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TANZANIA / ALBINISM
STORY: TANZANIA / ALBINISM
TRT: 7.17
SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: SWAHILI / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: RECENT, TANZANIA
1. Various shots, Mwigulu in class
2. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Mwigulu Matonange, Ten-year old Albino Boy:
“Since I came to this school in Dar es Salaam I have learnt Swahili, which I could not speak properly. I have also been studying other things.”
3. Various shots, Mwigulu Matonange in Rukwa with family
4. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Mwigulu Matonange, Ten-year old Albino Boy:
“My friend, also called Mwigulu, and I were walking in the fields herding cows. We saw two men walking fast. I told my friend let us walk past them quickly. They told us they had lost a dark brown cow and asked us to help them. We did. Shortly after they began throwing stones at my friend. Then one of the men removed his hat and covered my face. I could not see. That is when he cut my arm and ran off.”
5. Various shots, Tanzania
6. Various shots, people with albinism
7. Various shots, children in school
8. Various shots, village and cows
9. Various shots, school children
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Alicia Londono, UN Human Rights:
“Through the use of the UN Fund for Victims of Torture funds are provided directly to an organisation which provides psychological assistance and prosthetic work to victims and survivors and as well family members.”
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Vicky Netema, Journalist:
“There are two projects. One of them is about offering psychosocial, medical and social support to four victims of four families.”
12. Wide shot, Mwigulu
13. Close up, child at centre
14. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Matonange Magese, Mwigulu’s Father:
“I do not know how many thousand times I am happy for him to live out there, because if he had remained here I would have lost him.”
15. Close up children lining up for food
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Boniface Chambi, Secretary District Commissioner Shinyanga:
“After the outbreak of the killing of the people with albinism the regional commissioner decided to designate a place for safe keeping the people with albinism, that is Buhangija, that is where we are keeping the children with albinism, who are especially in fear of being endangered.”
17. Tracking shot, centre feeding queues
18. Washing dishes shot
19. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Peter Ajali Head Teacher, Buhangija Centre:
“They need to be free, because they lack freedom. So to be kept in these conditions is not good but we have no choice. We are struggling with the current conditions”
20. Various shots, centre
21. Various shots, kids’ skin
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Chitralekha Massey, UN Human Rights Advisor:
“They are growing up without any engagement any interaction, any linkages with their families, with their cultural set up. Incomplete absence of this, it is like these children are being considered individuals of institutionalisation as soon as they are born.”
23. Various shots, camp
24. Various shots, fitting prosthetics
25. Various shots, Mariam at home
26. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Mariam Staford, Albino Girl:
“I saw someone and recognized him because he is our neighbour. When I saw him he bent down and switched off the lamp and began attacking me with a machete. He began to cut me. He only spoke to me after he had cut one arm, telling me to wake up so he could severe this other hand.”
27. Various shots, safe house Dar es Salaam
28. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Mwigulu Matonange, Ten-year old Albino Boy:
“I would like those people arrested.”
29. Various shots, Dar es Salaam
30. Various shots, Newspaper clippings of the attack
31. Various shots, Mwigulu
Recently, Tanzania has witnessed a spate of brutal attacks and killings on people with albinism. The attacks are linked to myths and witchcraft. In a bid to protect this vulnerable group, the Tanzanian government has resolved to round up children with the condition in 13 centres throughout the country.
A literacy lesson is in progress. Children take turns to read out from the blackboard. Ten-year old Mwigulu Matonange takes his role very seriously. Never mind that he is the eldest in this grade one class.
SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Mwigulu Matonange, Ten-year old Albino Boy:
“Since I came to this school in Dar es Salaam I have learnt Swahili, which I could not speak properly. I have also been studying other things.”
For Mwigulu this is a second chance in life – which was almost robbed off at the hands of his attackers, who cut off his left arm, in 2013.
Softly, narrating his harrowing ordeal, Mwigulu recalls how he was attacked near his home village, in Rukwa District of Western Tanzania, shortly after leaving school with his friend.
SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Mwigulu Matonange, Ten-year old Albino Boy:
“My friend, also called Mwigulu, and I were walking in the fields herding cows. We saw two men walking fast. I told my friend let us walk past them quickly. They told us they had lost a dark brown cow and asked us to help them. We did. Shortly after they began throwing stones at my friend. Then one of the men removed his hat and covered my face. I could not see. That is when he cut my arm and ran off.”
SOUNDBITE (English) Vicky Netema, Journalist:
“There are two projects. One of them is about offering psychosocial, medical and social support to four victims of four families.”
