WHITE EBONY
Awarded at the
UNICEF Photography Award
I was born and raised in the Congo (DRC). After leaving Africa, I spent my life traveling around the globe and came back to my native country in June 2013.
I remember as a child, I was absolutely fascinated with people with albinism. Twenty years later, this fascination is even more rooted in me than what I thought.
Being a person with albinism in many part of Africa is not the best gift life could grant you. Although, the Ndundus (albino in Lingala) in the Congo are better off then their Tanzanian and Burundian counterparts - killed and mutilated by witch doctors - they are stigmatised and discriminated by the society.
But people with albinism in the Congo are gathering and slowly making their way towards integration.
This photo report is a testimony of hope, courage, love and success to give them the dignity they deserve. It can hopefully be used to promote understanding and tolerance towards people with albinism in the Congo and in the rest of Africa.
Patricia Willocq