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Aichi Ngure: Albino with a humble heart
2008-04-13 10:46:34
By Correspondent Edwin Agola
Growing up in old Moshi in the 1950s, Aichi Joachim Ngure resolved to become the voice to the voiceless.Back in the 1960s, the girl watched, mesmerized, at killings of innocent human beings under the guise that they are a bad omen.
``Today, this may not be a big deal, but back then when most deliveries were carried out at home, the killings of Albinos at birth, was rampant,`` she recalls.
It dawned on her that Albinos, too, are human beings and deserve the right to all rights! The realization instilled in her the hope that one day she could speak against these practices.
Today, Ngure, 58, is not only secretary of the Albino society in Coast Region at Kibaha, but also a respected businesswoman at Kwa Mathias trading centre.
Her resilience and determination are personified in a statement she gave about herself: ``I am like a dog with a bone. I never take no for an answer, do not give up easily, and I keep going back to the problem until I solve it.``
An albino does not pass me unnoticed, she said. ``I would enquire of his or her welfare, where he or she is staying, whether there is a problem that needs my attention, and of course would donate lotion and give advice for them to put on long sleeved clothes.``
Seems like her resolve has paid off handsomely. The soft spoken Albino has spearheaded research that has greatly impacted on the lives of thousands of Albinos. She has been instrumental in improving education of Albinos in the Coast Region.
Almost on a daily basis she is confronted by stigmatized individuals, and as a secretary, and with limited resources there is little she can do to fight the menace adding that it was a sad reality that most of them get such treatment from their parents.
She is dedicated to empowering Albinos to protect themselves and she is encouraged when she sees the difference her effort has made to lives of Albinos.
Born to Joakim Ngure and Yesusonguo Msaki, who were both farmers, Ngure first grew up in Old Moshi village.
``We had great facilities and a culture that nurtured creativity. We had space to make decisions and just the right amount of freedom to spur us on to be good citizens, disability notwithstanding`` she recalls.
The furthest she could go in education is Standard 8 in 1966. She was a prefect and also school organist.
And through an interesting turn of events, she met her husband, Augustine Kira and she has this to say God has blessed me with a wonderful family of 5 children (all are not Albinos).
But I have passed through dark moments like when I lost my husband in 1986. It was very painful, as we were a very closely knit family, she says.
Ngure says in addition to her faith in God, she believes that each one of us has a purpose. We all have different gifts and should put them in practice.
And for her personal growth, she reads a variety of literature written by the late Julius Nyerere in Kiswahili and draws her philosophy from them: We should seek first to serve society, and only then can we truly find fulfillment.
``The books inspire me because they are stories of fairly ordinary people who face challenges like the rest of us, you transcend them to make a difference in the society. ``He was not seeking personal fame,`` she says .
Her vision is to see a better quality life for the Albinos and ensure more access to health care and an improvement in their education.
I believe that if you are inward looking, if you focus on what you will get, you will never be a truly happy person.
But when you work for people and engineer change, your life is of more value to you having lived.
She says many Albinos in rural Tanzania live under discrimination and stigma and are targets to brutal killings by superstition-inclined seekers of riches.
``This is not conducive to intervention, which requires constant follow up and political will,`` she concludes.
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