Red and yellow, black or white – we are all precious in God’s eyes

When Gaspari Uwamungu passes by, little children seated by the roadside shout at him referring to him as a misplaced European who was born in Africa. Others laugh at him saying he is infectious and not normal because his body occasionally appears red due to the underlying retinal blood vessels showing through the skin where there is not enough pigment to cover them. Such is the mockery that many African people like Uwamungu face because their skin lacks entirely or sufficiently the dark pigment melanin. The principal gene which results in this condition (Albinism) prevents the body from making the usual amounts of the pigment which appears as the water proof like sheath lining the skin. The victims eventually also face social and cultural stigma as the condition is often a source of ridicule, discrimination or even fear and violence. Due to albinism’s effect on one’s outward appearance; cultures around the world have developed many beliefs regarding albinos. This folklore ranges from harmless myth to dangerously superstitious legends that cost human lives. Augustine Mwindi, a Tanzanian explains that starting in 2007 this perception of albinos was initiated by witchdoctors and their helpers to provide magic potions for clients. “The rate of survival of albinos in Tanzania is very low because they are most sought by witchdoctors and some societies even believe that sex with an albino woman will cure a man of HIV,” Mwindi said. This has often led to rape and subsequent HIV infections. A common misconception is that albinos are sterile but they are in fact fully capable of bearing children. While it is also thought by many that people with albinism die early, this is not true but may be a distorted view of a more reasonable fact that people with albinism have a higher risk of skin cancer. This fact sometimes referred to as the “evil albino” stereotype, or albino bias is common, though in recent years a few more positive roles have been cast against any discrimination. Albinism, a condition that cannot be “cured” calls for us to do simple things to improve the quality of life for those affected. As doctors explain, most importantly is to improve vision and protect the eyes from bright lights. And avoid skin damage from sunlight. “The extent and success rate of these measures depend on the type of albinism and severity of the symptoms,” says Doctor Edgar Kalimba, a children specialist at King Faisal Hospital. He reveals that people with a particular kind of albinism known as ocular albinism are likely to have normally-pigmented skin, and thus do not need to take special precautions against skin damage. In general physical terms, organisms with albinism have vision problems and need sun protection of the eyes. The impaired vision may be due to several conditions and victims may suffer from common refractive errors like near sightedness or far sightedness. “But because a human eye is quite large, it sometimes produces enough pigment to lend opacity to the eye, often coloring the iris pale blue” said Doctor Kalimba. However, there are cases in which the eyes of an albino appear red or purple, depending on the amount of pigment present. According to Comfort Ingabire a Kigali based skin specialist, albinos are generally as healthy as any other person, with growth and development occurring as normal. “Albinism by itself does not increase mortality though the lack of pigment is an elevated risk for skin cancer and other problems,” she says. Most forms of albinism are the result of the biological inheritance of genes passed from both parents, though some rare forms are inherited from only one parent. This is because organisms can be carriers of genes for albinism without exhibiting any traits thus albino offspring can be produced by two non-albino parents. Albinism usually occurs with equal frequency in both genders an exception to this is in ocular albinism. “Since it is passed on to offspring through X-linked inheritance, males more frequently have ocular albinism as they do not have a second X chromosome,” says doctor Kalimba. In some animals, especially albino birds and reptiles reddish and yellow hues or other colors may be present on the entire body or in patches as is common among pigeons. This is due to the presence of other pigments unaffected by albinism that are derived from the diet. The direct opposite of albinism, an unusually high level of melanin pigmentation is known as melanism, and results in an appearance darker than non-melanistic specimens from the same species. A number of people with albinism have become famous, including historical figures such as Empror Seinei of Japan, actor/comedian Victor Varnado; musicians such as Salif Keita, Johnny and Edgar Winter and a fashion model, Connie Chiu. Albinism is not a cause for stigmitisation and those within our community should not be discriminated against because of the level of their pigmentation. Instead, we should learn to embrace each other irrespective of our colour, race or creed. Ends