Volume I Issue 2
1960s.” She says that people at that time were terrified of albinos, and would avoid them at great cost. “I remember being very scared. When I told my aunt about it, she told me to spit on my stomach to avoid having an albino baby. She said it would be a curse, something that only happened to bad people.” Shaweji says that in those
days, people referred to albinos as “zeruzeru,” a derogatory Bantu term for “disturbingly white” or “grotesquely white.” Some people translate “zeruzeru” as “devils’ spawn.” Albinos were not just re- garded as ugly, but as a curse. Peo- ple now speculate that there seem to be a lot more albinos now than in previous years, because in the 1960s through 1970s, albinos were murdered at birth. “We did not have to deal
with albinos much because there were very few of them around. Peo- ple were not very kind to them,” Shaweji recalls. “They were called names, and it wasn’t seen as some- thing wrong. I did not know there was anything wrong with that until now!”
At some point, however, ru-
ral Tanzanian communities began to realize that the denigration of albinos was cruel and inhumane. In Shaweji’s community, all it took was one brave woman who had an albino son. “There was one very courageous mother who had an albino child and managed to keep him. His name was Saidi, but we called him Saidi Muzungu,” says Shaweji, explaining that the nick-
name means “Saidi the White Man.” She explains that seeing this
woman walk with her child through the town made people realize the albinos were different, but still hu- man. “Everyone in the town knew the mother. She carried her baby everywhere. It made us accept her child the way it was. We saw him grow up to become a fine young man.” Shaweji says that Saidi still lives in Dodoma, her town, and has until now been free of any violent attacks. “There was always an air of
unwelcoming towards albinos; even if it was not said out loud, it was there,” says Shaweji. “That mother made it ok to share space with an albino. You could say she human- ized Saidi in our eyes.” Shaweji reflects on the cur-
rent abuse of albinos in Tanzania and concludes that the situation has changed too much for such dis- crimination to be happening. “In my days, we knew nothing!” Shawe- ji offers no excuses but says that at least her generation can blame their stupidity in mistreating albinos on ignorance. “All we knew was just what we heard from our elders.” “But with all the information
out there today, you would have no reason to abuse albinos,” Shaweji concludes. “It is a shame that with all the information out there, there are still people making the same mistakes against albinos that their forefathers committed!”
Email Radhina Kipozi
radhina.kipozi@
dispatchesinternational.org 83
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