Albino Children : Innocence Versus Ignorance

At the age of about 8 or 9 years old, I saw a young boy who was “white everywhere”! His skin, his hair, his eyebrows! Asked my mother about him and she casually remarked: “He’s an albino”. That was the entire discussion. I accepted her answer and moved on.

Fast forward. I am an adult who has lived for several decades. You think you’ve seen so much that nothing will shock you. Then you learn of an atrocity. What people do to albinos. Many of the victims, innocent children.

There are people who believe body parts of albinos have magical powers. As a result, __________. No doubt you can fill in the blank. But if you can’t, here are two words that might conjure up some images in your mind. Mutilation. Murder.

The article reference below supplies additional information.

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Reference:

hhteam. “The Plight of Albinos.” Humanity Healing. Humanity Healing International, Inc., Albino Rescue Project, 8 Mar. 2015, humanityhealing.org/2015/03/plight-of-albinos/

♥ Take heart. This post ends on a happy note! ♥


Image Credit: Kuna boys, including an Albino boy. Photo on Flickr by user Ben Kucinski (CC BY 2.0).

There is a community in Panama that adores their albino children. They are considered blessed and people call them “children of the moon”.

According to Kuna mythology, the sipus or the albinos are the only ones who can slay the dragon during lunar eclipses. Even though we know through the study of astronomy that there is no dragon which causes a lunar eclipse, it’s still nice that the customs and traditions linked to this myth resulted in protecting those sweet children, instead of harming them. Doesn’t that just relieve and warm your heart?


References:

“Panama’s Kuna Community Has a Special Place for Its Albinos, the ‘Children of the Moon’ · Global Voices.” Global Voices, 19 June 2015, globalvoicesonline.org/2015/06/19/panamas-kuna-community-has-a-special-place-for-its-albinos-the-children-of-the-moon/

Artist, Karl Tate SPACE.com Infographics. “’Blood Moons’ Explained: What Causes a Lunar Eclipse Tetrad? (Infographic).” Space.com, Purch, 18 Sept. 2015, www.space.com/25427-blood-moons-lunar-eclipse-tetrad-infographic.html.





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My original content published elsewhere around the web.

Climate Change : Irma: A Meditation on Hurricanes and the Bahamas ~ Global Voices

I grew up in Miami, Florida.  I'm so old that I can remember when hurricanes only had female names.  I no longer in Florida but I have not fully escaped the hurricanes.  I live in Texas now and hurricanes also like to swing by here and say Hello! People who live in locations where they experience hurricanes and have lived to tell can always share a story.  The longer they live in a place and survive, the more stories they have to tell.  Nicolette Bethel has a story.
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And then came Irma: Not behaving at all like a genteel gracious lady at all.   She even brought friends to her soiree.  September 2017, Hurricane Irma struck the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and Florida, and brought some tornadoes with her.   She definitely gave us something to think about it. These are the thoughts of Nicolette Bethel.

"Every thirty years or so, however, some regular shift in global weather patterns appeared to encourage the formation of hurricanes further north and increase the likelihood that they would affect The Bahamas and US eastern seaboard. These hurricanes would sweep across the Atlantic and not be disrupted by land or mountains until they were well inland in the USA." 

(My comment/observation.)  Extracted this excerpt because it seems to present a plausible explanation for 2017 being the year of the hurricanes.  In other words, maybe it's not the effects of climate change.  Maybe ... it's just normal weather patterns.  The global warming debate continues.

Author of the post republished by GlobalVoices.org is Nicolette Bethel, Bahamian teacher, writer, and anthropologist.

Visit her blog for more interesting posts. 

~ Original Article Source: Global Voices

Hurricane, Bahamas. Winslow Homer (1898). 

Image donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Irma: A Meditation on Hurricanes and the Bahamas | Shared via Pinterest
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Related articles:

• Earth Day and Tree Tuesday - What a Great Combination!
• Don't Breathe! Parts of the world to avoid? Easy! Unless you live there!!

#DemocracyDefeated: How Indian Right-Wing Groups Stalled A Bollywood Period Drama ~ Global Voices (My Opinion)

Global Voices is a publication that opens your eyes to the world around you. This particular article peaked my interest for two reasons. Number One, I enjoy watching Bollywood movies. Number Two, I am a huge fan of Deepika Padukone.

I AM APPALLED!!! SHOCKED! and quite frankly, DISGUSTED!!! at the content of this article. Not upset with the article writers. In fact, they are very brave to write the article at all. How do they know there won't be a bounty on their head too???!!

Is this what real life is like in India, a democratic country?  

#DemocracyDefeated: How Indian Right-Wing Groups Stalled A Bollywood Period Drama · Global Voices

GV logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So???  QUESTION. 

In India, politicians or political leaders can actually threaten citizens with beheading?? Oh my!

Say what? Oh of course. The article does use the word “alleged”. 

Alleged? Oh!  Does that mean it's not REAL?? 

NO! Alleged means it could be VERY REAL. But right at the moment, there is no PROOF!!

So??? QUESTION.
If Ms. Padukone gets her head chopped off, will that be PROOF??

Here are a few excerpts from the article that will send shivers up and down your spine.

"...  put a $1.5 million bounty on Deepika Padukone's head, asking followers to behead her and the movie's director Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Other threats included chopping off Padukone's nose, burning her alive and beating up other actors in the movie. ..."

Follow up to this Global Voices article dated Nov 2017.  Report by Geo.tv dated Jan 9, 2018.

Controversial ‘Padmavati’ to release as ‘Padmavat’ on January 25

So???  QUESTION. 

Now that the film will be released, does this mean that threatening citizens of India with beheading is OK?? Oh my!