VIDEO: They Were Brutally Attacked for Being Albino. Now They Are Getting Prosthetics

Being different is sometimes not that great because you will suffer a lot.

If you think that people bullying you because you are somehow different than them is very bad, you should know that some people have it a whole lot worse.

Those that have albinism are considered beautiful by most people, but in some countries they are hunted down and tortured horribly because people think that their body parts have magical powers and can be used for different things.

According to globalnews.ca, four Tanzanian children with albinism, who lost limbs in brutal superstition-driven attacks, arrived in the United States on Saturday for medical treatment and respite from a homeland where they are persecuted and feared.

Weary from travel, the four stepped off a jet at John F. Kennedy International Airport, where Elissa Montanti, founder of the Global Medical Relief Fund(GMRF), was waiting to care for them.

The New York-based GMRF hosts children from around the world who have been injured in conflict or disaster.

Many need prosthetics like the children from Tanzania, where people with albinism live in danger.

Their body parts are highly valued in witchcraft and can fetch a high price. Superstition leads many to believe they are ghosts who bring bad luck.

The oldest boy, 15-year-old Emmanuel Rutema, speaks with difficulty. His attackers chopped off one arm and the fingers of the other and tried to pull out his tongue and teeth.

Baraka Lusambo, 8, grinned in obvious delight as he took in the bustling airport and swung from the arm of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer.

Mwigulu Magesa, 14, and Pendo Noni, 17, hung back, shyly seeking reassurance from Ester Rwela, a social worker who traveled with them from Tanzania.

GMRF in the last 20 years has hosted more than 200 children getting medical treatment, but the ones from Tanzania stand out, said Montanti.

“We’ve helped children over the last almost twenty years, children that have stepped on landmines, kicked a can and it exploded,” said Montanti. “But this is so deliberate,” she added.

“We broke through that. They know that we’re their friends.”
The children are expected to stay about two months, getting medical treatment courtesy of the Shriners Hospital in Philadelphia.

Albinism is a congenital disorder affecting about one in 20,000 people worldwide who lack pigment in their skin, hair and eyes. It is more common in sub-Saharan Africa and affects about one Tanzanian in 1,400.

United Nations officials estimate at least 75 albinos were killed in the east African nation between 2000 and 2015.

They say the number of reported attacks represent just a fraction of the total as most are secretive rituals in rural areas.

This children have been through a lot and they are not the only ones that have to live through it.

According to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, the body parts are traded in a lucrative market for use in witchcraft. Reported prices range from $2,000 for a limb to $75,000 for a corpse.