Martha

These past few weeks have been so, so busy (which I think is a good sign...it means we're being really productive!) but I just wanted to take a second to tell you all about an AMAZING project I've started working. The albino population here in Tanzania is very vulnerable. Witchdoctors believe that they are magical and albino body parts and blood can be sold for incredible amounts of money. Because of that, midwives kill albino babies, tell the parents that the body has disappeared, and sell the bodies. It's terrible and tragic and there are so many stories I could tell you all, but I just don't have time! Anyways, I just wanted to tell you a quick something about Mama Martha. I'm in the process of writing up her whole story, so that will be up in the near future, but until then here's a little bit about what we're planning to do to help her organization!

So Mama Martha is albino and had an incredibly tragic childhood. She now works as a social worker and heads an organization called Peacemakers. Since albinos lack pigment in their skin to protect them from UV rays, many end up developing severe skin cancer. The Moshi Christian Medical Center provides free checkups and any cancer removal needed twice a year for members of the Peacemaker organization. Martha uses her own paycheck to provide housing, transportation to and from the clinic, and food for anyone that needs it. She also provides education for needy albino children, rescues those that are being abused by their families or hunted by witchdoctors, and talks to the community about albinism and its stigma in Eastern Africa. She's also trying to build a school for the at-risk children to attend with other African children in the community.

We're helping her find a way to fund her charitable work so that she can use her paycheck to help her own family. We're also trying to help her find a way to get free eye checkups and glasses since almost all albinos have eye problems. This would help albino students that are being sent to blind schools actually function in a real school.