FOOD FOR THOUGHT: ALBINISM SHOULD EQUALLY BE EMBRACED LIKE THE MAASAI CULTURE

We all love the Maasai culture, don’t we? From the Maasai shukas to the bracelets, the fimbos, to the rungus, and the aesthete head regalia. It is a beautiful culture, so much so that it is the face of Kenyan culture, at the expense of 42 other Kenyan cultures. You might be tempted to argue that other cultures are not as beautiful or as worthy of representing the Kenyan culture and that right there is where the rain begins to beat us as a nation. That is how we have achieved exclusion and discrimination of People With Albinism (PWAs) from the larger People With Disability (PWDs) community. Occasionally, you will come across comments such as “it is not a disability enough” or “there are more serious disabilities than Albinism” Sad state of affairs.

When you google “Kenyan tribes” or “Kenyan cultures”, the Maasai culture will pop up first in pomp and colour. On the other hand, when you google “disabilities in Kenya” you will seldom come across Albinism as a stand-alone disability or even as a disability at all. In fact, you will end up searching “Is Albinism considered a disability” We need to do better. Lest I digress, just like the way the other Kenyan cultures have been downplayed and sidelined, so has albinism from the disability umbrella.

These pictures made rounds on the internet a couple of days ago with netizens participating in a "who wore it best" contest. A thought came to mind – What if Albinism was regarded as highly as the Maasai culture? That would look like giving prominence to the plight, challenges, and pre-emptive solutions and measures to address the roadblocks People With Albinism (PWAs) face on the daily. It would also look like awareness being created by not only disability champions but also the political leaders themselves. Imagine President William Ruto personally advocating for the rights of People With Albinism (PWAs), would be nice, wouldn’t it? It would undoubtedly give a much-needed spotlight to the conversation around PWAs and elevate them to the national table.

The Maasai culture perpetually stands in the gap of all other Kenyan cultures day in day out, without question. Why is it so hard for Albinism to be the face of disability in Kenya even for a single day like the International Day of Disabled Persons? Speaking of which, it would interest you to know that in some counties like Kajiado and Kisumu, Albinism is not recognized as a disability. Thus, People With Albinism (PWAs) from such areas are constantly discriminated against and segregated from lucrative opportunities and vital services. The barbaric thought process is that Albinism is not weighty and substantive enough to be blanketed under the disability community. A single seat reserved for PWAs at the table would be a jumpstart to a society that is well-versed and welcoming to individuals with Albinism.

The Maasai culture has been normalized so much so that a random Maasai man walking around the city with his rungu or fimbo will not cause unrest. In this day, age and era, a person with albinism can walk into some places and rest assured heads will turn and a whisper or two may be heard. It is almost as if Albinism recently entered the chat. A huge demographic of people is still not acquainted with the Albinism realm –a cross that should majorly be bore by the individual. It is time awareness becomes an individual responsibility as opposed to people waiting on somebody else to educate them on Albinism. On the flip side, maybe the song of albinism awareness needs to continually be on a loop so that it becomes naturally embedded in our minds; Just like how the Maasai culture was gradually instilled on us up until we put it on a pedestal.

If only vital issues like Albinism were treated with much vigour and oomph like the Maasai culture, the whole conversation around Albinism would have shifted long ago. Albinism would now be a national conversation, part of the disability community, and most especially, People With Albinism (PWAs) would be regarded as equals to people without albinism.