Tanzania has just appointed its first-ever albino MP — a really big deal in a country where spiritual leaders often call for the murder of albinos and the use of their body parts as ingredients in magic potions. She’s the one with the huge wonderful grin on the right. From the BBC:
Tanzania’s first albino MP has told the BBC of her surprise at being nominated by the president — and her determination to fight the discrimination that she and other people with albinism suffer.
Twenty people with albinism have been murdered in the past year in Tanzania, where there is a widespread belief that the condition is the result of a curse.But a crackdown on the witch doctors who encourage the killing of people with albinism was recently announced — and as part of this, 48-year-old Al-Shymaa Kway-Geer was appointed.
[…] Our correspondent says that in some parts of the country, people think albinos bring bad luck to the whole community.
While there have not yet been any prosecutions regarding the recent spate of murders, 172 were last month arrested in connection to the cases — 71 of whom said they had been told by witch doctors to bring them albino body parts.
The word “zeru,” a derogatory term that means something along the lines of “ghost-like creature,” has been banned in Tanzania, but Kway-Geer says there’s lots more work to be done. She plans to ensure Tanzanian albinos have unrestricted access to education, as well as treatment for the vision problems and extreme sensitivity to sunlight that albinism often causes.
By the way, a big thank-you to the BBC, which generally recognizes that there is a world outside of its home country. Sadly, that’s becoming something of a rarity among news organizations.
Image from the BBC.
1 response so far ↓
1 B // May 4, 2008 at 10:39 am
…are you referring to CNN again? If so, you should really start watching CNN World.
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