About Us

My name is Defo. I am born different: Black with no melanin (albinism) which means having low vision and a sensitive skin in a very warm country. 

It was a huge challenge to be accepted and understood in a society where people are not educated about albinism. I had to work through various stigmas; two or three times harder to find a place in the sun.  

My lovely parents too were not well informed about albinism. They didn’t know that I had low vision or how sensitive my skin was. They also never knew how to help me face the stigmas at school and in society. 

For many children going to school was fun, but not for me. I had to sit in the same position in the classroom, far from the blackboard like other children with good vision. Teachers who were careful and kind would let me stand close to the blackboard to copy lessons. Other teachers forbade me to and told me to sit like everyone else. I had to copy my friend’s notes during school break. This never stopped me from being top of my class or at least in the top three during primary school.

I had to go through the same issues with teachers in high school. It became more difficult and painful with subjects like maths, physics, technology and life science where everything was pasted on the blackboard with diagrams, formulas and calculations.  I often hated going to school and even wanted to give up, but I couldn’t. There was always something inside me telling me I have to find my own place in the sun.

During primary and secondary school, I was living in a village in a rural area where many are financially and educationally poor. I had to work under the very hot sun during dry season with no skin protection to avoid punishment and always came home with extremely painful and deep sunburn.

When it came to finding a job, no one wanted to hire me. For many people in my community, living with albinism means being disabled mentally as well. No company wanted to give me a chance to show what I was able to do, not even for an internship. I fell into a deep depression for around five years and lost all my self-confidence. I started seeing myself in the same way my community did.

As I needed to do something to take care of myself, I eventually decided to start a small business. I had to walk from one street to another to sell my goods under the burning sun.  Eventually I had to stop for the sake of my skin. I again started looking for a job, until one day I heard about a financial company recruiting representatives. I went for the interview like every other applicant. Fortunately for me, during the interview one of the HR members examined my CV more deeply, ignored my natural condition (albinism) and listened to me. At last someone understood that I could offer the company more than just being a rep and I was hired as a teller.

I came alive again! I started believing in my abilities, gained more self-confidence and overcame my low vision. I had to give it my all while working ten hours a day on the computer without glasses.  That wasn’t easy, but I worked hard and grew with the company, which is in micro finance. Today I’m working for a credit bureau. My disability became my ability!

My advice to anyone born different? You must know that you disability is an ability that many normal people don’t have.  Your disability is that powerful strength that makes you do what able people cannot do, that powerful strength that motivates you every single day to do your best and not give up on your dreams…