Despite historic misconceptions and stigma surrounding vitiligo, are we seeing a shift towards greater acceptance and inclusivity, or do individuals with vitiligo continue to face social and emotional challenges?
The chronic skin condition affects millions of people worldwide. It is defined by a loss of pigmentation resulting in white patches on the skin.
Moleboheng Molebatsi, founder of the Beautiligo Foundation, told TimesLIVE about her foundation and how people with vitiligo should continue to live unapologetically.
“The idea behind the Beautiligo (beauty and vitiligo) foundation is to educate people on the condition and collaborate with other organisations. At some point in my life, I felt less beautiful as my skin started changing colour. The foundation visits schools to educate people and minimise bullying as much as possible. Sometimes we give away sunblock because our skin needs to be protected from ultraviolet radiation.”
Molebatsi said many people fail to differentiate between vitiligo and albinism. She experienced this when she started to develop white patches on her hands, feet and legs and later turned completely white, which made people believe she was living with albinism.
One of the few unapologetic faces who lives with vitiligo is actor Brighton Ngoma. The star has been candid about his journey with the condition, with patches on his forearm and hands and patches forming on his nose.
“One of the causes of vitiligo is stress. I had a rough childhood, migrating from Hillbrow, Berea and Yeoville. With my mother's passing in 2002 we had to adapt to a different lifestyle. Now that I'm older, I have to calmly assess the events I had to go through,” he said
According to Pfizer, stress can cause vitiligo to flare up or spread, with other causes being studied.
Ngoma said it takes one person to derail your mental stability, specially when you've worked hard to ignore the comments and social anxiety. He commended content creator and Big Brother season 4 contestant Yolanda Mukondi for embracing her vitiligo.
He said vitiligo it is not contagious, and stressed there is no scientific evidence to support the claim. He warned against skin grafts as they do not encourage melanin growth and said vitiligo is not reversible. He said vitiligo is not painful except in cases of prolonged sun exposure.
Model and entrepreneur Simba Gozo was born with albinism and was often singled out for being the only one in school with the condition. He said few people understand the emotional toll.
With social media platforms “playing a role to shape their community”, he warned against language used by people not living with albinism.
“I wish people understood that when labelling us 'albinos', you are limiting me to my condition. Yes, I have the condition, but I can't be the condition. That's dehumanising,” said Gozo
“We are not muthi, we are not magic, we do die.”
TimesLIVE
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