Gomolemo…This is the name of an extraordinary young lady we had the privilege of interviewing. Gomolemo was born with the condition of Albinism and she was more than happy to walk us through her upbringing which had some unique circumstances and challenges as a result of her condition. She had a number of mountains to climb to get where she is today, and like every other person she had to be strong and keep her head up. To her challenges like 
being discriminated, unfairly treated by the community and at school were and still are like water under bridge really…because she has a sister at home with the very same condition as her.
Katleho was the 1st albino child at the Mafatlhe’s home, then came Gomolemo. After Gomolemo’s birth the situation at home about having albino children was sorted, everyone was really at peace about the whole situation.At some point she had to face people who are not living with albinism, by the time she approached the outside world she realised that things were different, at home her parents were treating them like Princesses and so on….but after she approached the community she came across some discriminations, stereotypes and people were rude towards her. However her sister was always there for her, she was her pillar of strength I could say….more especially when coming to such challenging situations.
Gomolemo grew up observing things like discrimination and getting an unfair treatment from her surroundings. All the negative incidents she heard relating to people with albinism or who are living with it, she finally got to experienced them. She got negative comments from people.
“I kept reading …reading and rese
arching about albinism, how other people living with it were being treated in other countries, this motivated me that whatever is happening right now in my life and how people treat me I shouldn’t take it into consideration” She said
“Most people like to tease people living with albinism, I really don’t know what comes to their minds every time they approach them, which is why most albinos are choosing to stay away from the rest of the world. To me it’s just a condition nothing personal or whatsoever, am not sick, I always ignore all their jokes about us, the only thing I love to do is to get more people to learn or gain more knowledge about us,” She Added
At Gomolemo and Katleho’s home it’s only the two of them who are living with albinism, they have a brother and a sister who are not albinos. Katleho is dating an albino gentleman but they’re expecting a non-albino child, wow how wonderful is this? Huh? Really At All Times God Is Good.
Malapeng a mangata ha re fumana taba tse tshwanang le tsena reye re latele hore re tsebe sesosa kapa neheletsano e
sita le ona motso wa tabakgolo hore e tswa kae, jwale re fumana hore taba ya “Albinism” ho latela ka ntlha tseo Gomolemo a re neileng tsona, o bolela hore hona le beng ba leloko ka hlakoreng la ha bo mme wa hae ba ntse ba phela ka yona taba ena ya Albinism. “After the doctors approved that Katleho is going to be an albino my mom couldn’t believe it. It was hard for her to accept the situation, then years passed and she got pregnant, Booooom…. Again she received the news that I (Gomolemo) too was going to be an albino, but with me she said she was expecting it, it was no longer a shock anymore…. “Gomolemo Said
On behalf of every albino or people living with the situation, Gomolemo is expecting the society to treat them normal.
People believe that albinos have the ability to melt and vanish when they die, their bones are used by traditional healers (Sangomas) to make a traditional medicine (Muthi) or they are believed to possess healing powers. All these are myths and stereotypes.
The treatment in this country should be equal, black, white, Indians, albinos/non-albinos. Most people who are living with albinism are underestimated by the society, not that albinos are too intelligent, just that everything they do in their lives they do it with all their hearts, when they study they give it their all, same applies when they are at the work. We are not just intelligent however we take efforts to learn more, not that people living normal pigmentation are not intelligent.
Le rona re batla hoba le ntho e leng hore re ka tsoha hosane re ipuella ka ona, e leng yona thuto.
Albinism is a genetic condition where people are born without the usual pigment (colour) in their bodies. Their bodies aren’t able to make a normal amount of melanin, the chemical that is responsible for eye, skin, and hair colour. So most people with albinism have very pale skin, hair, and eyes. Albinism can affect people of all races, and there are different kinds of albinism.
