Growing up in rural Cameroon was tough and lonely, Albino twins Rene and Clifford Bouma remember. They were cruelly teased by other children. Adults ostracised them. Their parents constantly feared for the boys’ lives.
“We heard stories of albinos who have been killed and offered as sacrifices to the gods,” say the 31-year-old brothers, who grew up in the north-western village of Bali. “So it was risky growing up as an albino.”
Albinos face a strange dichotomy of being discriminated against as bringers of misfortune by communities, while at the same time being hunted for the use of their body parts in magical potions and charms believed to bring wealth and good luck.
Violent attacks against people with albinism — a genetic condition caused by a lack of melanin in the skin, hair and eyes — are not only common in Cameroon, but also in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, such as Congo, Burundi, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique.
The Canadian non-profit organisation Under the Same Sun has recorded almost 500 attacks on albinos in 26 African countries since 1998. About 185 of the victims were killed, according to the report.
The United Nations human rights office OHCHR says trading in body parts from albinos is “a lucrative and macabre market,” with reported prices ranging from 2,000 dollars for a limb to 75,000 dollars for a complete corpse.
Children make up a large proportion of the victims, according to the UN agency, because perpetrators believe the more innocent a victim, the more potent the body parts will be for the potion.
To protect the twins, Rene and Clifford’s parents kept the brothers mainly indoors. They grew up isolated and alone. On the street, people called them names. Nobody wanted to sit next to them in school. 
When they were teenagers, they couldn’t get a date. The brothers spent much of their time writing rhymes and poetry. 
“With all that rage in you, with all that frustration, we had to cope with it [by using] pen on paper,” Rene explains.
A few years ago, they gave themselves the stage names Mr Flash and Risky and started to perform what they call their “White African Music” in bars and clubs. Their lyrics talks about the hurt of stigma and discrimination, the consequences of ignorance and how to overcome it.
“God has blessed us, too,” the twins rap hip-hop-style.
Their music has hit a nerve across the West African nation, where the brothers have just published their third album and draw crowds of up to 5,000 people per concert.
“People now spend their money to watch us perform,” Clifford beams.
Instead of insulting them, people line up to take selfies with the rapper brothers, Rene says. Girls, who used to ignore them, now “flock around us,” he adds. “It’s amazing how things have changed.”
The brothers hope that their music will slowly change the “narrative of ignorance,” not only in Cameroon, but across Africa, says Clifford: “We hope to eventually to carry the message across the continent.” —DPA