Why doesn't the Tanzanian albino black live to adulthood? Why are albino people killed in Africa?
What is happening these days in Africa in the 21st century defies common sense. It is a real crime that our developed countries turn a blind eye to the terror that occurs on the territory of these seemingly small, picturesque and exotic countries. Terror perpetrated by the citizens themselves against their “dissimilar” fellow citizens. The authorities of these countries officially declare their complete powerlessness to do anything to stop the bloodbath.
Albinism (Latin albus, “white”) is a congenital absence of pigment in the skin, hair, iris and pigment membranes of the eye. There are complete and partial albinism. It is currently believed that the cause of the disease is the absence (or blockade) of the enzyme tyrosinase, which is necessary for the normal synthesis of melanin, a special substance on which the color of tissues depends.
In Europe and North America, there is one albino for every 20 thousand people. In Africa their number is much higher - one per 4 thousand people. According to Mr. Kimaya, there are about 370 thousand albinos in Tanzania. The government of the country cannot guarantee the safety of any of them.
It so happened that Africans, who by a whim of nature turned out to be white, had to flee from their own neighbors. Their life often resembles a nightmare when you don’t know whether, when you wake up in the morning, you will be able to live until the evening. Apart from ignorant people, albinos are mercilessly tormented by the hot African sun. White skin and eyes are defenseless against powerful ultraviolet radiation. Such people are forced to rarely go outside or apply copious amounts of sunscreen, which many simply do not have the money for. Because there is simply no one there who doesn’t have them!
In South Africa there is a belief that an albino disappears after death, as if melting into thin air. In this regard, there are always several “defects” who want to check: is it true or not? And... they kill albinos!
The African authorities blame the village shamans for the current situation, whose opinions the population still listens to; they simply sacredly and stupidly believe them. Attitudes towards albinos are ambiguous even among the “black magicians” themselves: some attribute special positive properties to their bodies, while others consider them cursed, bringing the evil of the other world.
Albinos in Tanzania live in constant fear for their lives. Local shamans pay for their blood, eyes and other body parts, which are used in pagan rituals. It is believed that a person who kills an albino gains special power by coming into contact with the other world. Despite the efforts of the authorities, it has not yet been possible to stop the wave of reprisals against citizens without pigmentation.
The picture shows small albino children at recess in the courtyard of a primary school for the blind in Mitido, the pictures were taken on January 25, 2009. This school has become a real refuge for rare albino children. The school in Mitido is also guarded by army soldiers, children feel safer than at home with their parents.
A small island of relative safety for albinos is the Oncological Institute in Dar es Salaam. In the alley near the hospital there are Africans with milky skin and rust-colored hair. Their bodies are covered with burns and scabs - in addition to the shamans, albino people are suffering from skin cancer. Unlike Europe, where people with congenital lack of pigmentation can receive timely, qualified help, in Africa they rarely live past 40 years.
The well-known organization the Red Cross is actively recruiting volunteers, conducting its propaganda all over the world, very often Africans themselves join it. Pictured July 5, 2009, a Tanzanian Red Cross Society (TRCS) volunteer holds the hand of an albino toddler at a picnic organized by TRCS at a government school for the disabled in Kabanga, in the west of the country near the town of Kigomu on Lake Tanganyika.
It just shocked me! Find out why being born an albino in Africa is so dangerous and what makes people so cruel to them. Incredible facts that will give you goosebumps...
Today we would like to talk about a topic that is rarely discussed. You may have seen albinos several times. Maybe you even know one of them closely. As is known, albinism is a genetic disease characterized by the absence of melanin pigment in the skin, hair and iris of the eyes.
Play sports, stick to proper nutrition and!
Both people and animals are susceptible to this disease. The lack of melanin also causes other serious skin diseases, because in this case the skin is too sensitive to the effects of sunlight.
Being an albino is not at all easy, but it is even worse to suffer from this disease in countries with a hot climate. For example, in Africa.
