Elizabeth has been a grantee of the Standing Voice Education Scholarship Programme for many years. As a young child, she felt disregarded and excluded by her teachers and peers, causing her to fall behind in school. But thanks to her own ambition, and the support of Standing Voice, she fought against all odds to claim the education she knew was her right.
Until recently, Elizabeth’s path forward appeared smooth. With a scholarship from Standing Voice, she had worked hard throughout primary and secondary school and had finally reached university: an extraordinary achievement and the result of years of dedication and commitment.
At university, Elizabeth was pursuing her goal of one day becoming a Community Development Officer in the NGO sector. Inspired by her experiences as a woman with albinism, she was determined to fight for equality and help give a voice to other marginalised groups.
In March, Elizabeth’s life changed. As the world began to buckle under the impact of COVID-19, the Government of Tanzania took immediate action to halt the spread of the virus. Public gatherings were banned. Schools and universities were closed.
Elizabeth was forced to leave university and return home to her family on Ukerewe Island in Tanzania's Lake Victoria. Here, too, signs of strain were beginning to emerge:
“My family is poor. We cannot afford to buy masks to protect ourselves against the virus. But if we stay at home, we will have no money or food to eat. We depend on a small agricultural business for income, and my father must go to the market to ensure our crops are sold. We can’t control how many people he interacts with. We ask God to intervene in this war and rescue our lives.”
Caught in this double bind, Elizabeth’s family faced the full weight of this crisis: the damage done not just by the virus, but by the measures taken to curb its spread. Elizabeth herself was fearful of falling behind at university, with no laptop for remote learning.
Elizabeth was fortunate to have the support of Standing Voice. As with all of our scholarship grantees, we stepped in to help Elizabeth and her family to navigate these unprecedented times. Elizabeth has received a laptop, so she can access online educational resources made available by her university. She and her family have all received masks, made by the tailors with albinism at our local community centre. They have been given information and training on COVID-19, so they can better understand the virus and manage the risks they take accordingly.
Elizabeth’s family are safer and better equipped to protect one another, while she is free to learn and grow.
For every Elizabeth, there are dozens of young people with albinism whose futures remain uncertain. Only with your generosity can we continue to safeguard the welfare of people with albinism in Tanzania and Malawi, and prevent this vulnerable minority from falling further behind.
© 2026 Standing Voice
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