Most of us have only seen pictures of Tanzania, and its colorful landscape that includes the majestic peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro and the Ruaha National Park which is home to over 10,000 elephants and 430 species of birds. Among the many different animals that are found in Tanzania, one of the best known and most endangered is the black rhino.

While the plight of the black rhino is a concern, even more, worrisome is the warped and wicked mistreatment of the Albinos.  In Tanzania, albinos represent one in every 1429 births, and the innocent children among this number live in constant fear.  They live with the terror of knowing that some people want to harvest their body parts.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation has reported that the adherents of witchcraft place a high value on albino body parts.  Because some villagers believe albinos have magical powers, they hunt them and harvest parts of their bodies.

The National Geographic has reported on this gruesome practice, saying:  “Some even believe that the witchcraft ritual is more powerful if the victim screams during the amputation, so body parts are often cut from live victims, especially children.  The use of children is likely linked to the pursuit of innocence, which, it is believed, enhances the potency of the witchcraft ritual.”

As I think of these brutalized children, I’m reminded of a line from an old radio show:  “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.”

I also thought of these truthful words from a children’s song:

Jesus loves the little children

All the children of the world

Red and yellow, black and white

They’re all precious in his sight

Jesus loves the little children of the world

Everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed.  ~John 3:20

To learn a little more about this repugnant practice, you can visit a Facebook page that has a focus on this issue.