Today we will tell you the story of a young African model, Thando Hopa. It was thanks to her that the world became aware of the monstrous difficulties that albinos are forced to face.
History of the Tando Hopa model
Tando Hopa is 24 years old. This girl is not only a model, but also a lawyer. She considers herself very lucky, because being an albino in Africa is a real curse. She completed her studies in Johannesburg. It was there that the girl attracted a lot of attention due to her delicate and exotic appearance.
Thanks to this, Thando became a catwalk star and began to shine on magazine covers. Thando is one of the few business representatives with albinism known in our world.
It is possible that it was success and fame that prompted her to study law in order to tell the world about the social drama, unfamiliar to most people, that is playing out in Africa.
Albinism as a curse in Africa
It may seem strange to you, but it’s true: exactly Africa is one of the continents with the most people living with albinism. There are especially many albinos in Tanzania.
Experts still do not fully know the reasons for this strange phenomenon. There are suspicions that the culprit of albinism is the blood relationship and heredity of the first settlers from Europe who came to the African continent. It is here that the number of albinos is 15% higher than in other regions of the world.
According to Tando Hop, albinism in Africa means not only a serious physical defect, but also a real social drama. The sun's rays here are very aggressive, which is why many people develop blindness. After all, human skin and eyes without melanin are extremely sensitive to the sun and need serious protection. In addition, society is very suspicious of such “special” people.
Albinos are often called “zeru-zeru,” which means “child of the devil or ghosts.” Albinism is believed to be the result of a sin committed by parents who made a pact with the devil himself. The white skin of the children is considered evidence of this conspiracy. This is why many mothers choose to abandon such children.
A living albino is worth nothing, but a dead one is worth its weight in gold. Why is this happening? The fact is that some ethnic groups in Africa, as well as sorcerers in distant villages, believe that the blood and organs of albinos have magical properties and can be treated for various diseases. Thus, people suffering from albinism find themselves on a par with rhinoceros horns and elephant tusks.
Some people are willing to pay a lot of money for an albino, and he could easily be deprived of a limb or even killed.
Many humanitarian organizations have been sounding the alarm for a long time, trying to convey this monstrous truth to others. Very often, armed groups of people go out at night to hunt for children and adults with albinism. When they find their victim, they amputate limbs or take the life of a defenseless person. This is due to the fact that a lot of money is paid for the blood and organs of albinos. Because of this, cruel killers do not experience the slightest shadow of doubt when taking the life of their next victim. Of course, we find it difficult to believe such cruelty.
Being an albino in Africa is a real curse. It is good that there are people like Thando Hopa who are not afraid to open the eyes of the world to this monstrous drama. Many international organizations strive to protect and provide social support to these unfortunate people whose lives are in danger every day. This is especially true for Tanzania.
It is known that a large number of albinos die there every year. They become victims of attacks by heartless people or die as a result of untreated diseases. Skin burns, infected wounds and cancer are the main problems that people with albinism have to face.
Today, many of the children who have been attacked are forced to adapt to life without limbs. And despite this, many of them continue to smile. Although it is not at all easy to be different, to be different from the rest. Unfortunately, it still often happens in society that people who are different are persecuted.
In black Africa, these people with their milky white skin and straw-colored hair are called “living ghosts.” But albinos are afraid not only and not so much of verbal insults: they are tracked down here, they are hunted. For what? To satisfy the growing demand for their blood and body parts used in black magic: arms, legs, genitals, skin, hair, eyes...
Victims
To be fair, it should be clarified that attitudes towards albinos in Africa are different. Some people honor them as the chosen ones, God-given, bringing good luck and wealth. Others ridicule, reject, despise, for them they are messengers of evil forces, fiends of hell. But in any case, it is believed that a person who kills an albino gains special power by coming into contact with the other world. Albino body parts are used as talismans and amulets to protect the living from the machinations of the dead, ghosts and demons. Witches and sorcerers, shamans, healers and sorcerers claim that the blood of these sufferers increases the power of spells, helps to become stronger, and gain immortality.
