Q&A: Model Thando Hopa on Albinism Awareness Month

Since it's Albinism Awareness Month, Thando Hopa spoke with a Times reporter answering a few question relating to her life and the awareness month.

What challenges did your parents face in raising you?

My parents had to educate themselves, they had to learn about the importance of sun screen, a sun hat, how to deal with my eyesight problems.

My father used to play ball with me, all he would do is throw it to try and measure my depth perception and my focus. My uncle was placed as my personal sun-screen bodyguard and made sure I put my sun screen on every 2 hours.

My mother, having the foresight that I'll have self-esteem problems bought me beautiful long-sleeved clothes and sun hats, making me look like the cutest little girl and people told me how pretty I looked.

As I grew older, my father had to fortify my self-confidence by telling me I was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. It became more difficult for them to deal with my confidence levels the older I grew, but they were persistent in their efforts. 

Furthermore my parents were told that I had no prospects of survival in a mainstream school. But mother was fierce in her faith, so I always went to a mainstream school and now I'm a prosecutor thanks to them.

They bought any visual aid that was within their means, they made sure I coped, until I had enough independence to do it on my own.

It’s Albinism Awareness Month, could the government or the country do more in raising awareness. Do you feel people know about this month?

 Teachers need to be trained to have a level of understanding when it comes to the visual issues that a child with albinism has. They need to also dictate whatever it is they are writing on the board, for instance. 

With respect to subjects that involve numeracy government needs to ensure that it provides schools equipment like monoculars and so forth, particularly for children who cannot afford it; everyone has a right to education and schools should ensure that they deal with the challenges its students might have to place them on an equal path as students who don't have those challenges.

Once you empower them as individuals then society will view them differently, they will view themselves differently, these processes are mechanisms for change.

There are efforts from radio, television, newspapers, pamphlets and social media to create awareness during this month, thus I do believe that a certain level of understanding of the condition throughout South Africa is beginning to take place.

Model and Lawyer…. how did that happen?

I became a prosecutor because firstly I felt suited for litigation, secondly it was a socially aware area of law, which is important to me.

A friend called me when he saw the post at the NPA advertised and the rest, as they say, is history.  In the same year I became a prosecutor, Gert-Johan Coetzee stopped me at a mall and we began a beautiful journey in the world of fashion and media. We wanted to redefine beauty and show people that being different is something society should embrace not ridicule. 

A message to all the girls and boys who have been told they can not.

 Someone said to me, when your mindset is right the facts don't matter.  In other words limitations can't define your will, but the converse is true.