BY CONSTANCE MBONGO
Scores of persons with Albinism (PWA) on Saturday, February 26, 2022 benefitted from free dermatological consultations, donation of sunscreen lotions, umbrellas and training workshops under the largesse of the Born to Dazzle Foundation as they launched their first of its kind skincare campaign under the theme “Crystal Confdence-Elevate”
Born to Dazzle Foundation in collaboration with the Canadian High Commission rolled out the capacity building endeavour targeted specifically at people with albinism at the Ngeme community hall in Limbe II subdivision, under the watchful, albeit supportive eyes of renowned dermatologist, Doctor Salle Charles.
In a bid to bring awareness to albinism, a condition characterised primarily by the absence of melanin in the body and its accompanying challenges, Vision bearer Ebenye Nicole Whitney embarked on a sensitisation campaign to demystify the condition and also to empower persons born with albinism with the creation of the Born to Dazzle Foundation in 2019.
Ever since then, she has been relentless in her pursuit to fight discrimination and stigmatisation with innovative programs like “Unravel” geared towards sensitisation, “Optasia” which addresses eye care, “Elevate” which is the foundation’s empowerment program amongst others.
The foundation has also been actively involved in activities marking the International Albinism Awareness Day which comes up yearly on June 13.
Speaking at the event, Doctor Salle Charles schooled participants on the danger of not paying adequate attention to their skincare routines while outlining the different degrees of skin damage. He further emphasised that persons with albinism must limit exposure to the sun with protective clothing. This he opined involves wearing sunshades, hats, carrying umbrellas as well as using sunscreen lotions.
Participants were visibly overjoyed to acquire not only pertinent skincare knowledge but also gifts of sunscreen lotions which many said they could not afford otherwise.
Ndome Agnes, a participant appreciated the organisers noting “we have been well schooled on the prevention of skin damage and possible relief methods. I have learnt a lot of things that I did not know”.
The feeling of elation was mirrored by the founder of the Born to Dazzle Foundation, Ebenye Nicole Whitney. Talking to reporters at the end of the event, she expressed relief at the success of the event in spite of many challenges. She said the unstable sociopolitical environment caused by the Anglophone crisis has been a major challenge to project implementation, “We got to a particular school in Buea only to find it deserted hence we could not carry out the school sensitisation as planned,” Ebenye Nicole said.
She also remarked that she owes a debt of gratitude to their sponsors, The Canadian High commissions whose timely partnership with the Foundation since October 2021 has relieved limitations from financial constraints.
“We have created more than 6 different project types under the Canadian sponsorship. It gives my heart so much joy when we impact the lives of persons with or without albinism. Within a 4 month duration of partnership, we have achieved a lot. We carried out our Optasia program where 23 persons with albinism benefitted from prescription glasses, we were also able to print out 1500 copies of 4 page educative bilingual calendars carrying relevant information about albinism. Persons with albinism have undergone trainings in manicure, pedicure, makeup artistry, poultry farming and detergent making.” Ebenye Nicole explained.
Even though some persons with Albinism still feel shy and frightened to come out and make their voices heard, Ebenye Nicole said she will not relent her efforts to be their voice and plans to eventually take the vision to ensure better living conditions amongst PWA and their families to other regions of the country.