A JOURNEY TO JOY

The story of Elizabeth

By Standing Voice

June 30^th, 2020

Elizabeth was born in Bogombe Village on Ukerewe Island, Tanzania.

When she was born, her parents were shocked to find she had albinism. However, they soon learned there were other people with albinism living in the surrounding villages. They found hope and comfort in this, realising their daughter was no different to anyone else. The extended family were more difficult: Elizabeth's father's relatives blamed her mother for bringing misfortune on their family by giving birth to a child with albinism, and sought to drive her parents apart.

Her father made the decision to ignore his family and stayed to take care of all of his children.

“My father is a man of honour and loves his family very much. He resisted the pressure and provocations coming from his relatives and told them that he would not divorce my mum and would stay with our family.”

Elizabeth’s father was told there were no schools that would accept students with albinism because of their poor vision. However, in 2002, and thanks to her father’s persistence, Elizabeth enrolled in primary school but still faced challenges from her teachers and peers. Her classmates didn’t want to sit near her and called her names. Her teachers, despite knowing about her low vision needs, chose to place her at the back of the classroom and wrote on the chalkboard with small handwriting. Elizabeth didn’t say anything and spent months not writing any notes. She felt undervalued and disregarded, causing her grades to fall.

“My mum questioned me when I returned home from school, and I told her that I could not go back there because people would call me names."

It was only when she met a teacher called Happiness that things began to change. Happiness volunteered her time to assist and encourage Elizabeth’s school work, making sure to place her at the front of the classroom so she could see the blackboard. By the time she reached Standard 6, Elizabeth was reading, writing and performing well in her other subjects and had made close and trusted friends. With Happiness as her teacher, Elizabeth learned that it was possible for her to succeed in education.

“My friends helped me read the board and lent me their exercise books so I could copy down their notes. I will never ever forget the help my teacher and friends gave me that meant I started to do well in school. From this, people started to believe that people with albinism could get an education.”

Elizabeth, now a grantee of an education scholarship from Standing Voice, is studying at Buhare College and has gained in confidence. With the help of essential reading materials like a monocular and glasses, she follows lessons without assistance from anyone. She hopes to one day work for an NGO as a Community and Development Officer, motivated to resolve community problems for vulnerable groups.

Elizabeth is also an active member of the Umoja Photographers: a talented group of young creatives using photography to tell their stories and amplify marginalised perspectives. Since 2017, Elizabeth has been honing her craft and exploring the world around her through the art of photography, hoping to spark social change within her community by sharing her unique perception of what it means to be a person with albinism.

“By the end of college, I hope to have the skills and knowledge to run my own life. I want to do work that serves the whole community. When we get in touch with other people in our community, we do not feel as discriminated against. We even find ourselves beautiful. I know I am beautiful.”