The Covid superstitions putting people with albinism at risk
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 1 April 2021
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In sub-Saharan Africa, people with albinism – those born without pigmentation in their skin, hair and eyes – have long been discriminated against and even hunted for their body parts, which are thought to hold magical healing powers. And during the pandemic, fear and misinformation have led some to embrace superstition over science, blaming people with albinism for the virus.
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Guests:
- Robert Shivambu, South Africa media manager at Amnesty International.
- Irene George, a woman living with albinism.
- Cosmas Maduhu, lawyer and activist living with albinism.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Clips used: Channel 4, ABC News, BBC, Click on Detroit, United Nations, Al Jazeera, Amnesty International.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Alex Dibble from the Times World in Ten Podcast. |
| 0:04.0 | Every day, we sit down and go through the stories being broken by our correspondence across the world, and we play you their interviews. |
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| 0:20.0 | If you struggle to keep up with the news, the world in ten is for you. |
| 0:24.0 | Listen, wherever you get your podcasts, it is ten minutes to stay on top of the world. |
| 0:30.0 | In Sub-Saharan Africa, if your baby is born with fair skin, it might seem unusual. |
| 0:42.0 | A biological curiosity, but for albinos, people who are born without pigmentation in their skin, hair and eyes, being born in that part of the world can prove to be a curse. |
| 0:55.0 | People with albinism in most African countries live in fear in their own societies. |
| 1:01.0 | Albinos are thought to be ghosts, haunted beings, routinely targeted and heinous attacks motivated by superstition. |
| 1:09.0 | Now, with all the fear and misinformation caused by the spread of coronavirus, in some parts of Africa, people are embracing superstition over science and blaming the virus on albinos. |
| 1:22.0 | The virus is all over because of these people, they should go back from where they come from. |
| 1:28.0 | I belong here in my country, I was born here, and somebody is telling me to go, whether I come from, that I came with corona, that I am corona. |
| 1:38.0 | For community, already under threat, COVID-19 has brought a whole new level of danger. |
| 1:44.0 | People believe that their body parts have got special magical powers. |
| 1:48.0 | Rumors about their magical powers are having deadly consequences. |
| 1:53.0 | Children and women and men will be chopped apart for their body parts and used in potions. |
| 1:57.0 | The limbs, organs and hair of an albino can sell for $1,000 US dollars. |
| 2:02.0 | Why? |
| 2:03.0 | In some parts of southern Africa, are albinos being attacked and blamed for COVID-19. |
| 2:10.0 | You're listening to stories of our times from the times and the Sunday times. I'm Manvin Rano. |
| 2:16.0 | Today, the albinos being hunted in Africa. |
... |
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