The plight of Nkhotakota school children with albinism
Shafina Chapola, 13, wants to be a banker when she grows up, but she fears she may not live to realise her dream.
“I want to work in a bank when I grow up. But I fear I may not live to bring to fruition my dream,” Shafina says, her voice almost inaudible and close to tears. “The country has become unsafe for us.”
She says because of the cruelty of some Malawians, she has to stay awake most nights, afraid that she may be abducted because of the colour of her skin.
“What wrong have we done to be hunted like animals? I didn’t choose to be like this. I…,”she goes on, her voice trailing away, overcome with emotion.
A pupil at Nkhotakota Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School, Shafina has not been at peace since the country started witnessing attacks against persons with albinism from the late 2000s.
Shafina has albinism and her fears mirror those of thousands of school children across the country that is like her, often edgy and fearing for their lives following the sudden rise in the heinous atrocities.
The incidents of physical abuse, abductions, killings and exhumations of the remains of persons with albinism have blighted the image of the country, which for years has been renowned for its friendliness.
The prevalence of albinism in Malawi is unknown because of limited data on the population of persons with albinism. But albinism is visible across all ethnic groups in the country.
The Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi (APAM) estimates that there are between 7,500 and 8,000 persons with albinism in Malawi, and tens of thousands on the continent.
Reports about the atrocities began to emerge in Malawi around 2009. The attacks have mostly been fueled by the assumed belief that body parts of a person with albinism can bring prosperity.
From November 2014 to date, 18 people with albinism have been killed across the country. Five others are believed to have been abducted and are still missing.
Among other things, the atrocities are limiting the participation of persons with albinism in daily activities such as community development programmes.
The attacks on persons with albinism are also having a negative effect on young learners who are feeling insecure and consequently, their performance in class is declining.
Nkhotakota LEA Primary School is one place where children with albinism now fear for their lives and future.
Their fears stem from the fact that the 67-year-old school which has a resource centre that caters for the district’s children with special needs, including those with albinism, has no perimeter wall.
This means that children with albinism who live there as boarders are exposed to great danger as people with evil intentions can have unhindered access to the school premises.
The other things worrying the children are that their two improvised hostels, which were once teachers’ houses, are not electrified and their toilets are outside.
To make matters worse, the buildings have insecure doors and windows. One door at the kitchen area that leads to the inside of the hostel only uses a stone to prop it up against intruders.
“As the only school in the district with a resource centre for children with special needs, we badly need a perimeter wall,” pleads Bright Kambewa, the school’s head teacher.
He says since his school keeps children with albinism from the whole district, a wall will be of great help as there will be only one entry and exit point, unlike how things are now.
“The hostels also need secure burglar bars. If anyone wanted to carry out a criminal act at the school today, they would do so without any problem,” a worried Kambewa told Mana in an interview.
The hostels have no water, forcing children to walk a distance within the school premises to fetch water at a borehole. This is not good in these days of killings and abduction of persons with albinism.
Although the school has its own guards and police go there on patrol it, children with albinism still feel insecure because they claim that the latter do not stay there the whole night to offer them protection.
“We are all living in fear in our own country these days. We are even afraid to go to the borehole to fetch water. At night, we don’t dare go outside for fear of being abducted,” says Shafina.
The oldest and brightest of the six female pupils with albinism at the resource centre, Shafina says police do go to patrol the school at night, but alleges that they only stay for a short time before vanishing.
“We would love if they stayed with us up to dawn,” she told Mana.
Dares Phillimon is a matron who also sleeps in the same hostel as the female children with albinism. She agrees with Shafina, saying “we want the police to be with us the whole night up to daybreak.”
“When you consider that the door has no lock and burglar bars, has windows without curtains, we feel very insecure and therefore the presence of the police at night is vital,” Phillimon says.
“We implore our government as a matter of urgency to listen to the cries of these children with albinism by responding to their security and other concerns. These are dangerous days, let us not take chances.”
But responding to the concerns of the school on the children’s security, Nkhotakota Police, under whose jurisdiction the school falls, say they are there day and night although they may not be visible.
“What I can assure the school including children with albinism is that we are at the school day and night,” says Nkhotakota Police Officer-in- Charge, Timothy Phiri.
