New limbs, new hope for Africa's hunted albino children
One out of every 15,000 people in Tanzania has albinism, a condition that leaves the afflicted with little or no pigment in their skin or eyes. In some traditional communities of Tanzania and other countries in Africa, albinos, are thought to have magical properties, and their body parts can fetch thousands of dollars on the black market as ingredients for witch doctor's potions to give the user wealth and good luck. A persecuted group in Tanzanian society, albinos have been attacked, limbs amputated and in many cases killed because of superstitious beliefs.
Elissa Montanti, founder and director of the Global Medical Relief Fund (GMRF), was moved by the plight of children living with amputated limbs and decided to bring five of them to live with her in Staten Island, New York while they received free surgery and prostheses at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.
Here, Emmanuel Rutema, 13, laughs with Montanti, left, and interpreter Ester Rwela ahead of his surgery, June 30, 2015.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Pendo Noni, 15, of Tanzania is fitted for a prosthetic limb at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, July 23, 2015.
"They're not getting their arm back," Montanti said. "But they are getting something that is going to help them lead a productive life and be part of society and not be looked upon as a freak or that they are less than whole."
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Emmanuel Rutema, Kabula Masanja, Pendo Noni, Mwigulu Magesa and Baraka Lusambo watch the Revlon live camera with a crowd of other tourists during a visit to Times Square in New York, July 28, 2015.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Monica Watson, right, with the Global Medical Relief Fund, plays with Magesa, 12, left, and Rutema, 13, during a fitting for prosthetic limbs at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, July 23, 2015.
Witch doctors often lead brutal attacks in Tanzania to use albino body parts in potions they claim bring riches. Though the government outlawed witch doctors in 2014 in hopes of curtailing the attacks, there's been a sharp increase in attacks in Tanzania as well as neighboring Malawi, according to the U.N.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Baraka Lusambo, 5, plays with a new soccer ball in New York, July 1, 2015. Men wielding torches and knives burst into his family home in March, knocked his mother unconscious, held him down and sliced off his right hand in the name of witchcraft.
Montanti, moved by an article she read about one of the other children, Baraka, reached out to Under the Same Sun, a Canada-based group that advocates for and protects people with albinism in Tanzania, to ask if she could help. The organization, which had been sheltering Baraka since he was attacked, asked if Montanti could help four other victims get prosthetics as well.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Noni takes a break in her room in New York, July 1, 2015. Noni is one of five albino children who came to the U.S. to receive free surgery and prostheses at a Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. The children stayed in the U.S. through the summer.
The Global Medical Relief Fund, started in 1997 by Montanti, helps children from crisis zones who have lost limbs or eyes or been severely burned. Since it was founded GMRF has helped more than 150 children.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Montanti gives Magesa a kiss as he celebrates his 12th birthday with Rutema, left, Lusambo, foreground right, Masanja, second from right, and Noni, right, in New York, July 1, 2015.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Rutema, 13, of Tanzania, walks with interpreter Ester Rwela before his surgery at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, June 30, 2015.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Rutema, 13, rides an elevator before his surgery at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, June 30, 2015.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
With the help of volunteer life guards, Magesa, Lusambo, Rutema and Noni swim and play in a pool in Oyster Bay, New York, July 20, 2015. The children went to a swimming pool for the first time ever.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Noni, 15, and Lusambo, 5, take part in a fitting for prosthetic limbs at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, July 23, 2015.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Magesa blows up a beach ball while playing on a beach in Long Beach Island, New Jersey, July 22, 2015. Between trips to the hospital, Montanti filled the children's summer with typical American activities.
People with the genetic condition of albinism, characterized by a lack of pigment, are often referred to in Tanzania as ghosts, or zero zero, which in Swahili signifies someone who is less than human.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Mwigulu Magesa holds a water toy between his body and his amputated left arm while playing on a beach in Long Beach Island, New Jersey, July 22, 2015.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Lance Harms, left, and Luis Velasquez, fit Masanja, 17, for a prosthetic limb at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, July 23, 2015.
Masanja's attackers asked her family for money. Her mother offered the family's bicycle because they had none. The attackers refused, held the girl down and in three hacks cut off her right arm to the armpit. Before leaving with her arm in a plastic bag, her attackers told her mother other men would be back to take her daughter's organs -- but they didn't return.
The girl thinks constantly about her missing limb.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Lusambo, 5, reaches to touch Monica Watson of the Global Medical Relief Fund, during a fitting for a prosthetic limb at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, July 23, 2015.
Witch doctors in Tanzania often lead brutal attacks to use albino body parts in potions they claim bring riches.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Pendo Noni, left, and Kabula Masanja play a memory card game in New York, July 28, 2015.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Watson and Rutema, 13, touch during a fitting for prosthetic limbs at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, July 23, 2015.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Magesa, 12, adjusts his prosthetic as he plays a card game at the GMRF group home in Staten Island, New York, August 29, 2015. Magesa still needs physical therapy sessions to learn how to use the new device.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Rutema keeps his arm elevated while he sleeps in New York after returning from surgery in Philadelphia, July 1, 2015.
After receiving their new limbs, the five will return to safe houses in Tanzania run by Under the Same Sun.
Montanti's group will bring them back to the U.S. to get new prostheses as they grow.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Kabula Nkarango Masanja, 17, left, wipes tears from her eyes as she says goodbye to GMRF founder and director Elissa Montanti, at JFK airport in New York before boarding a plane to travel back to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, September 1, 2015.
After more than two months in the United States, Kabula finally received her prosthetic and was traveling back home to take a national test to advance to secondary school.
Albinos - new limbs, new hope
Monica Watson, of GMRF, holds the hand of Lusambo, 5, of Tanzania during a fitting for a prosthetic limb at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, July 23, 2015.
Montanti said the group became like adopted kids to her.