Fishermen believe that if you weave red albino hair into your net, its golden shine will attract fish and increase the catch several times. And if you are really lucky, the fish caught in this way will have a belly full of gold.
Miners extracting gold, rubies and the mineral tanzanite wear “ju-ju” amulets containing albino ashes around their necks and arms. They pay a lot of money for amulets and potions made from albino body parts. It is believed that this way you can achieve wealth and prosperity. Local miners bring pieces of the body of albinos to gold deposits so that the gold comes to the surface. They also bury their bones in rock, which is supposed to ensure good luck.
But it is clear to anyone that you can get the body of an albino only in one case - if you kill him.
Not life, but a nightmare
Note: all this is happening now, today. There are especially many ritual killings in Tanzania. Recently, a seven-month-old girl was killed in the area of the large city of Mwanza. Her relatives were involved in the case: the family ordered the baby's mother, Salma, to dress
daughter in black and leave her alone in the hut. A few hours later, unknown men with a machete entered there, cut off the girl’s legs, cut her throat, poured the blood into a vessel and... drank it.
Another victim of the terrible ritual was 50-year-old Nyerere Rutahiro: four strangers attacked him, grabbed him and began to cut off his legs, saying: “We need your legs! The healer paid for them!” The murdered man's sister, also an albino, now fears for her life.
But real panic among Tanzanian albinos began after it became known about 10-year-old Esther Charles: the killers dismembered her body and sold it for
parts. In early May 2008, in western Tanzania, two men with long knives burst into a hut where the Makoi family was having lunch, attacked 17-year-old albino Vumiliya, sawed off her legs above the knee and fled. The girl died.
Near the town of Shinyanga, a 13-year-old albino girl was lured out of her home by telling her that a film about Jesus would be shown in the village. When Elizabeth was returning home, a mob armed with a machete hacked the unfortunate woman to death and dismembered her body, fragments of which were found in the house of a healer - he himself escaped from the police thanks to the fact that someone warned him. And two days later, 47-year-old albino Ezekiel John was shot dead near the city of Kigoma: unknown assailants cut off his arms and legs. As reported in independent, in Tanzania over the past year the number of brutal deaths involving albinos has already reached thirty-five.
Not only in Tanzania
Alas, the hunt for albinos also takes place in other countries, especially in eastern and central Africa - in the Congo (Kinshasa), Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, etc. The killers are driven not only by pagan beliefs, but also by the thirst for profit - the hand of an albino is worth 2 million Tanzanian shillings, i.e. about 1.2 thousand dollars.
In Kenya, at the end of May 2008, an albino woman was hacked to death, her eyes and tongue were cut out, and her breasts were cut off.
While trying to enter the Republic of Congo, a man with an albino child's head in his luggage was detained: a businessman there offered to pay him generously for the trophy.
In November 2008, the Daily News reported on a 35-year-old Lake Tanganyika fisherman who tried to sell his 24-year-old albino wife to two Congolese businessmen for approximately £2,000.
Murders also occur in Burundi. The victims are adults and children. Journalists from the German newspaper Die Welt managed to talk to 19-year-old Richard Cisa, who fled from his home village in Burundi, fearing for his life. The young man found refuge with the prosecutor Nikodim Gahimbare, whose house is surrounded by a three-meter fence and looks like a fortress: he decided to shelter all the local albinos and provide them with protection. So far, only 25 people have reached it...
Salvation Island
But it's not just about murder - albinos have an incredibly difficult time getting jobs, and their children need bodyguards to get to school safely. Even the corpses of albinos are not left alone: heavy stone blocks must be placed on the graves, otherwise the grave diggers will certainly dig everything up and steal the body.
It's no surprise that many albinos flock to the remote island of Ukerewe in Lake Victoria in search of refuge. “Life is still better on the island,” says albino Alphonse Kajanja, a fishmonger at Ukerewe market. “People here don’t believe these satanic stories.”
