Albinos are just like us
Sep 26, 2012
Beaten and chased away from her marital home by her husband, Nalongo Faridah Nantumbwe and her four albino children have been reduced to begging. Social acceptance of albinos in Uganda is still a dream yet to come true
By Watuwa Timbiti and Kabogoza Musa
Beaten and chased away from her marital home by her husband, Nalongo Faridah Nantumbwe and her four albino children have been reduced to begging. Social acceptance of albinos in Uganda is still a dream yet to come true
When pricked they bleed, when pinched they cringe in pain and when given opportunity, they succeed. When they are unjustly ostracised, they hurt, and when they are appreciated, they are happy. There's no need to emphasise that albinos are human too, but some sections of society have often abused them.
Some albinos are denied by their parents. In public many are stared at and mockingly called bazungu (white people).
Phobia
An extreme case of albino-phobia was witnessed recently in Kirumi village, in Kasambya sub-county, Mubende district.
Bogere Asafu Kawuki sent away his wife, Nalongo Faridah Nantumbwe, who bore only albino children. He battered her and chased her away with the four children, claiming Nantumbwe either has albinism genes or she conceived the children with another man.
Nantumbwe, however, insists they are Bogere's children since they have been married for 12 years.
Following an earlier domestic dispute, the couple was advised to make an agreement for Nantumbwe to get part of the land they bought when they were still living together.
With this agreement in place, Nantumbwe returned to her marital home. This was, however short-lived; Kawuki and his sister Nalweyiso stormed the home, wielding machetes and sticks and beat her up.
Nantumbwe and her children then became beggars. She says she could not go to her parents' home with the children because she did not perform certain traditional rituals for the birth of her twins there. Nantubwe now rents a small room in Kyejunga village and the children have dropped out of school.
However, Christopher Byakutaga, Kawuki's father says Kawuki is just pretending — there are albinism genes in his clan because each of his other two sons has two albinos. Byakutaga accuses Kawuki of promiscuity since he had accumulated three wives within one month after chasing Nantumbwe.
Amoni Kiggundu, Kawuki's younger brother, says there are eight albinos in their clan.
The Government and civil society have not done much to win social acceptance for albinos. But where there is no stigma, many have taken the future into their own hands, even as injustice remains among some ignorant people.
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trueMum treated us equally
By Titus kakembo
On entering her office, Church hymns from a laptop greet you before Olivier Namutebi's face breaks into a smile. She ushers you in by standing up and spreading her arms towards a seat. As she speaks on the phone, she uses business jargon and chops the air with her palm to stress a point here or back an argument there.
The shimmering light sneaking through the office glass partitions makes her squint and crease her forehead. A smile lights up her face as she reads an email or was it Facebook? Suddenly, everything is switched off. She is ready for the interview.
Namutebi is the manager Business Development and Strategic Planning for Post Bank. She comes from a family of four, two girls and two boys, who were raised singly by their mother Joyce Najjuka after their father passed away, when Namutebi was in P7.
“Our mother runs a hardware business in Matugga, to sustain the family. That makes mom my hero. Do not mention Oprah Winfrey or Hillary Clinton. My hero is my mom. She treated all of us equally. I was assigned the same household chores as my siblings. She encouraged us to work hard academically. She always emphasised that if good luck will not come to you, pray and go for it,” Namutebi stresses.
She still recalls one day when she told her mother that her ambition was to be a tailor.
“She never objected to my ambition, but suggested I could try another trade. That is my mom's character. She respects one's views and actions even if she has a better idea.”
Apart from her inspiring mother, Namutebi also attributes her success to dedicated teachers at Nabisunsa Girls, where she attended for secondary school.
“I always sat at the front of the class because I am short-sighted. This condition always earned me favour from teachers and student leaders. Occasionally, like any other student, I would experience bullying and one or two snide remarks. But I stood my ground and never cowered from bullies,” recounts Namutebi.
“I was not the only victim. Bullies often exploited or made fun of a weaker or shy person.”
Outside the office, Namutebi fights for the rights of the voiceless. “I detest social injustice, where some people are exposed to lesser opportunities,” says Namutebi.
She loves making friends, swimming, sports, nature and listening to music. About her marital status and age, Namutebi gives me a glance before answering, "I subscribe to the unwritten law that women never tell their age and I am still single."
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trueI was loved more
By Watuwa timbiti
In her office at Pearl Institute of Cosmetology in Nakulabye, Faith Bwanika, 30, goes about her work with energy and zeal. The fact that she is nine months pregnant is not limiting in any way. Going by the way students and staff members approach her, it is clear that Bwanika does not only command respect, but is also a likable and friendly character. She has held her job, as administrator, for the last nine years.
“Out of 12 children in my family, my brother and I were albinos. He was older than me, but unfortunately he passed on in the late 1990s,” she says.
Bwanika recalls that it took her long to determine whether she was like other people, yet she was not treated differently from other children in the family.
“My brother and I were given special care and loved more than our siblings. Our elder siblings were supportive when our parents were not there,” she observes, adding that she has no memory of being hurt by anyone on the basis of her appearance.
“I think I grew up in a society that was greatly sensitised.” But she is bitter about the Mubende incident: “I saw the footage, I felt bad. What came to my mind is that he just feared responsibility. If he accepted the first, second and third, as his, why deny them at the fourth child? It was not good at all,” she states thoughtfully.
Bwanika believes Kawuki needs to be counselled and helped to accept the reality as it is: they are his children and he cannot run away from them.
“I grew up proud of myself — I did not have low self-esteem. My family was extended and so many people in the home groomed me to be active. Being treated well by others made me feel important,” she recalls.
“People I meet every day in my life here in office have inspired me — they do appreciate me. My bosses are good people. They have given me a chance to work and excel,” she says. Bwanika says she does not mind the kind of child she will give birth to and if it is an albino, she says she is in a better position because she has lived through it.