In her column, Gülseren Onanç, the Founding Chair of the SES Equality and Solidarity Association, tells the story of Chantale Zuzi, a person with albinism, who was forced to leave the Democratic Republic of the Congo due to the threats she faced and how her paths crossed with Lauren Leader.
“Every person deserves human rights and justice to live with dignity. My purpose in life is to ensure that everyone has these inalienable rights,” says Chantal Zuzi. Chantal is a person with albinism born in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In a society that believes people with albinism are a threat, she only had her family that believed in her right to life. She lost her beloved mother and father in a massacre at the age of 13. This tragic event changed her life. She set herself the task of being a mother to her siblings and teaching them to take responsibility and be grateful for what they have. She was once abducted by an anti-albinist group and faced death. She was forced to flee from her native Congo to a refugee camp in Uganda to save her life. “I did not feel safe in the camp; it was not easy to obtain even the minimum necessities for living. It was sad for me to give up my education. I learned that nothing I have is guaranteed, that I can lose everything at any moment,” she says.
Because of her leadership skills, the camp’s large population with albinism elected Chantal, when she was just 14, as a president to meet unmet needs. Chantal has been representing them in government and the UN Refugee Agency for three years. Ugandan government representatives in the camp were disturbed by Chantal’s activism and threatened her. She escaped from Uganda and went to Kenya alone. She was resettled by the UN first in Kenya and then in the United States in 2018.
Chantal and Lauren crossed paths a year ago at a meeting I attended online.
Lauren Leader is an activist woman working for gender equality and the equality of different identities. Her career and life focus on empowering women in business and politics. She is a tireless advocate for diversity and inclusion. Lauren is the founder and president of All in Together (AIT), a women’s nonprofit education organization. AIT works for women to have an equal voice and power in American democracy. Since its inception in 2014, AIT has trained hundreds of thousands of women across the United States on civic leadership. Lauren was so impressed with Chantal’s story she told at last year’s meeting that she decided to support her. Over the past year, Lauren opened her home, her family, her heart to Chantel, and they spent time together. After one year, Lauren completed the legal procedures to add Chantal to her family, and this week, Chantel became part of Lauren’s family.
“I maintain my passion for equality, justice and human rights for the whole world. I want to help others and prevent more people from suffering like me,” said Lauren, supporting a young activist like Chantel.
I ended my post last week that the only way to be happy and hopeful is activism. The feedback received was that this statement of mine was easy to say and difficult to do. It is true; Being an activist can be a difficult and dangerous process, especially in authoritarian countries.
When you think activism is hard, think of how Chantel’s heartbreaking story turned out beautifully. Lauren’s story of solidarity with Chantal will show the power of struggle, faith and solidarity.
Long live women’s solidarity!