Truly - tales. After all, albinism is not even a disease, but a manifestation of a set of recessive genes that deprive the human body of the protective pigment melanin. Without it, the sun's rays literally kill albinos; they suffer from sunburn, skin diseases, even skin cancer. The eyes are also deprived of protection. The average life expectancy of the unfortunate is 30 years.
Around the world, approximately 1 person out of every 20 thousand is an albino, i.e. almost 1% of the world's population. But in Africa there are more of them, 1 in 5000: in Nigeria - 1 in 3000, in some places - 1 in 1000. In Tanzania, out of a population of 40 million, 200 thousand are albinos.
But why are there especially many of them in Africa? Because clan and closely related marriages are common among local tribes. And if both parents carry recessive genes, then the child will be born an albino!
Ukerewe Island appears to have the highest concentration of albinos on the planet. According to one of the local legends, this is explained by a certain mineral in the local fish. But, most likely, minerals have nothing to do with it - it’s just that the kind-hearted population of Ukereve has long welcomed and cared for albinos, and sometimes even takes in little white, red-haired children for upbringing.
Whites... are doomed
To combat the spread of superstitions, the Albino Society was established in Tanzania. Its secretary general, Zihada Msembo, says that until recently its only enemy was the sun. Now, when she goes out into the street, she is more afraid of passers-by. “They slaughter us like chickens,” says Zihada.
- We are already afraid to live. If you are an albino and leave work in the evening, then there is no certainty that you will get home safely. When you go to bed, you are not sure that you will wake up safe and sound.
Albinos in Malawi, after a two-year struggle, achieved state registration of their organization, the Albino Association of Malawi. “We want society to understand that we are people too,” said one of the Association members. “What’s happening is crazy and terrible.”
Meanwhile, Western scientists are now working on an interesting version, according to which the so-called Caucasian (white) race appeared precisely thanks to mutants from among the black Africans, i.e., albinos, who moved to the north. So, according to deep genetic roots, all whites are African blacks! They also write that true white “natural blondes” now make up only 8% of the planet’s population, and since the dark pigment is always stronger than the light one, it is he who wins. That's why there are fewer and fewer white people. And in about 200 years they will not be on Earth at all...
Eduardo was born and raised in a fishing village on Lake Tanganyika. He was the fifth child in an ordinary family of Tanzanian fishermen who make their living in lake waters. He himself, like his parents and brothers and sisters, was a typical Tanzanian - dark-skinned with black curly hair.
When the time came, he married his neighbor, the pretty black girl Maria, whom he had his eye on as a teenager. The young people settled in a separate hut. Eduardo adored his wife and was over the moon when she became pregnant.
The family idyll ended as soon as Eduardo looked at the newborn - a white-skinned girl with whitish fluff on her head. The husband, in a rage, showered his wife with a hail of reproaches, accusing her of all mortal sins: she supposedly contacted evil spirits, she was burdened by a family curse, and the gods sent her a “zera” (“ghost” in the local dialect) as punishment. To top off the scandal, Eduardo brutally beat Maria and kicked her and her child out of the house, depriving her of all help and support.
The unfortunate woman was not accepted by her parents either. Only the 70-year-old grandfather, who lived in a squalid shack on the outskirts of the village, took pity on her.
Maria had a hard time. The villagers shied away from her as if she were plagued. She somehow earned food for herself and her daughter Louise through hard daily work, and the baby remained under the supervision of her grandfather all day.
When Luisa was eight months old, Eduardo and three accomplices burst into the hut. Everyone was very drunk. In front of the grandfather's eyes, numb with horror, they cut the girl's throat, drained her blood into a placed wineskin, tore out her tongue, cut off her arms and legs...
Further dismemberment was prevented by the terrible scream of Maria returning from work. The woman lost consciousness. And the criminals, grabbing a wineskin with blood and cut off body parts, rushed away.
Louise's remains were buried right there, in the hut, so that other albino hunters would not encroach on her bones.
