Too Black…Too White. Can I Just Live In Peace?
Posted by Michelle Moquin on December 6th, 2009
IROBI, Kenya — The mistaken belief that albino body parts have magical powers has driven thousands of Africa’s albinos into hiding, fearful of losing their lives and limbs to unscrupulous dealers who can make up to $75,000 selling a complete dismembered set.
Mary Owido, who lacks pigment that gives color to skin, eyes and hair, says she is only comfortable when at work or at home with her husband and children.
“Wherever I go people start talking about me, saying that my legs and hands can fetch a fortune in Tanzania,” said Owido, 36, a mother of six. “This kind of talk scares me. I am afraid of going out alone.”
Since 2007, 44 albinos have been killed in Tanzania and 14 others have been slain in Burundi, sparking widespread fear among albinos in East Africa.
At least 10,000 have been displaced or gone into hiding since the killings began, according to a report released this week by the International Federation for the Red Cross and Crescent societies.
East Africa’s latest albino murder happened in Tanzania’s Mwanza region in late October, when albino hunters beheaded 10-year-old Gasper Elikana and chopped off his leg, the report said. The killing left Elikana’s father, who tried to defend his son, seriously injured.
Albinism is a hereditary condition, but occurs only when both parents have albinism genes. All six of Owido’s children have normal skin color.
African albinos endure insults, discrimination and segregation throughout their lives. They also have a high risk of contracting skin cancer in a region where many jobs are outdoors.
Owido, a high school teacher in the western Kenyan town of Ahero, says she was forced to transfer from a better teaching job on the Kenya-Tanzania border town of Isebania in 2008 after an albino girl she knew was murdered and her body parts chopped off.
The surge in the use of albino body parts as good luck charms is a result of “a kind of marketing exercise by witch doctors,” the International Federation for the Red Cross and Crescent societies said.
The report says the market for albino parts exists mainly in Tanzania, where a complete set of body parts – including all limbs, genitals, ears, tongue and nose – can sell for $75,000. Wealthy buyers use the parts as talismans to bring them wealth and good fortune.
“Albinism is one of the most unfortunate vulnerabilities,” said International Federation for the Red Cross and Crescent societies Secretary General Bekele Geleta. “And it needs to be addressed immediately at an international level.”
The chairman of the Albino Association of Kenya, Isaac Mwaura, called the murders deplorable but said the killings have given albinos a platform to raise awareness.
Almost 90 percent of albinos living in the region were raised by single mothers, Mwaura said, because the fathers believed their wives were having affairs with white men.
“When I was born my father said his family tree doesn’t have such children and left us,” Mwaura said.
Some African communities believe that albinos are harbingers of disaster, while others mistakenly think albinos are mentally retarded and discourage their parents from taking them to school, saying it’s a waste of money, he said.
Due to a lack of education, many albinos are illiterate and are forced into menial jobs, exposing them to the sun and skin cancer, he said. Those who manage to finish school face discrimination in the work place and are never considered for promotions.
“People are very blind to albinism but it is very visible. Now that we have this issue in Tanzania is when people have started to talk about albinism,” Mwaura said. “Before there was a studious silence.”
What a dire dichotomy these Albino people face. On the one hand, they are revered for their body parts, talismans, to bring wealth and good fortune. Unfortunately for the albinos, their body ‘parts’ are the fetching factors and death is the sickening sine qua non. And on the other hand they are worth nothing, a waste of money, not worthy of an education, assumed mentally retarded, and deserving only of menial jobs with never being considered for promotions.
This world is so barbaric – Can people just let people live in peace?
Readers: Thoughts? Comments? Quips? You know what to do.
Doug: Thanks for the lead today.
Peter: I hope for the welfare of the people of Guam they are listening too. Hafa Adai.
Peace out…..
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor
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December 7th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Michelle
I tried to get in to talk on this topic yesterday. It is so true that the white man has gone around the world planting the idea that white skin is somehow better than any other.
