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By Chipo Chabarwa
Despite having a rare skin condition that has affected her since she was seven, Christine Tafadzwanashe Matyavira, a 21-year-old model from Kwekwe, remains upbeat.
The University of Zimbabwe Film and Television Production student, like many of her peers, has big dreams. But unlike most of her age mates, Matyavira has other experiences in her life that require boldness and acceptance.
She has vitiligo – a skin condition in which the pigment is lost from areas of the skin, causing whitish patches, often with no clear cause.
According to the United Kingdom’s National Health Services (NHS), the exact cause of vitiligo is unknown, although most experts believe that it is an autoimmune condition in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys certain cells within the body.
Most people who have vitiligo will develop the condition prior to age 40 while about 50 percent get it before age 20. Experts state that there is no cure for vitiligo but sometimes patches go away on their own.
However, when that does not happen, doctors can prescribe treatments that might help even out skin tone. For Matyavira, the condition started at a tender age and it took time for her to come to terms with it.
“It started in 2007 when I was 7-years-old. It just started showing on my knees and private parts bit by bit until it spread,” she said.
Many vitiligo patients feel pressured as they attract unwanted attention from the general public – often encountering whispered comments, resentment, and snubbing.
The self-image of the vitiligo patients drops considerably and may lead to depression. These patients often develop negative feelings about it, which are reinforced by their experiences over a number of years.
However, according to medical experts, vitiligo is not contagious and cannot spread from touching, saliva, inhalation, blood, sexual intercourse, or sharing of personal items.
Matyavira has managed to embrace her condition because there is nothing she can do about it, although she confesses it has not been an easy journey to get to where she is now.
Armed with her talent, she chose to venture into the modeling industry to inspire the less confident young women who are finding it difficult to become self-motivated to pursue their dreams.
Apart from modeling, Matyavira wishes to pursue writing, a profession she intends to use to spread consciousness and motivate those who have the same condition as hers.
Vitiligo has a profound effect on the quality of life of patients and so the patients go to any extent in getting it treated although it is not life threatening.
Matyavira’s parents have consulted countless doctors and skin disease experts trying to get her treated to no avail.
Despite the shortcomings, being treated differently, facing isolation and being stereotyped she has managed to keep her head high and focused.
She is proud of the woman she has become.
“All I can say is being different is not a sin, be proud, embrace the unique qualities that are in you,” she said.
Society treats people with vitiligo in much the same way as it does anyone else who appears to be different while parents with children living with vitiligo often fall into financial problems as the lotions and other medication required are beyond the reach of many.
“At times we can afford them but sometimes I end up just taking precautionary measures such as minimising movement and staying indoors. This has affected my day to day activities,” she told Nhau.
She is in the process of lobbying Government and health organisations to assist people with the ailment in the same way they do those with albinism.
“Government should provide the protective lotions, for example, sunscreens so that vitiligo patients are not left vulnerable to the stigma that comes with the condition.”
To further find lasting solutions around public perceptions over the condition, Matyavira sees it necessary for awareness campaigns to be held educating the public about vitiligo as most people are in the dark. Nhau/Indaba
