A Whiter Shade of Pale

“Jo, I know that you don’t get frightened, but I don’t want this to frighten you.”

When Father Kamanzi begins a story that way, I know I am in for a doozy.

Our first day of traveling from Nairobi brought us to Sirari, just on the Tanzania side of the border. The Apostles of Jesus have a parish here, St. Michael’s. This entire area, all the way to our destination in Bukoba on the west shore of Lake Victoria, is very rich in gold. Commercial miners from all over the first world come here to remove the precious metal, but it is so abundant that even locals and amateurs can successfully dig for gold, if they have enough luck.

Sadly, many locals think they have found a way to augment their luck in the most horrible possible way.

It is believed that if you take a body part of an albino person into the mine with you, you will find more gold. This has resulted in the hunting and killing of albino people throughout Tanzania.

I heard the story of a man in Kenya who befriended an albino man. After getting to know him, he said, “Hey, I know you are having a hard time finding work. I have some friends in Tanzania who will gladly hire you and pay you well!” The albino man eagerly accepted his friend’s offer, and when he got to Tanzania, was sold, by his “friend”, to Albino Dealers. From what I understand, the Kenyan man got millions of shillings for him.

Even today, people with Albinism are being hunted and killed Albino children must be escorted to school, and any albino person is in danger as soon as they come to this region. The government is trying to squelch the practice, but it is a difficult battle, not unlike trying to curtail drug trafficking or a vast prostitution ring.

And, of course, it’s all horseshit. The local and amateur miners are still among the poorest people. They are killing these poor people for nothing- they have no better chance at striking it rich than anyone else.

I had never heard of this situation at all, but at Fr. Kamanzi’s encouraging, I Googled “Albino trade in Tanzania.” I highly recommend that you do the same. The practice extends beyond the mining industry. At 150,000, Tanzania has the largest population of people with Albinism in Africa. There are a bunch of articles from the past couple of years that are definitely worth checking out.