07 May 2019

Have you ever seen someone with vitiligo? Of course you have seen him or her. But what is it?

In his book ‘Take control of your health (2007)’ Dr Joseph Mercola said vitiligo was a physical skin condition where the skin loses pigmentation, which created white spots on the skin that could burn more easily in the sun.

There are two types of vitiligo: Segmental and non-segmental vitiligo. Non-segmental vitiligo does not have a specific area of occurrence.

This means that the white patches can appear anywhere on the body.

It often begins on the finger tips, hands, feet, mouth or around the eyes. It can occur at any age, which means that one can be affected even when they are old.

Segmental vitiligo occurs only on one part of the body, such as the arms or face and tends to spread more rapidly than non-segmental vitiligo. It is common in children.

People who suffer from segmental vitiligo also experience loss of hair, eyebrows or eyelashes. Segmental vitiligo often progresses for about a year or so and then stops.

Thirty-year-old Ms Barulaganye Golelamang of Matsitama provides a window into what it is really like to live with vitiligo so that people can have a little more insight into the everyday life of someone living with the condition.

The woman has come a long way and now shows her natural beauty, and no longer takes time trying to hide some of the white patches on her skin, as her beauty still prevails under the white patches that have now covered her body.

When opening up about the effects of vitiligo on her life, and how it once left her feeling sad, Ms Golelamang said ‘vitiligo has the emotional and mental distress because of the decline in self-confidence, social stigmatisation and depression. She added that living with vitiligo was largely invisible, or at least only as visible as you let it be.’

With a smile that belies her reality, Ms Golelamang said it was difficult when it started, but that she was able to accept her condition although some members of the community could not help but be puzzled every time they saw her.

Moreover, she said there were incidents where people discriminated against her, especially in public transport.  “When I sit next to a person in a taxi, they move further away from me, I guess they fear I may transmit it,” she said.

But she said she has come back from that dark place and decided to show off more of her skin than before, adding that now she was more comfortable with her condition, although some days were hard and she had to hide her hands and legs.

Ms Golelamang said her condition started in 2012 and has been spreading ever since.

“It started with a drop on the lead of my left eye, then on the back of my neck and eventually spread slowly to the rest of my body,” she said.  

She said vitiligo was not always painful, but only when she was exposed to a lot of heat or the sun.

She said her workmates have been kind towards her, and jokingly said they have given her the now quite famous name ‘Mmalekgoa’ and she was comfortable with it.

Furthermore, Ms Golelamang said some of her friends have distanced themselves from her, but that she has learnt to live with it.

She said she has been getting help from the hospital, and has been given medication and products like sunscreen to help with the condition.

She knows vitiligo was not curable, and her doctor has written to the Ministry of Health and Wellness to help for her ‘colour to be uniform.’

Ms Golelamang said she was not the only one in her family with vitiligo. Her grandmother also has it though hers has not spread throughout the body.

She said it was important for people with the condition to accept themselves and embrace what they were. “We are the same as everyone, this condition should not define us,” she added.

She reminds Batswana not to take vitiligo as a punch line for a joke because they might fall into the same situation at any time.

She said she would like to work with organisations that support people with vitiligo and enlighten Batswana about the condition.

Despite all that, Ms Golelamang said she was blessed with a family that never treated her badly, or changed their relationship as it happened in some.

“I have three beautiful children and a companion who has loved me before and through to this day.

He has never shunned me or showed hatred or any kind of isolation from me,” she added.

There are a lot of unknowns in life, where you will go to university, what kind of job and career you will have, and if you will ever find true love.

But when you live with vitiligo, there is another unknown that is even more unnerving, because you do not know what you will look like in one month, one year or 10 years. ENDS