The Tanzanians’ Story
They are just children. Living their lives in Tanzania, on the east coast of Africa.
But to the powerful witch doctors who troll the Tanzanian countryside, they are much more than that: their body parts will heal whatever ails, and so, are worth tens of thousands of dollars.
That’s because these children have albinism, and the witch doctors believe that kidnapping these children from their homes and hacking off their limbs with machetes and then grinding them into a “magic” powder will bring fame and wealth to the witch doctor.
On May 3 or 4, 2021 an innocent 5-year-old boy with albinism was savagely murdered. His body was violently mutilated, with his organs and limbs savagely harvested, for sale to witch doctors. In Tanzania and several other African nations, the body parts of albinos are trafficked in an underground trade related to witchcraft practice. It is falsely believed by some that such body parts can be used to bring good luck and prosperity. Albinism is a rare genetically inherited condition resulting in very limited pigment in a person’s hair, skin, and eyes. People with albinism also have a severe visual impairment.
Albinism is particularly prevalent in Tanzania with one in 1,400 affected, compared with one in 20,000 in Western countries. Activists on the continent say poverty contributes to the suspicion surrounding albinos and the belief their body parts can be sold for large sums of money – to everyone from ambitious government officials to wealthy people who think they can achieve superpowers by mutilating these children.
There are four children who have returned to Elissa Montanti’s Dare to Dream House.
Emmanuel, now 18, was just 13 when attackers tried to cut his tongue out, and in the process, nearly destroyed his jaw. Traumatized in ways we can’t imagine, he now stutters and is getting therapy for his jaw, and his soul. The witch doctors also chopped off one of his arms but didn’t get the other because they were interrupted in the act and fled. Emmanuel sees his attackers in his nightmares. He can’t flee.
Pendo, now 20, was 15 when they hacked off her arm with a machete.
Baraka, now 12, was just 7 years old when they took his arm.
And Mwigulu, now 16, was 11 when they took his arm.
Our story follows these children as they are refitted for prosthetics because they have grown, but also we hear their stories, and why, for instance, Pendo wants to become a teacher, so she can eradicate this evil and lucrative superstition.
Elissa wants to do more than that. She wants the help of the US government and President Biden to put pressure on Tanzania to stop this barbaric practice, or to suffer the consequences.
We tell that story, too, in Our Lady of Staten Island, as Elissa Montanti works to make the world a better place for these children, and for everyone.
Please see this short 2-minute video for more information on the problem, Elissa, and the children: