Shy, soft-spoken Mwigulu Magesa, missing an arm from a brutal attack in Tanzania where albinos are targeted for their body parts, wants to be president some day and knows exactly what he will do when he takes office.
If someone does such a thing like chopping a body part of a person with albinism or killing a person with albinism, he should be sentenced to death the same day, the 12-year-old boy said in Swahili through an interpreter.
Mwigulu's and three other Tanzanian children are wrapping up a summer in New York being fitted with prosthetic limbs and learning the simple childhood joys of splashing in a pool and playing backyard soccer.
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. Albino body parts are highly valued in witchcraft and can fetch a high price. Superstition leads many to believe albino children are ghosts who bring bad luck.
United Nations officials estimate about 75 albinos have been killed in the east African nation since 2000 and have voiced fears of rising attacks ahead of this year's election, as politicians seek good luck charms from witch doctors. The government has banned witch doctors to stop the body parts trade but when these children go home, they face a future that can be bleak. They may live in one of a handful of government centers plagued by overcrowding, food shortages and little opportunity to work.
Read the full story here: Tanzanian albino children attacked for body parts to return home from U.S.
