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RIGHTS-ZIMBABWE: The Last Minority Group to Find a Voice
By Lewis Machipisa
HARARE, Nov 25, 2002 (IPS) - At a time when race relations are strained in
Zimbabwe, one group is finding itself shunned by both white and black
people.
They are the more than 15,000 black people with albinism, an inherited
lack of pigment in the skin, hair, and eyes.
Besides being treated like lepers, there is a rise in the rape of albino
women fuelled by myths that if an HIV-positive man sleeps with an albino
woman he would be cured.
‘'With the HIV/AIDS pandemic, most albino ladies are being taken
advantage of because of their skin colour. There is this traditional belief
that if you sleep with an albino woman, you get cured,'' says Felicity
Mwamuka of the Zimbabwe Albino Association (ZIMAS).
Zimbabwe, with a population of about 13 million, has a high prevalent
rate of one HIV-positive person for every four sexually active people.
But like elsewhere in Africa, Zimbabwe's albinos are the last minority
group to find a voice.
Treated like outcasts from birth, albinos are shunned by society and
unable to find jobs. ‘'We want a situation where every albino has his or her
own income-generating project because it's difficult for us to get employed.
When you apply (for a job) you do not mention that you are an albino. They
invite you for interview but the minute you walk through the door and they
see you, they tell you the job is gone,'' says Mercy Maunganidze of the
Zimbabwe Albino Association.
The fact that Maunganidze has lived to tell her story shows that the
society's attitude is changing. Traditionally, albinos used to be killed at
birth. Although the situation is different now, they still face
life-threatening problems, she says.
‘'You can't even start selling vegetables as no one will buy from you
because you are an albino. Over time, the frustration is so much that it
affects you negatively,'' Maunganidze says. ‘'If you keep on thinking about
what people say about you or do to you, you will have tears on your cheeks
forever.''
But the discrimination is especially onerous for albino women whose sharp
African features contrast with their white skin. White people, whose
relations with their black compatriots have strained since President Robert
Mugabe launched his black empowerment policy two years ago, make up less
than one percent of Zimbabwe's population.
‘'Many albino men marry easily than their female counterparts because the
society believes that an albino girl will bring albino children. It takes
time for albino women, most of whom are single parents, to marry,'' says
Mwamuka.
It is also hard for albino children to fit easily into school. Take the
case of Gertrude Sumairi and her husband; both are black, but 10 years ago,
they had an albino child.
‘'At first people laughed and I was shy to walk with my son. I had to
stay in the house and only moved with my son when there were few people
around. Even at school, other kids would laugh at my son. This made my son
not want to go to school,'' recalls Sumairi.
While Sumairi was lucky that her husband accepted their albino son, in
most cases, fathers of children with albinism often suspect their mates of
being unfaithful, resulting in marriage break-up.
Concurring, John Makumbe, the chairperson of ZIMAS, says when he went to
school the other children refused to share the desk or books with him.
Makumbe, who is a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, says people
often shun an albino for fear that albinism is infectious.
A recent ZIMAS survey shows that more than 63 percent of albinos
contacted come from broken homes. In most cases, the father abandoned the
family when the albino child was born.
The majority of albinos are semi-literate, unemployed or self-employed.
Many do not reach beyond primary school education. In worst cases, people
with albinism are often regarded as a curse from God or a sign that their
ancestors are unhappy.
The Zimbabwe Albino Association, which is trying to educate the society
about albinism, says it has received little support for the Trust, set up in
1996.
When a donor sends aid, the association has difficulty clearing it
because of the high customs duties charged on imports into Zimbabwe.
The association is urging the government to declare albinism a disability
so that import duty can be waived for its members.
The life expectancy of albinos is 43 years compared to 57 years for
dark-skinned Zimbabweans, says ZIMAS. Only 29 percent of albinos live to
reach the age of 60 years.
Albinism, which also causes vision problems and leaves the skin
susceptible to sunburn and cancer, is a genetic condition in which the
enzyme necessary to produce dark pigment in the skin is absent.
Maunganidze says because of the vulnerability of their skin, their cells
mutate and disfigure, causing fatal skin cancer.
The albinos have appealed to the government to place sunscreen lotion on
the essential-drugs list so that they can come into the country duty free.
Researchers say the term ‘'albino'' was first applied by the Portuguese
to ‘'white'' people they encountered in West Africa during the scramble for
Africa a century ago. Those ‘'white'' people probably had partial or
complete albinism, they believe. (END)
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