Under the Same Sun

I almost always avoid posts that involve violence, depravity, or are gruesome in some way. There are enough dark alleys on the net for that sort of thing. Occasionally, however, an unconscionable travesty cries out for greater awareness.

From The Daily Beast...

Two teenage girls lay still in their beds last year and listened to the swift, efficient sounds of a machete strike three times. Steps away on the veranda near their home in northwest Tanzania, a witch doctor’s assassin first slashed their sister’s neck, then one leg, and finally the other.

Their father was selling his albino daughter’s body parts to a witch doctor, who would dry them out and stir them into a pricey potion for sale. From politicians to CEOs to the police, Tanzanians want potions made from the limbs, blood, and hair of albinos, which is said to bring success in business and love.

“The demand comes from rich people,” said Vicky Ntetema, the journalist who first broke the story and was honored Tuesday with an International Women’s Media Foundation Courage Award. “They want to be richer.”

The Tanzanian government finally banned the practice nearly two years ago, in part due to Ntetema’s stories. But the ban was revoked last month, conveniently close to the general elections on Oct. 31, said Ntetema.

To help stop these horrendous murders, you can make a donation to Vicky Ntetema's nonprofit, Under the Same Sun, and/or bring international pressure on Tanzania by taking a moment to write an email to the Tanzanian Embassy.

For more information, click here for several BBC articles about Tanzania's albinos written by Ntetema or watch the video below from the UN...