Discrimination in any form, whether it be race-based, gender-based or against the differently-abled, should never be tolerated.

It is painful to those against whom it is perpetrated.

When Nigerian-born Canadian-based Ikponwosa Ero decided to tell us the story of what she faced as a woman with albinism I was excited at the prospect of hearing it from her point of view, mainly because we had never before featured a woman with albinism on our pages, and I believed it would be an enlightening topic for our readers.

Ikponwosa, or IK as she is popularly called, is a researcher and advocacy officer at Under The Same Sun, a Canadian non-governmental organisation which campaigns for the rights of persons living with albinism.

IK's story opened my eyes to her daily challenges, but what happened to Adam, a young Tanzanian boy who was also born with albinism, showed me the horror experienced by those living with the disease. The vicious attack on Adam by a machete-wielding man showed the high level of ignorance which is permeated and still surrounds this disease.

The man attacked Adam, slicing off three fingers on his right hand and severely injuring his left hand. Adam barely escaped with his life when he bit the man's genitals in an effort to get away.

Perverted lies and myths fuelled by witch doctors in Tanzania who say that the body parts of persons with albinism bring good luck, have kept these attacks frequent and vicious. I hope IK's story will enlighten many of us.

Some women never truly appreciate their mothers until they become mothers themselves.

This week writer Lorraine Waldropt-Ferguson pays tribute to her mother Anne Marie who just turned 60 and says with a tinge of emotion, "I love my mother but I never truly appreciated what she went through to birth and raise me until I had my daughter, Amarice." Waldropt-Ferguson talks about what she learned about being a mother from her mother.

Our issue piece deals with a controversial topic: "Men on the down low: Is your straight man gay?" by writer Nicole Farrell and we introduce yet another Real Woman in the person of Nadia Mohammed who was paid $20 when she first entered the business of hairstyling.

Enjoy and please remember be kind to each other.

Editor

Angela Martin

Please send all comments to

angela.martin-hinds@trinidadexpress.com