In Tanzania, people with albinism are killed and dismembered due to a widespread belief that charms made from their body parts bring good fortune and prosperity.
Locally, albino body parts are said to fetch thousands of dollars.
Education to fight the stigma attached to albinism is cited as a key deterrent to this phenomenon. The country is ranked 152nd out of 182 in the Human Development Index.
Under the Same Sun, a civil society- organisation is heralding support for survivors of these attacks – which qualify as torture.
SOUNDBITE (English) Alicia Londono, UN Human Rights:
“Through the use of the UN Fund for Victims of Torture funds are provided directly to an organisation which provides psychological assistance and prosthetic work to victims and survivors and as well family members.”
Mwigulu is one of four beneficiaries of the project partially funded by the UN Torture Fund. He is now enrolled in a private boarding school in the capital city Dar es Salaam and only goes home on occasional visits – where he is welcomed as somewhat of a hero.
SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Matonange Magese, Mwigulu’s Father:
“I do not know how many thousand times I am happy for him to live out there, because if he had remained here I would have lost him.”
Mwigulu, a victim of torture, is one of the lucky ones: not only will he receive a prosthetic arm but he will not have to go to one of the centres hosting children with albinism in the country.
In a bid to thwart the attacks and provide protection the government has set up centres populated with children with albinism.
SOUNDBITE (English) Boniface Chambi, Secretary District Commissioner Shinyanga:
“After the outbreak of the killing of the people with albinism the regional commissioner decided to designate a place for safe keeping the people with albinism, that is Buhangija, that is where we are keeping the children with albinism, who are especially in fear of being endangered.”
But the camps, as they are referred to here, are under resourced and have poor living conditions.
Peter Ajali, the head teacher of Buhangiya centre, in Mwanza district of northern Tanzania, admits that their capacity is over stretched.
SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Peter Ajali Head Teacher, Buhangija Centre:
“They need to be free, because they lack freedom. So to be kept in these conditions is not good but we have no choice. We are struggling with the current conditions.”
There are also allegations of sexual abuse of children in the centres.
The government acknowledges that incidents of sexual abuse have occurred but they are seeking corrective measures.
The local authorities say the centres were initially a temporary measure but have since turned into a long term solution.
Set up to cater for at least 30 children with disabilities, the centres are now home to almost 200 children, of whom more than half them have albinism. They range in age from 2 to 22.
SOUNDBITE (English) Chitralekha Massey, UN Human Rights Advisor:
“They are growing up without any engagement any interaction, any linkages with their families, with their cultural set up. Incomplete absence of this, it is like these children are being considered individuals of institutionalisation as soon as they are born.”
Parents were initially encouraged to take their children to the camps for fear of extreme violence.
But the trend now is that parents leave their children, most of whom, never return.
Albinism is an inherited condition present at birth, characterized by reduced or lack of pigment in the skin, hair, and eyes. Although health experts say people living with albinism can, given the opportunity, live normal, healthy and productive lives, the same cannot be said of hundreds of people living with albinism in rural Tanzania. Here people with albinism are fighting for their survival as they are not only facing discrimination but also extreme violence
Thirty-two-year old Mariam Staford, a mother of one, was attacked six years ago by a neighbour.
SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Mariam Staford, Albino Girl:
“I saw someone and recognized him because he is our neighbour. When I saw him he bent down and switched off the lamp and began attacking me with a machete. He began to cut me. He only spoke to me after he had cut one arm, telling me to wake up so he could severe this other hand.”
Survivors like Miriam and Mwigulu live in fear of repeat attacks and are still seeking justice.
SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Mwigulu Matonange, Ten-year old Albino Boy:
“I would like those people arrested.”
Mariam says her attackers were indeed arrested but got a lenient punishment.
Mariam and Mwigulu, during school holidays, now live in a safe house in the capital city.
The two are among four beneficiaries of the support provided by the Torture Fund - a small fraction to the number of victims of attacks in Tanzania.
The country has seen a stream of attacks with 139 victims recorded between the year 2000 and 2013. Fears are rife that this number may skyrocket with the impending general election.
There is an urgent need to protect people with albinism who leave in constant fear of being attacked and to reinforce accountability measures, including remedies and redress to victims of attacks.
In the meantime, Mwigulu remains optimistic with dreams and aspirations of a bright future.
The United Nations Human Rights Office has voiced concern about the discrimination and violence against this vulnerable group and the segregation of children with albinism hosted in these centres. Channelling financial support through a civil society organisation in Tanzania, the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, is providing psychological and medical services to victims of these attacks.
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