10,000 E. African albinos in hiding after killings — Cripes. What next?

The mistaken belief that albino body parts have magical powers has driven thousands of Africa’s albinos into hiding, fearful of losing their lives and limbs to unscrupulous dealers who can make up to $75,000 selling a complete dismembered set.Mary Owido, who lacks pigment that gives color to skin, eyes and hair, says she is only comfortable when at work or at home with her husband and children.”Wherever I go people start talking about me, saying that my legs and hands can fetch a fortune in Tanzania,” said Owido, 36, a mother of six. “This kind of talk scares me. I am afraid of going out alone.”Since 2007, 44 albinos have been killed in Tanzania and 14 others have been slain in Burundi, sparking widespread fear among albinos in East Africa.At least 10,000 have been displaced or gone into hiding since the killings began, according to a report released this week by the International Federation for the Red Cross and Crescent societies.East Africa’s latest albino murder happened in Tanzania’s Mwanza region in late October, when albino hunters beheaded 10-year-old Gasper Elikana and chopped off his leg, the report said. The killing left Elikana’s father, who tried to defend his son, seriously injured.




  1. Ah_Yea says:

    Such an enlightened people.

    Just a little trivia. Did you know Edgar Winter (of the Edgar Winter Group) is an albino?

    I wonder how much HE would fetch?
    http://www.edgarwinter.com/

  2. John E. Quantum says:

    Is that the same part of Africa where deflowering a virgin is reputed to cure aids?

  3. GF says:

    What century are we in?

  4. soundwash says:

    rofl…

    -well, by the looks of that lot in the pictures above, now we know what some of the ET/Human hybrids ended up looking like.. (which is why they are probably rumored to have magical powers)

    lol…i’d say that is what one might call “capitalism gone mad” (i hope they’re smart enough to sell the organs to the organ black market as well. -75k for the extremities, 200k for the internals…)

    IMO, something sick is infecting the minds of humanity..

    -s

  5. Steve says:

    Albino hand of glory is supposed to totally be the shiznit!

  6. Heinrich Moltke says:

    Damn albinos have had it too easy for too long.

  7. Steve says:

    Speaking of the shiznit – is an albino brown eye really brown?

  8. Animby says:

    Slightly off topic: When I worked in Africa, I thought I saw a lot of albinos. My question was, were there really more albinos or did they just stand out more from the crowd? Then I thought back to the albinos I’d seen in the US and I think the majority were black? I did research it briefly but couldn’t find out if blacks represent the majority in albinism. I’ve been living in SE Asia for a couple of years and don’t recall seeing a single example. I need to speak with a geneticist, I guess.

  9. Cursor_ says:

    #3 GF

    Same century that many humans think that animal parts, herbs, magnets and other snake oil will make them better, cure diabetes, make their pecker bigger, etc.

    Uneducated humans are a blight on the world.

    Cursor_

  10. Rich says:

    Ummm…that series of pics is quite a shock to the system.

  11. Free B. says:

    It will be interesting to locate an African web and other places and provide the link here someday that uses Dvorak’s mug shot this same slimy way as what he’s done here by using the above albinos and ignoring people’s rights to not be defamed by allowing bloggers to make sick comments.

    So where do they come up with this 10,000 number? Why isn’t it 10,342 or 9,325? Knowing how these fanciful proclamationists routinely come up with their fantasy numbers, I would guess the real figure is 1% of this, at 100.

  12. steve says:

    Bah! Thems white people.

  13. soundwash says:

    on second look.. there is an odd asymmetry in the eye spacing of the people in the pics above.

    like someone failed to “get it right”

    The bottom right kid looks like a Pissed off Grey that got reincarnated into the wrong species, let alone wrong body..

    the other three have some interesting cranial structuring on their foreheads..

    wonder if the gal top right is the mother of the other three..

    Hmmm..

    -s

  14. JimR says:

    The retardation of societal maturity is perpetuated by superstitions, the foremost being organized religions.

  15. deowll says:

    Maybe they could seek political asylum in the United States? Obama ought to care about them not that he necessarily does mind you.

    Unless they were wearing contacts none of those people were true albinos. Not a one had pink eyes unless they were wearing contacts though wearing contacts that were dark enough to provide some sun ray protection would have been prudent. I just don’t think they could afford it and would have to settle for cheap sun glasses.

  16. sargasso says:

    Killed for body parts – well, that doesn’t happen anywhere else.

  17. JimR says:

    #11, Free B. “So where do they come up with this 10,000 number? Why isn’t it 10,342 or 9,325? Knowing how these fanciful proclamationists routinely come up with their fantasy numbers, I would guess the real figure is 1% of this, at 100.”

    Do a little research before you post and you won’t seem so ignorant.

    http://en.afrik.com/article16209.html
    “The Albino Association of Tanzania says that although just 4,000 albinos are officially registered in the country, they believe the actual number could be as high as 173,000.”

    Tanzania alone has about 10-15 times higher than the rest of the world rate/1000 population.

  18. amodedoma says:

    Africa is a hell hole of ignorance. I remember when it was popular belief that the cure for AIDS was to have sex with a virgin. It’s ironic that the birthplace of our species seems not to evolve.

  19. Gore-acle says:

    Damn!, those are 4 UGLY motherfuckers…

  20. O'Really says:

    This could be a story ripped from the movie District 9, but the albinos don’t look anything like the prawns.

  21. Gore-acle says:

    I would kill one of them ugly bastards too just to get them out of my field of vision.

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