Breaking the barriers and dispelling misconceptions around albinism
Grounded Media, which is celebrating their 20th Anniversary, hosted an Albinism Industrial Theatre for learners in Phomolong Secondary School, Tembisa.
One of the various challenges faced by people with albinism, is access to employment opportunities.
Despite progressive legislation such as the Employment Equity Act of 2008, progress is very slow.
Statistics show that people with disabilities make up less than 2% of the employed population.
Grounded Media, which is celebrating its 20th Anniversary, hosted an Albinism Industrial Theatre for learners in Phomolong Secondary School on August 2.
The aim of the industrial theatre was to educate and fight the stigma and stereotypes faced by people with albinism in particular and by people with disabilities in general.
To dispel myths, Molepo Theatre Projects produced the play, “Mama, I want the black that you are.”
The play was written and directed by Arthur Molepo, and features actors with albinism including Regina Mary Ndlovu, Ntsoaki Mathiba and Puleng Molebatsi.
The play puts the spotlight on how parents and families relate to their children with albinism.
The play focuses on prejudices and deep-seated secrets held within individuals and households.
The director scripted the play by incorporating feedback from interviews with real people with albinism.
Daphney Smith, Project Manager at Grounded Media, says that for her, the point of entry into the world of work was a skills programme that her employer conducted to get young disabled people into the TV production industry.
After graduating from Wits University and whilst looking for a job, Smith worked as a volunteer at the Albinism Society Head Office in Johannesburg.
“I worked mainly in outreach programmes, visiting schools, clinics and churches to raise awareness about albinism. I targeting people who have albinism in their families or among their associates,” she says.
“The main aim was to start support groups and to nurture positive relations that would enhance the self-esteem of people with albinism.”
In August 2000, Smith saw an advert stating that Kagiso TV (now Grounded Media) and the Thabo Mbeki Development Trust for People with Disabilities were going to conduct training to bring young people with disabilities into the television industry and equip them with skills to work in this business.
“I applied and was successful, together with four other individuals. When the training ended after four months, Kagiso TV employed most of us who had participated in that training. One or two others left as they found other work in the industry,” says Smith.
“This training meant that I had to leave the Albinism Society as a volunteer. However, I embraced it as it meant an opportunity which many people with disabilities don’t receive. It was an opportunity to be employed and participate in the mainstream economy.”
Despite the misconceptions that people with disabilities and people with albinism are to be boxed into certain roles only, many have challenged these stereotypes and have excelled in various sectors.
These include South African lawyer and model, Thando Hopa; Kenyan member of parliament, Isaac Mwaura; Afro-pop singer, Salif Keita; Tanzanian member of parliament, Salum Khalfani Bar’wani and Ghanian lawyer and sports analyst, Moses Foh Amoani.
Daphney’s story and the message of the play address the issues at hand, namely that when one conquers the very fear of failure at anything, then one becomes a hero. One is one’s own hero and perhaps a hero to others.
