Inside Tanzania’s albino safe havens where hundreds seek refuge from murderous witchdoctors bent on using their BODY PARTS in spells and potions
They are forced to live in protected communities as it's thought they are cursed and bring bad luck
THESE photos show how albinos in Tanzania are forced to live in protected homes to stop them from being killed for body parts which are sold to make potions.
Photojournalist Ana Palacios, 43, visited one of the special centres in the country three times between 2012 and 2016 to find out more about the plight of albino people.
Persecution of albinos is rooted in the belief that the body parts can transmit magical powers.
They are also ostracised by those who believe that they are cursed and bring bad luck.
The Tanzanian Albinism Society has an estimated 8,000 registered men, women and children with albinism, but they estimate that Tanzania has a much larger population.
Many albino people are either unaware of the charity’s work or choose to stay in hiding.
Ana said: “The Tanzanian government has found it necessary to set up special centres to protect people with albinism.
"They have fled their villages for fear of being butchered by traffickers who sell their limbs and organs to witch doctors to prepare their prized good luck potions.
“They are victims maimed by witchdoctors to make potions, raped because they are considered able to cure AIDS and alienated by the society, because they are considered magical.”
On her first visit in 2012, Ana stayed at the Kabanga refuge with Spanish NGO AIPC Pandora, who are providing invaluable support to the albino community.
Some 200 people work the land, tend their gardens, make their own clothes, run community kitchens, canteens and classrooms, but this lively, happy village masks the centre’s true purpose - to be a protective fortress.
The photographer added: “Genetic chance has made them exceptional beings and has brought them together here in order to survive.
“Many of them have had to flee from their homes for fear of being butchered simply for having albinism; others ended up here after being abandoned by their families, who were ashamed of them.
“A ‘white’ child is a stigma for the family. They are cared for less, given less to eat and educated less. In some tribes albino children may be killed at birth, abandoned or offered for ritual sacrifice.
“It is hard for them to find a partner, since their condition as ‘damned’ beings scares others. Their own neighbours say that people with albinism do not die, they fade away, or that to touch one is to risk becoming white or falling ill.”
Even though significant progress is being made in the protection of people with albinism, Ana believes that education is the only way to prevent the malicious prejudice they face.
She added: “There is also an urgent need for forceful action by the justice system to end the impunity of the hunters.”
Ana hopes her images will open people’s eyes to the extreme persecution albino people have to deal with.
She believes that attitudes will only start to transform when awareness campaigns are spread amongst those without albinism.
But being maimed and ostracised are not the only threats people with albinism face - even the sun is their enemy.
Ana continued: “It is a genetic disease characterised by the lack or a serious shortage of melanin on the skin, hair, eyes and hair.
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“The real danger for this community is based on their skin protection that brings a high probability of cancer.”
Those with albinism are very susceptible to UV rays and without adequate protection from the sun they are highly likely to develop skin cancer.
Ana visited the Regional Dermatology Training Centre in Moshi to find out more about the lifesaving work being performed by a team of Spanish dermatologists, plastic surgeons, anaesthesiologists and nurses, led by Dr Pedro Jaén.
The team first visited Moshi in 2008 and has returned every year to treat and operate on albinos with skin cancer - so far they have treated almost 1,000 patients.
They also run theoretical and practical workshops in dermatologic oncology and dermatopathology, in an effort to give the few dermatologists in East Africa more comprehensive training.
Ana’s stunning images shine a light on the happy lives albino people are capable of living, away from persecution, but she hopes her images will encourage others to speak up and take action.
She said: “I hope that now some people know a little more about their situation they will decide to help this community somehow.”
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