Africa is hell for the “colorless”
Unfortunately, this tragedy is typical for the countries of South-East Africa. The percentage here is abnormally high albinos- people with congenital absence of pigment in the skin, hair and iris of the eyes. If in Europe and North America there is one albino per 20 thousand people, then in Tanzania this ratio is 1:1400, in Kenya and Burundi - 1:5000.
It is believed that this disease is caused by a genetic defect leading to the absence (or blockade) of the enzyme tyrosinase, which is necessary for the normal synthesis of melanin, a special substance on which the color of tissues depends. In addition, scientists claim that an albino child can only be born when both parents have the gene for this disorder.
In Tanzania and other East African countries, albinos are outcasts and forced to marry only among themselves. This could be considered the main reason for the high proportion of albinos among the local population, because such families usually produce white children.
However, they are often born into families where there has not been a single albino in the entire chain of generations. So science throws up its hands, unable to explain the reason for such a high percentage of albinism in these territories.
Africa is a living hell for albinos. The burning rays of the tropical sun are destructive to them. Their skin and eyes are especially susceptible to ultraviolet radiation and are practically not protected from it, and therefore by the age of 16-18, albinos lose 60-80% of their vision, and by the age of 30 they have a 60% chance of developing skin cancer. 90% of these people do not live to be 50 years old. And in addition to all the misfortunes, a real hunt has been announced for them.
Crime and Punishment
Why didn't their white-skinned brothers please the black Africans? Not knowing the true nature of this genetic deviation, local residents, most of whom cannot read or write, explain the appearance of an albino child as a generational curse, damage, or God's punishment for the sins of the parents.
For example, the aborigines believe that the father of such a child can only be an evil spirit. One of the albinos says this:
I am not from the human world. I am part of the spirit world.
According to another version, prevailing in African society, albinos are born because their parents had sex during the period when the woman was menstruating, or during the full moon, or it happened in broad daylight, which is strictly prohibited by local rules.
And therefore, some village sorcerers, who still enjoy great authority among the population, consider albinos cursed, bringing the evil of the other world, and therefore subject to destruction. Others, on the contrary, claim that the flesh of albinos is healing, there is something in their blood and hair that brings wealth, power and happiness.
And that’s why healers and sorcerers pay hunters for albinos a lot of money. They know that if you sell the victim's body in parts - tongue, eyes, limbs, etc. - you can earn up to 100 thousand dollars. This is what an average Tanzanian earns over 25-50 years. Therefore, it is not surprising that the “colorless” are mercilessly exterminated.
Since 2006, about a hundred albinos have died in Tanzania. They were killed, dismembered and sold to sorcerers.
Until recently, hunting for albinos was almost not punished - the system of mutual responsibility led to the fact that the community basically declared them “missing”. This gave rise to a sense of impunity in the hunters, and they behaved like real bloodthirsty savages.
So, in Burundi they broke into the clay hut of the widow Genorose Nizigiyimana. The hunters grabbed her six-year-old son and dragged her outside.
Right in the yard, having shot the boy, the hunters skinned him in front of his hysterical mother. Having taken the “most valuable” things: tongue, penis, arms and legs, the bandits abandoned the mutilated corpse of the child and disappeared. None of the local residents helped the mother, since almost everyone considered her cursed.
Sometimes the killing of the victim occurs with the consent of relatives. Thus, Salma, the mother of a seven-year-old girl, was ordered by her family to dress her daughter in black and leave her alone in the hut. The woman, suspecting nothing, did as she was told. But I decided to hide and see what would happen next.
A few hours later, unknown men entered the hut. They used a machete to cut off the girl's legs. Then they cut her throat, drained the blood into a vessel and drank it.
The list of such atrocities is very long. But the Western public, outraged by the brutal practices in Tanzania, forced local authorities to take up the search and punishment of cannibals.
