women.
Felicity said a survey carried out in April 1997 by ZIMAS revealed that very few albinos got married, and that less female than male albinos were likely to engage in any marriage at all.
"It is easier for an albino man to marry a black woman than for an albino woman to marry a black man," she said.

As a solution to the marriage problem, albino women think that if they get skin care lotions to make their skin smooth and beautiful, they will be able to attract men who could marry them.
Asked why albino girls were failing to get marriage partners when in fact there were hundreds of unmarried albino men, Felicity said it was not advisable for albinos to marry each other, as they were likely to bear albino children only.

"It is not advisable for albinos to marry each other, because this would spread the gene that causes albinism. That is why in places like Masvingo, where people of the same clan inter-marry (kuroorana vematongo), there are many albinos. And that is what we are trying to avoid," she said.
According to medical experts, one becomes an albino when both one's parents have albinos in their families. This can be uncles, aunts but distant cousins or long-forgotten great-great-grandparents. Usually the parents themselves are not albinos, but both parents are then certainly all their children will also be albinos.

In a society where women are marginalised and abused, the situation is worse for albino women. Felicity said ZIMAS discovered in its survey that about 20 per cent of the total population of albino women in the country were single mothers who were abused by men who took advantage of their vulnerability and denied responsibility.
To overcome this, another albino lady from Harare, Mercy Maunganidze said: "Albino girls need counselling to protect them from easily falling in love with boys who might only want to get them pregnant and refuse paternity. They should learn to say no when boys propose to them for fun of it. Counselling will prevent the girls from falling into the plight. Albino girls should accept themselves as they are, and have self-esteem, otherwise they will suffer from inferiority complex."

Since its formation on November 3, 1996, ZIMAS has so far made use of both television channels and newspapers to publicise the plight of the more than the 4,000 albinos countrywide and to educate society to accept them as normal people.
"We want people to know that albinism is not contagious; you cannot contract it through shaking hands with an albino," said Dr John Makumbe, political science lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe and founder and president of ZIMAS. Neither can albinism be prevented, he added.

Despite his social standing as university lecturer, Dr Makumbe still suffers discrimination from among his university peers.
"At tea time in the university canteen, I take the biscuit I touch, because no one would like to eat what has been touched by an albino," said Dr Makumbe.
Albinos are born without the colouring pigment in skin and hair, and their eyes are usually sensitive to light. In Africa, where there is a lot of sunshine, albinos are more likely to suffer from skin cancer than anywhere else in the world. Traditionally in Zimbabwe, because of .superstitious belief, albinos were seen as a bad omen and killed at birth. Although in modern day Zimbabwe fear of the albino is no longer as crude, it exists in the minds of many people, and one of ZIMAS's goals is to conscientise society against this prejudice.
Mr Richard Nyathi, vice president and founder member of ZIMAS and also a librarian with the ministry ,of industry and commerce in Harare, joined ZIMAS after he had lost his 30 year old albino brother to skin cancer.

Mr Nyathi graduated with a library and Information Science diploma at the Harare Polytechnic, but got his job after a long distance He said although albinos were generally discriminated against by most employees, the private sector was more discriminatory against them than the public sectors.
"Private sector employers think that employing an albino would tarnish their image" he said, adding that it was through the Public Service Commission that he managed to get his present job. Some albino ladies who trained as receptionists think that discrimination against albino employees is experienced equally in both sectors.
They apply for a job like anybody else only to be turned down after eye to eye contact with the prospective employer.
Discrimination against albinos is not only found in the workplace, but also in schools and in college. Nyathi said in school teachers were unsympathetic about his eye sight problem and ordered him to sit at the back of the class where he could not see the blackboard . He did not have glasses then.

Like anybody else, albinos can do many things. After completing his Rhodesia Junior Certificate in 1979, Nyathi `fought' as a primary school teacher on the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) side of the liberation struggle at a refugee transit camp in Botswana, until independence in 1980.
But unlike many, albinos can noble sacrifice. Although he said he imparted knowledge to fellow freedom fighters under dangerous and harsh conditions, which resulted in him developing stomach ulcers due to poor diet at the camp, Mr Nyathi however does not want to join the band wagon of those making compensation claims to the government. He said he joined the struggle with a genuine motive to liberate the country from colonialism, although his duties did not include the handling of the gun.

Because they are near-sighted, many albinos suffer natural discrimination, especially when it comes to driving a car. "Because of our poor sight we cannot pass the driving tests. Some of us can drive, but it is very risky," Mr Nyathi said.
Dr Makumbe said some albinos were joining the organisation with the hope of being assisted by ZIMAS to acquire drivers licence, but he agreed it was risky.
Mr Nyathi said ZIMAS has applied to the ministry of industry and commerce to import cars with tinted glasses duty-free for albinos. But the ministry initially turned down the request, preferring to do so only when legislation has been passed that redefines an albino and recognises him or her as a disabled person in need of special treatment.

ZIMAS is lobbying government to recognise albinos as disabled people, so that they can receive free medical care and similar sympathetic treatment like other disabled people in the country. The current Disabled Person Act (1996) does not recognise an albino as a disabled person. However, Mr Nyathi said the government has already considered amending the law to include albinos.
ZIMAS is also working in conjunction with the ministry of health and child welfare to educate women who give birth to albinos to give special care to the children. Makumbe thinks that albino children should get the best education parents can afford, if the child is to be successful in life and overcome the social stigma associated with albinism.
As a way of protecting their children from developing skin cancer in later life, mothers are urged to love their albino children and keep them away from excess light.
"The problem of skin cancer can affect all albinos, but it has to be prevented at an early stage," said the twenty-two-year-old Mercy. Mercy is lucky that she has a caring mother who understands what she needs and regularly buys her skin care lotion, no matter how expensive it might be. She said after every three weeks her widowed mother, who earns a living making business trips to South Africa, spends $180 on her skin care.

She sympathised with albino girls who are in remote rural area where there was no access to these lotions, let alone medical doctors who could examine them and recommend appropriate drugs. Both ladies said they are grateful to Dr Makumbe for starting ZIMAS, which has so far petitioned a local optician to provide spectacles for its members, and a local pharmaceutical company to provide them with skin care lotion. They however said the monthly supply is too limited to satisfy the needs of all albinos countrywide.
The ladies also suggested that the education ministry introduce text books with large print for albinos to see clearly. They also urged all albinos to try and protect their heads and skin in sunny weather by carrying an umbrella wherever they might go.
ZIMAS is appealing to well-wishers to help albinos in both cash and kind. Some of the pressing needs ZIMAS has already identified include the need for spectacles for students, the need for sun-screen lotions, the need for long-sleeved shirts, hats and shoes, the need for funds for regular checks on skin cancer, and appropriate medical treatment.

In its survey, ZIMAS has identified more 1,500 needy albinos and has sent petitions to various members of the public.
ZIMAS is also looking for office from which to co-ordinate its activities, and will be grateful if anyone could make a room available in Harare. ZIMAS can be reached on the telephone number 573980 and telefax 333674, Harare-Zimbabwe.

(Source:Catholic Church News, Zimbabwe)

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