The hypocrisy that they spend a considerable amount of time and money trying to tan that white is lost on those that spend their time and money trying to emulate the whites.
My village is not immune from this type of influence. I am so tired of being revered or hated because I am very light skinned.
Who I am as a person doesn’t seem to matter.
Maleda
December 7th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Michelle
Could you possibly believe the bull that the right is kicking out to their morons. Try this.
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Prepare for Hyperinflation
Or Go Broke
Dear Fellow American,
Have you ever heard of a “depressflation”?
No surprise if you haven’t. It’s a term I coined myself, to describe the imminent — and inevitable — result of the Democrats’ plans for “rescuing” the economy.
Think 1970s-style “stagflation” but much, much worse: massive inflation, even hyperinflation, together with Depression-like economic stagnation. A depressflation.
Why is this inevitable? Because with a bi-partisan consensus that deficits are vital in fighting the crisis (or easing the pain) there is no constraint on Obama and his party. The sky is the limit on spending, to the tune of a trillion-plus dollars over the next two years alone.
And there are only two ways to pay for it: (1) printing more money, which causes inflation, and (2) hiking taxes, which kills investment, businesses and jobs.
Then the question will be: When will we realize that government intervention is magnifying, not solving the problems that caused the crisis? When will the patience of the public with Obama’s remedies run out?
My guess is that it won’t be until 2012 — or after.
In the meantime, however, there are ways to protect yourself and your family from the coming “depressflation.”
It’s crucial to understand: Hard times for America does not necessarily mean hard times for you. As a very wise investment expert of my acquaintance, Nicholas Vardy, likes to say, “No matter what the state of financial markets, there is always a strategy out there that can make you money.”
The key, Vardy explains, is to recognize opportunities wherever they may be and, more importantly, detach yourself from old investment themes that no longer work.
Vardy himself, an American based in London, is a master at crafting such cutting-edge investment strategies — which he then passes on to subscribers to his Global Stock Investor investment newsletter.
I follow Vardy’s advice closely and admire his economic and investment insights. Full disclosure: I receive a percentage of each Global Stock Investor subscription sold, but I wouldn’t if I did not believe in his abilities.
So, for instance, Vardy was among the first to see the coming profit waves in soft (agricultural) commodities, emerging market telecom, and other hot new trends — enabling his subscribers to bank hefty profits like these:
83% profit on Canadian fertilizer giant Potash (POT)
22% profit on iShares MSCI Brazil Index (EWZ)
14% profit on steel producer ArcelorMittal (MT)
23% profit on international cellular giant Millicom (MICC)
Even more remarkable, all these trades were made in 2008 — a year when most global markets were down 50% or more.
While the major stock indexes were down as much as 20% during “Black October” last year, Vardy’s subscribers were actually enjoying double-digit gains.
And that’s nothing compared to the magic Vardy performed for his subscribers during these past few months, now on record as some of the worst in Wall Street history.
Consider this: Since January 1st the S&P has lost nearly 3% compared with Vardy’s Global Stock Investor current portfolio which is up 7%… and two stocks are up over 25%. That’s incredible given the loses in the market the past few weeks.
How does Nicholas Vardy do it? If I knew, I’d be in his business, not mine. But I’m sure those countless hours he spends sharing investment ideas with Europe’s top money managers has something to do with it — not to mention his graduate degrees from Stanford and Harvard.
Don’t get me wrong: Nicholas Vardy is no elitist snob. Though he makes his “real” money managing money for a few wealthy clients, he also likes to “spread the wealth” — not through higher taxes (sorry, Obama), but by helping people like you and me make profitable investments.
Let’s face it, the next few years will be tough ones for America. But, to repeat, they don’t have to be tough ones for you — if you find and follow sound investment advice like the brilliant investment strategies in Nicholas Vardy’s Global Stock Investor. I urge you to give it a try.
Click here to learn more.
Sincerely,
Dick Morris
Fox News Commentator
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Who are the people who listen to this guy?
Mike