​Social prejudice, family and education were just a few of the topics discussed at Stellenbosch University Museum's screening of As We See It, a documentary about living with albinism in South Africa.

The film addresses challenges that learners with albinism face as a result of social stigma or visual impairment, and features Vuyiswa Kama (66), Delicia de Vos (40), Sonele Ntsundwana (22) and Tono Blaai (14).

The film's director and producer, Shirley Gunn, attended the screening alongside De Vos.

According to Gunn, the film came about after two years of research into primary schools, high schools and tertiary institutions in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape.

“The question around schooling is very critical," she says.

One question posed by the film is whether it is better for a learner with albinism to attend a special school or to enter mainstream schooling. While a learner with albinism might struggle to see a board or read a small-print book in a mainstream school, most special schools do not offer subjects like pure maths or accounting.

“I think we have to put our judgement aside and we really have to think what's in the best interests of the particular individual child," says Gunn.

Under-funded and over-crowded schools are also often unable to accommodate students with disabilities, and learners with visual impairments may fall through the cracks as a result.

“With all due respect for what the government is trying to do, there's not enough happening. And that is the reality of each and every one of these schools that I visited, they're struggling," says Gunn.

Regarding the psychological consequences of social prejudice, De Vos spoke about the time after her experience at a special school.

“That was the hardest time for me having albinism and people looking at you and saying what they want to say to you, and they don't care who hears and they don't care how it affects you. Some days you are better equipped at dealing with it because you woke up on the right side of the bed, but other days it completely demoralises you and throws you for a loop and it takes you forever and a day to get over it."

“After matric it took me three years to just find a job, I went to interviews and I was so scared of being rejected that I would go into a place already setting myself up as 'I'm not going to get the job' and I became even more closed off to the world," says De Vos.

“Now I walk around and I don't give a hoot if somebody looks at me or whatever. This is how God wanted me to be and if someone has a problem with that, it's their problem not mine. It took me forever and a day to get to that realisation."

Picture Caption: (Left to Right) Luigia Nicholas, Lewis Silberbauer, Delicia de Vos, Shirley Gunn, Bongani Mgijima and Marcia Lyner-Cleophas. PHOTO: Tegan Mouton