09 Oct 2017

Mr Therisano Lenkokame aged 30, says he had always known from his childhood days that he was different from other children as his skin colour struck a difference that was too apparent to ignore.

Mr Lenkokame, who lives with albinism, a rare genetic disorder associated with lack of colour pigmentation in the skin, has a different positive story to tell about her his life.

He even felt more alienated when his peers stigmatised and excluded him from their daily interactions as well as negative comments from the community about his albinism condition.

“When I grew up, I could tell that I was different from other children. My family also explained that I had an albinism condition that I will live with for my entire life.

While some people tried to break me down with negative comments, my family did the best they could to help me fit in,” he said.

Mr Lenkokame, also known as Yellowman because of his skin colour, shared that as his skin did not have a dark pigmentation that protects it from the sun rays, his movements were limited and could not go and play out in the sun for a long time.

He said another challenge was that he had tiny eye lashes that could not protect his eyes; as such the reflection of the sun affected his sight that he could not tell objects apart.

As if that was not enough, while at school some of his mates would ridicule him, especially when he made mistakes and at one point he felt it was useless to go to school.

However, the family support motivated him to stand strong and eventually he gained enough confidence to show his capabilities.

While at secondary school, he was one of the best students in art and though he could not perform up to satisfaction at senior secondary school level, he never felt discouraged; in fact this was another chance to prove his talent as an artist.

Today, Mr Lenkokame is one of the reputable fine artists who owns and runs a business project that he looks up to as a means of survival.

He noted that in 2011, he received P30 000 through the Youth Development Funds (YDF) to start his business project.

“When I failed to excel at school, I never thought of quitting, instead I tried my fate with YDF and by the grace of God I got assisted with all the necessities in relation to my business,” he said.

He said though he paints anything that crosses his mind, he always fights to come up with paintings that will send out a positive message.

In a confident self-assured way, Mr Lenkokame believes he had achieved better than some of his peers considered to be ‘normal’.

He also shared that while people with albinism try hard to face the world, some myths, especially that of being considered as a curse still negatively affects them.

As such Mr Lenkokame feels more should be done to encourage people living with this condition gain control of their lives.

He said they should also strive to be upfront in application of self-determination skills such as goal-setting and develop the spirit of self-advocacy.

On top of proving beyond reasonable doubts his talent in fine arts, he has also discovered his passion for music.

He has collaborated with Mr Maiteko Molosi to work on his hip-hop debut album, which he is also positive it will help him sensitise the community about everyday life challenges. BOPA