TAU VISION

• People with albinism  enjoy good  life as other people within Tanzanian community.

TAU MISSION

• To create an environment that allows people with albinism to participate in economical,social and political activities without any form of discrimination.

ALBINISM IN TANZANIA

It is estimated that over 150,000 albinos live in Tanzania; 8,000 of whom are registered with the Tanzania Albino Society (TAS). A number of albinos have fled to the Dar es Salaam area, as they feel safer in an urban setting. Tanzania is thought to have the largest population of albinos in Africa

In December 2007 the Tanzania Albino Society accused the government of inactivity in the face of four albino killings over the previous three months.While older albino women with red eyes had been at risk for being murdered sporadically in the past as witches, this killing spree may have been the beginning of the ongoing persecution of albinos with the intent to harvest the victims' body parts.

With escalating killings, President Kikwete publicly and repeatedly condemned witch doctors, their helpers and middlemen, and the clients, which include members of the police force, for these murders. Victims include children snatched or abducted from their parents. The killers and their accomplices use hair, arms, legs, skin, eyes, genitals, and blood in rituals or for witch potionsFishermen incorporate albino hair into their nets in their hope to catch more fish from Lake Victoria or to find gold in the belly of the fish that they catch.

A number of steps were taken by the government to protect the albino population. The president ordered a crackdown on witchdoctors in the spring of 2008. In addition, an albino woman, Al-Shymaa Kway-Geer, was named to become a member of the parliament, the first albino in such a position in the history of Tanzania. Police have also been advised to generate lists of albinos and provide special protection for them.

To foil graverobbers, graves of the albinistic were to be sealed with concrete. However, by October 2008, killings had not abated, and while some suspects had been apprehended, no convictions had taken place. It was estimated that over 50 murders had taken place since March 2007, many of them in the mining and fishing communities near Lake Victoria, especially at Mwanza, Shinyanga and Mara.

In January 2009, "Prime Minister Pinda had declared war on the albino hunters, and in an effort to stop the trade in albino body parts he had revoked the licenses of all the country's witchdoctors who use the body parts in their black magic fetishes."

First conviction

The first ever conviction for the killing of an albino in Tanzania occurred on 23 September 2009 at the High Court in Kahama.The conviction came about following the murder and mutilation of a 14-year-old boy, Matatizo Dunia, who was attacked by three men in Bukombe district in Shinyanga Region in December 2008.The men carried Dunia from his home late at night before chopping him into pieces.

One of them was later found with Dunia's leg in his possession.The rest of Dunia's body parts were located concealed in shrubbery. The men confessed a desire to sell Dunia's parts to a witch doctor, yet despite this, their legal team had not anticipated the death sentence of hanging which the three men would receive

MORE INIATIVES REQUIRED FOR  PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.

According to WHO-2011, an estimated 1 billion people, or 15% of the world’s population, have a disability ; 10% of an affected population [by disaster] will develop serious psychological trauma. 80% of people with disabilities live in developing countries, and there, make up 20% of the poorest of the poor, living on less than $1 a day.

Disability is just as much or more about how society puts up barriers that exclude and disadvantage people with impairments by not recognizing their rights, needs and potentials, prejudice towards persons with disabilities. These barriers include poverty, lack of education, gender, religion, age, social stigma and geographic isolation.

The changes need to be brought from the policy level that would make every public institutions accessible to the people living with disabilities, develop education materials for the people with disabilities and make it accessible to them, make provisions for their independent living in the community as well as support need to be provided by other funding bodies as well the government entity for responding to emergencies and natural disasters and for disaster preparedness for everyone including the people living with disabilities to control the risk. Also, a social culture should develop that accept every individual in the society equally without discriminating in any of the ways.

For disabled children, every day is a struggle. The multitude of barriers limiting their access to education and the weight of what other say about their condition are obstacles to their well-being and fulfillment. No matter what physical or mental condition the children are living with, they all are entitled to an environment that will promote their development – whether to go to school to learn about cultural activities or to have fun. Health care interventions, education, rehabilitation and sustainable livelihood development are the aspects to be taken care of.