Shinyanga is a region in Tanzania surrounded by rich gold deposits, and it is home to thousands who depend on mining to make a living. The glow of gold draws many, but behind the shimmer lie stories of fear, superstition, and survival.
Two years after her first son Boaz was born, Martha gave birth to a daughter named Grace. Grace was also born with albinism. Martha longed for stability and a hopeful future for her family. When her husband was offered a job near a gold mine in Kakola, she believed the move would bring opportunity. Instead, it brought new challenges.
In Kakola, people mocked Martha, claiming she was cursed for having two children with albinism. Even so, Martha’s faith remained steady. Her father-in-law provided her much-needed encouragement. “Every day, he sent me scriptures reminding me that God has chosen me for this purpose,” she recalls. Her husband also stood firmly by her side with love and reassurance.
In communities around Kakola, dangerous superstitions still thrive. Some miners believe that body parts of people with albinism can be used in witchcraft rituals that they think will bring luck or help them find gold. For Martha, raising her two children in such an environment became a constant nightmare.
One day, as Martha was at home, two miners walked past her house and caught sight of Boaz. They stopped and whispered, “See that child, that one is wealth.” On another occasion, two men on a motorcycle slowed down and stared at her children for so long that they lost balance and fell off their bike. For Martha, moments like these were terrifying reminders of how unsafe their family was.
“People would whisper when they saw my children,” she recalls softly. “Some even advised me to send them away, saying it was dangerous for them to live there.”
Her neighbors warnings filled her with fear. Yet one night, as she held her son Boaz in her arms, Martha chose faith over fear.
“I prayed and told God, ‘If you gave me these children, I cannot send them away. I cannot protect them alone – but you can keep them safe.'”
It was heartbreaking, but Martha’s faith carried her through. Her courage reflects the unseen strength of many parents raising children with albinism in Tanzania’s mining regions, where myths still endanger lives and faith becomes the only shield against fear.