“They may not see us physically, but we are there all the time,” Phiri says.
He says police in the district are in the forefront in the fight against acts of killings and abductions of persons with albinism, adding that is why they recently organized a sensitization campaign on the same.
“The message was that persons with albinism are also people like us and their rights must be respected. People should be vigilant and inform the police about any strange behavior towards them,” Phiri says.
“Anyone who speaks ill of a person with albinism or calls them names should be reported to the police. Chiefs, civil society organizations, schools, etc, we all need to join hands to stop these criminal acts.”
Albinism is derived from the Latin word albus, meaning ‘white’. It can occur in plants and animals.
In humans, albinism is as a result of a genetic disorder in which there is partial or total lack of the pigment melanin in the eyes, skin, and hair that occurs in all populations.
Melanin is a dark biological pigment that is formed as an end product of metabolism.
Phillimon says another worrying thing is that when one of the children with albinism falls ill, a matron takes the child to the hospital on foot about two kilometers away, exposing themselves to danger.
“Our lives are also in danger when we move with the children. I wish we had a vehicle to ensure quick and safe movement to and from the hospital,” she says.
“When I am walking with these children, some people sometimes remark that there is money at the primary school. This really scares us. We fear that one day we will be waylaid.”
Mana learnt that children with albinism at the resource centre are often ignored when well-wishers go to give aid there as they choose to help those with other disabilities.
“Another sad thing is that much as they need assistance, children with albinism do not receive help from well-wishers who instead opt to help those with other disabilities,” says Phillimon.
A research the Nkhotakota Youth Organisation carried out through the Democracy Consolidation Programme (DCP) discovered that many children with albinism in the district were living difficult lives.
“For instance, things are not all right at Nkhotakota LEA School, considering the threat that persons with albinism are facing in Malawi,” says Lusubilo Zimbah, the district’s Paralegal Officer.
Zimbah says it is evident the children are living in fear, adding that this is because they have inadequate security, no water and when they become sick they walk to hospital with one escort.
“When we look at all these factors, we can see that the children’s right to education is being violated,” she says. “No person can learn properly when they are living in fear all the time.”
Chapter 1V, Section 16 of the Malawi Constitution says “every person has the right to life and no person shall be arbitrary deprived of his or her life”.
As one of the countries that ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities, Malawi is obliged to adhere to the convention’s tenets.
The Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi (APAM)(, through the Department of Disability and Elderly Affairs, has more than once petitioned government and other stakeholders to come to their rescue.
The appeal has not fallen on deaf ears as government, police, media, other civil society organisations and APAM itself have teamed up to put a stop to the atrocities.
President Peter Mutharika himself has taken the lead in condemning the atrocities, demonstrating the importance the government attaches to efforts to bring to book perpetrators of the unspeakable acts.
He recently told Amnesty International that his government would review some laws to ensure that those convicted of committing atrocities against persons with albinism got stiffer penalties.
“I have met with the association of persons with albinism and religious leaders. We have empowered armed enforcement agencies,” he told Deprose Muchena, Regional Director for Southern Africa Amnesty International Human Rights Board, in Lilongwe.
Mutharika also said during their talks at the Kamuzu Palace that a special prosecutor had been identified to handle cases of abuse of persons with albinism to ensure speedy completion of cases.
About 75 people are currently in police custody answering charges while some have been convicted of various crimes of torture, intimidation and killings of people with albinism.
Muchena told Mutharika in his remarks that his organization appreciated the efforts his government was making to stop the atrocities and bring to book those involved.
“We don’t believe the Government of Malawi is not providing leadership. We acknowledge the leadership you are providing and would like to encourage you to continue doing that,” he said.
As government and various stakeholders look for a way to end attacks on persons with albinism, Shafina continues to lead a solitary life, a life devoid of hope for her future.
Shafina, who read a moving poem during the campaign against attacks on persons with albinism Nkhotakota Police organized, says she has very few friends at school because of her condition.
“I do not have a single friend in my class. My classmates avoid me. They say they cannot move with me because of how I look,” she says, a look of self-pity on her face.
“So I am alone most of the time.”
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