Chronicle Editor
Umbidzani Dima, Chronicle Reporter
MRs Tendai Maponde (35) who was born in a society with myths about albinism, has had to endure negative attitude and discrimination.
For her, growing up as a child with albinism came with a lot of challenges and her situation was worsened by the fact that she was the first albino in the family.
She said her family members therefore had no knowledge of albinism and how to take care of her.
Mrs Maponde said albinos face discrimination from birth and in her case, she began to notice it when she was in primary school.
She said her peers as well as some of her teachers made her hate school.
“I remember my primary school teacher who would ask me to open my book so he would mark, he just didn’t want to touch anything that belonged to me. He would be seated on his desk with a pile of books marking them, then when he gets to my book, he would call me up and ask me to open my book. He never beat me up even when beating the whole class,” she said.
Mrs Maponde said fellow pupils did not understand why she was different from them and why she was always wearing her hat even in class.
“They were not aware that too much light affects my eyes. Some kids would grab my hat and hide it then laugh at my poor eyesight,” she said.
Mrs Maponde said because of the negative attitude from her classmates and teachers, she felt unwanted.
“The worst in life is to feel unwanted and that was my situation at primary school. Back then we would start school at 7am and dismiss at 4pm so imagine spending all those hours feeling lost. The feeling of being unwanted was just too much to endure,” she said.
Mrs Maponde, a mother of five who has been married for eight years, grew up in Bulawayo’s Entumbane suburb and she is from a family of seven.
She did her primary at Zulukandaba Primary School from 1993 to 1999 in Entumbane and went to Sobukazi Secondary School in Mzilikazi suburb from 2000-2003.
“None of my parents had albinism so we had little knowledge about it, making things very difficult. I would be sun burnt a lot, so when you are sun burnt there are things you should never do such as bathing with cold water or exposing yourself to the sun until you are healed. It took time for my parents to grasp the dos and don’ts regarding my care,” she said.
Mrs Maponde said as she grew older, she gained interest in learning more about albinism and that really helped her accept herself and face discrimination head on.
She said the sunscreen lotions they use are expensive, a bottle or tube ranges from US$8 to US$15 depending on the brand.
Mrs Maponde advised people living with albinism to love themselves and accept their condition.
Online Reporter