African Albinism
I see a lot of albinos in Africa. At first, I thought that maybe they were just more noticeable because everyone else is black and a black albino is definitely more obvious than a white one. When I went back to the States, I looked for albinos and I just disn’t see any. Everywhere I go in Africa has a population of albinos, but Cameroon and especially Douala is off the charts. I have since read that parts of Africa have as many as one in one thousand of the whole population. That is a significant number for a mostly inherited condition/genetic disorder, but I have to say that I see much more genetic disorders as well as disease related disorders than anywhere else I have traveled.
There are two main issues with albinism in Africa. First, I have read that they are treated poorly with people having animist beliefs that they are evil and other such crap. I have not witnessed any of this, but it does not surprise me on a continent where there is so much belief in hocus pocus (I have an entry being formulated in my head that I will write soon about magic crapola in Africa). Second, they do not live very long lives because they do not have skin pigment to protect them against the sun, most live in places with an intense amount of sunlight and they cannot afford hats and other protection. When I told a South African that they usually do not live past their 20s he scoffed at this claim. I was wondering about my “facts” that I had researched in 2006 when I first ran into this condition in numbers. But then I realized that South Africa is a part of Africa with a lot less daily sunlight than much of Africa around the equator and Sahara. I just read another doctor’s account where he says that seeing an albino around 40 is very rare. I saw one today (all the rest in Cameroon have been young), but I wondered if he looked older due to sun damage. I think the claim that albinos live much shortened lives in most of Africa is very valid and Africa has a much higher incidence of albinism than elsewhere on this planet.
Tags: Africa
vagabondrick
Curious. I noticed the same thing in Dar Es Salaam. One fellow was especially intriguing because he was at least 7′ tall and seemed to sail along like royalty above everyone else. Everyone turned and watched him. ‘Course it could be because, when the crowd parted, we could see that he was stark naked!