via Students with albinism suffer The Zimbabwean 10 July 2015 by Pamenus Tuso
Discrimination by some teachers and fellow students affects the self-confidence and performance of students with abinism, often leading to them dropping out of school before completing their education. PAMENUS TUSO reports.
Every young person dreams of succeeding in life and following their chosen profession one day, but young people living with albinism face an extra hard uphill battle to reach their goals.
They face additional challenges including social discrimination and stereotyping that undermine their chances of success. The discrimination by some teachers and fellow students affects their self-confidence and performance, often leading to them dropping out of school before completing their education.
“Attending schools and tertiary institutions are not easy for a person with albinism. We are often shunned and are likely to end up spending most of the time alone. The situation is worsened by the fact that most people in positions of authority at such institutions clearly do not appreciate that all people with albinism have special needs and that we are a delicate lot,” said 23 year old Marita Moyo, whose ambition is to attain a degree in Early Childhood Development.
Discrimination and bullying
Moyo who completed her “A” level studies in 2012 is currently an intern at the Zimbabwe Downs Syndrome Association. She confirmed that the majority of young people with albinism fail to proceed to ‘A’ level or university level because of a variety of challenges that include discrimination and poverty.
“I know a lot of my colleagues with excellent passes who have applied for the presidential scholarship fund, but who have not been successful. As students living with albinism, we view this as discriminatory. As people living with a disability, we want the government to consider our plight when selecting students for such programmes” said Moyo.
Another young woman with albinism, Mavis Choto, said that she dropped out of school because of bullying and nasty comments from fellow pupils.
“When I completed my ‘O’ level in 2008, my wish was to proceed to ‘A’ level and then to go to university to do a degree in chemical engineering. Because of the bad experiences at both primary and secondary school, I decided to do a hair dressing course instead. The other students called me horrible names such as Jeche or Musope,” said Choto who now runs a back yard hair dressing shop in Pumula high density suburb.
Superstition
At school she was also forced by teachers to stay in the sun for lengthy periods which negatively affected her skin and eyes. “I couldn’t afford to buy sunscreen because both my parents were unemployed. My skin was permanently burnt and painful,” she said.
Apart from all the physical challenges that people with albinism have to face on a daily basis, it also brings social and cultural challenges. People with albinism face violence and ridicule from the uninformed and in the worst case, dangerous superstitions and old-wives tales have been known to lead to them being put to death in primitive rituals.
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