In 2009, the first trial of the killers of an albino took place in Tanzania. Three men killed a 14-year-old boy and cut him into pieces to sell to sorcerers. The court sentenced the villains to death by hanging.
Eduardo, whose crime was described at the beginning of this article, was subjected to the same punishment. His accomplices were sentenced to life imprisonment.
After several such ships, the hunters became more inventive. They stopped killing albinos, and just maimed them by cutting off their limbs. Now, even if the criminals are caught, they will be able to avoid the death penalty, and will receive only 5-8 years for grievous bodily harm. Over the past three years, almost a hundred albinos have had their arms or legs cut off, and three have died as a result of such “operations.”
The African Fund for Albinos, financed by Europeans, the Red Cross Society and other Western public organizations are trying to provide all possible assistance to these unfortunate people. They are placed in special boarding schools, they are given medicines, sunscreens, dark glasses...
In these establishments, behind high walls and under reliable security, the “colorless” are isolated from the dangers of the outside world. But in Tanzania alone there are about 370 thousand albinos. You can’t hide everyone in boarding schools.
Nikolay VALENTINOV, magazine "Secrets of the 20th Century" No. 13, 2017
According to official statistics, Tanzania has the highest number of albinos per population, and this number is 15 times higher than the world average. But unfortunately, there is a real hunt for albinos there, where they are literally chopped into pieces and eaten as medicine. Read on, not for the faint of heart.
On average, there is 1 albino per 20 thousand people worldwide. In Tanzania the ratio is 1:1400, in Kenya and Burundi it is 1:5000. Scientists still cannot clearly explain why in these areas the percentage of albinos is so high. It is known that both parents must have the gene for this deviation in order for their child to be born “transparent”. In Tanzania, albinos are considered the most outcast part of society, and they are forced to marry among themselves. Perhaps this is the main reason for the abnormally high percentage of such people in these territories.
The high number of albinos is “regulated” by consumer consumption – in the literal sense! – the attitude of “classic blacks” towards them. For at least five centuries, there has been a belief that albino flesh is medicinal, and a real hunt is organized for them. Since 2006, at least 71 albinos have died in Tanzania, and 31 managed to escape from the clutches of hunters. You can understand the passion of the hunters: albino flesh, if you sell it to healers and sorcerers in parts - tongue, eyes, limbs, etc. – costs 50-100 thousand dollars. This is what an average Tanzanian earns over 25-50 years.
The demand for albinos increased sharply with the spread of AIDS in Tanzania. There was a belief that eating dried genitals would get rid of this disease.
Until recently, hunting for albinos was almost not punished - the system of mutual responsibility of the local society led to the fact that the community basically declared them “missing”. But Western public opinion, outraged by the brutal practices in Tanzania, forced local authorities to reluctantly begin searching for and punishing the cannibals.
In 2009, the first trial of the killers of an albino took place in Tanzania. Three men caught a 14-year-old albino, killed him and cut him into small pieces to sell to sorcerers. The court sentenced the villains to death by hanging.
But this incident made the cannibals more inventive - they switched from killing albinos to cutting off their limbs. Even if the criminal is caught, they will be able to avoid the death penalty, and will receive only 5-8 years for grievous bodily harm.
Over the past three years, at least 90 albinos had their arms or legs cut off, and three died as a result of such “operations.”
98% of albinos in Tanzania do not live to be 40 years old. But this is not only due to their killing (for the sake of eating). Their skin and eyes are especially susceptible to ultraviolet radiation, and therefore by the age of 16-18, albinos lose 60-80% of their vision, and by the age of 30 they have a 60% chance of developing skin cancer.
Saving your health is not difficult - you need to constantly use sunscreen and wear sunglasses. But in impoverished Tanzania, people do not have money for all this.
Albinos have one hope for salvation - the attention of the West. And he helps them survive. Medicines for albinos are being supplied to Tanzania and other countries of East Africa, and most importantly, special boarding schools are being built for them with Western money, where albinos live behind high walls and guards in isolation from the surrounding terrible reality.
