Black Albinism, an Organisation of people who are born with albinism held a consultation forum in Kitui to deliberate on the climate change which has affected them.
According to the group, they should be actively engaged in climate change forums to give out their ideas because the climate has negatively affected them, especially since they have a light skin complexion.
Addressing the media after their meeting in Kitui, Alan Albert who is the founder of the Black Albinism Organisation said that they have been affected by climate change thus the government should involve them in making decisions on how to combat climate change.
“Black Albinism is a youthful-led organization that works for social inclusion for persons with albinism and we do this through sports, performing arts, and content creation. We have come to Kitui to talk with our fellow persons living with albinism to understand why they should be involved in decision-making on climate change in Kenya,” Alan said.
The founder also pointed out that there should be interventions to ensure that there are measures taken to curb the changing climate change in Kenya through advocating for the conservation of the environment.
“This project is aimed at finding real-time information from persons living with albinism so that we can create training that will later inform solutions on how we can combat the effects of climate change on persons living with albinism.
The group also encouraged parents who have children with albinism to always avail them to the public so that they can get assistance from the government instead of hiding them.
” I thank the Balck Albinism group for visiting us today where we have been enlightened on why we should be involved in climate change resolutions and I would like to ask parents who have children with albinism not to hide them. When you hide a child with albinism you deny the child their rights and even block them from getting assistance from the government,” Ben Mzungu said.
Faith Joseph who was born with albinism urged those living with albinism to work hard and embrace education instead of focusing on their skin color. She added that they all have equal opportunities like the other Kenyans and no one should look upon them based on their skin color.
“I am one of those living with albinism but I work at the County Government of Kitui in the health sector. I want to encourage those who think that albinism is a disability that can block their success thinking that they won’t get employed, to work hard bearing in mind that the job space won’t discriminate you due to your skin color,” Faith remarked.
In 2013, Isaac Mwaura became the fourth person with albinism to hold a senior political position in Africa and the first person with albinism from Kenya to join the parliament. His advocacy, along with others, resulted in the national earmarking of a budget line for people with albinism.
