I heard a very bizarre thing today, and bizarre may be an understatement.

I was at the hospital visiting some mobile clinics and I stopped in one patient room because I saw a large mound of avocadoes (completely unrelated to the story, sorry). What I found in that room was a lot more fascinating.

A girl was sitting on a bench, probably around 18 years old, with her mother. But one could hardly notice anything else about her other than the color of her skin, a shade of brilliant white. Seeing an albino person isn’t a huge deal in America; people usually just don’t talk about it. But in Kenya, it is definitely talked about, to say the least.

It is nearly impossible for me to blend in here in Kenya, and my skin color isn’t worlds different from theirs (people commonly ask me if I am a black American, primarily because I know Swahili, and assuming that all black people in America know Swahili). Other Peace Corps volunteers are always referred to as mzungu, which means European or foreigner. But albino Kenyans fall into a completely different category.

Apparently a law was recently passed that banned discrimination against albinos. There had been a huge problem with families disowning their children at birth because they were embarrassed about having a kid “like that” or with “this condition.” If the family didn’t abandon the child and decided to raise it, they were very wary of sending the child to school because of the negative attention that they would receive.

Up to this point, I wasn’t too surprised with the information I had been hearing. The culture here is not very receptive of “differences” (being gay is illegal, punishable by law). But what the mother told me next was very shocking.

The girl was top in her high school class and wishes to pursue college. However, she is unable to leave the house go anywhere alone because she is at risk of being kidnapped.

All over Kenya, albino people are kidnapped and sold to Tanzania. There are witch doctors there who believe that special medicine can be made from the bodily fluids of albinos.

Imagine my shock when the mother of the albino girl told me this today in the hospital. This is real, and new cases are on the news every few months. The girl cannot even go down the street to the store to buy a loaf of bread. She cannot go to the hospital by herself to pick up her epilepsy medication, which is a whole different issue. And although she was top of her class and has ambitions to go to Kenyatta University in Nairobi, the risk for her there is unimaginable.

The prevalence of witchcraft isn’t high in my area, but in Kenya as a whole it is surprisingly big. A little while later, a nurse entered the room and told us of a newsflash she had just heard. “Do not answer your phone if a number rings you ending with the digits 678. If you answer it, you will immediately die. A terrorist group has tapped into the phones, and many people have died in Nairobi already. It is on the news. “ When I laughed and said I didn’t believe her, my coworkers were quick to back up this claim, saying it must be some sort of witchcraft, so watch out.

In unrelated news, I got a call from an unrestricted number about an hour ago. I decided not to answer it.