Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambican President Daniel Chapo met on Wednesday in Maputo with Cristiano Cumbane, the central and northern regional delegate of the Association to Support the Albinos of Mozambique (ALBIMOZ), who presented him with the main challenges faced by albino citizens.
Cumbane stressed the need to protect albinos from harassment based on superstition, which sometimes culminates in mutilation and murder. Albinos are at risk because their body parts are believed to possess magical value. They are used in black magic rituals which supposedly confer power and wealth on the murderers.
Cumbane said he had also stressed the health needs of albinos who need special protection for their skin and eyesight.
He told reporters he was encouraged by his meeting with Chapo. He left the meeting with “a sense of joy” and a conviction that the President was taking the albinos’ concerns seriously. In particular, Chapo had promised that dermatologists will be sent to rural areas.
He said that most albinos live in remote areas, without access to specialist care, and where they have no security, but are vulnerable to “people of bad faith”.
Cumbane said he had presented Chapo with the project “Albinism with Security” which maps the areas where albinos are most at risk from superstitious practices. Another project of Albimoz is “Casa Segura” (Safe House), which aims to build safe and decent housing for albinos.
“This project will be launched as soon as we have a partner willing to finance, in an initial phase, an average of 100 houses in all the districts where we have delegates”, he said.
Cumbane also asked that sunglasses and other forms of protection against sunlight should be available for albinos on the National Health Service.
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