Albinos are hard to survive in Africa because of the aggressive sunlight
Any child of an albino in Tanzania is considered both a manifestation of evil or a source of magical medicine that can heal from literally everything.
And because the killing of albinos in this country — business as usual. A photographer from the Netherlands Marinka specifically went to this African country to create a series of images calling attention to an existing problem.
The title of this series of works Masseus Marinka (Marinka Masseus) — “Under one sun” (“Under the Same Sun”). For these photos she went to Tanzania to see the situation on the ground. The situation, unfortunately, is still quite bleak. To be an albino in Tanzania it means to be evil. The head of the albino, you get rewarded and kill the albino is not a crime, on the contrary — according to local belief this act would bring the killer’s luck.
Fears and superstitions are deeply ingrained in the life of the inhabitants of Tanzania. So deep that the woman who gave birth to a child without melanin, you’re supposed to immediately kill their child if she doesn’t want she and the baby become outcasts in society. To live such a child really hard — the locals do not think of their people. They deny food, deny shelter. It is believed that they look so because they curse, and who is going to help them, at risk of also being cursed.
Perhaps not all people in Tanzania are so hostile to the albinos, but enough. However, thanks to international support, the country established a number of camps in which albinos can seek refuge, and that mothers who have given birth to white children, can bring their babies to save their lives. All of these children are cut off from their families and society, they cannot participate in local festivals, find a job or even just to chat with other people on an equal footing. But inside the camps, they are at least alive.
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