adminLiberty Dube
THE MANICALAND Albino Association will tomorrow (Saturday) hold a debut edition of a confidence building conference at Mutare Teachers College. Minister of State for Manicaland Province, Cde Mandi Chimene is expected to deliver a speech at the day-long event to be held under the theme: “Believe in yourself Have faith in your own power, you can be successful”
Mutare Senator, Judith Mawire who recently handed over sunburn cream lotion creams to more than 30 people living with albinism in Mutare’s high-density suburbs, is also expected to grace the event.
In an interview, the organisation’s chairperson, Nyaradzai Mazaiwana, said the conference was aimed at building confidence and creating awareness among people living with albinism and move a gear up towards countering myths and negativities about albinism.
The event starts at 9 am.
“We intend to raise awareness and remind each other again that albinism is not a disease but a condition that can occur in all racial and ethnic groups. We will take the platform to talk about challenges bedeviling us and come up with solutions to counter each of them.
“The event is open to everyone and we urge people to come in numbers. People living with albinism should, just like anyone else, play a critical role in developing the country without looking down at oneself,” she said.
Among other challenges, most people living with albinism develop cancer sores that result in death due to lack of money to go for surgeries and lack of sunburn medication at public health institutions.
“It’s sad that because of lack of resources, we recorded a number of five deaths due to cancer ulcers in a few months,” added Mazaiwana.
Online Reporter