AFRICA Project Documentary

The project has been developed participatory by ADRA Tanzania and ADRA Denmark in consultation with Tanzania Albinism Society’s Regional Chapters in Dodoma and Morogoro, District and Municipal Welfare officers. These entities have all been working together on previous projects and the current DANIDA-funded SPA project in the same location. The project development has also benefited from two surveys by ADRA Tanzania, namely Analysis of the Economic Impact of COVID-19 on the Lives of People with Albinism (2020) and The Social Economic Situation of the Youth Living with Albinism - YLWA (2021). The assessment exercise regarding the youth’s economic situation was conducted externally by Sokoine University Graduate Entrepreneurs Cooperative (SUGECO). The two studies highlighted the vulnerability of households of PWAs in the face of a disastrous COVID-19 pandemic which among other disruptions led to the closure of some NGOs that hitherto provided relief services to PWAs. For example, Under the Same Sun (TTSS)1, suspended its operations at the end of 2020 because of COVID-19's impact on their finances. This eventuality rendered most households hopeless as they were already vulnerable.

The problems of PWAs in Tanzania manifest in two ways; a) Ignorance regarding albinism-associated misconceptions and b) social injustices and human rights abuses by fellow citizens and the indifference of some of the state agencies and institutions. The PWAs live in fear of cancer, and human attack, and under a cloud of stigmatization and discrimination. This burden which is also carried by the children is an extension of the pain from home borne by their mothers who are often abandoned by their husbands and relatives, condemned to suffer with their children believed to be a result of a curse. Below are common myths and misconceptions regarding albinism which in effect make the life of a person with albinism live in fear and isolation with no human dignity.