How it all started - The story behind Born Too White Ottawa
- Reuben Nashali
- Sep 10, 2020
- 1 min read
Updated: Oct 3, 2020
One chilly Wednesday night during the Covid-19 lockdown, Reuben and Desire (who are the co-founders of Born Too White Ottawa) were going home from a workshop and while waiting to cross a traffic light, (Desire, who has albinism and low-vision) was unintentionally standing close to a person and she started yelling to them of how they didn’t respect social distancing.
Of cause they did respect the social distancing rule but Desire having low vision especially at night he could not realize he was too close to the lady.
To de-escalate the tension they decided to apologize and move a small distance away.
The incidence left them thinking how best should such individuals be informed of some limitations some people especially with albinism may have? or rather it was an opportunity to empower people such as Desire so that whenever such things happen to them be it at school, in the community, or at the beach they may stand and personally advocate for themselves.
The incident made Reuben reassess his contribution to his friend Desire as well as to the albinism community in his community.
The first 2020 Virtual NOAH Conference organized by National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation - NOAH was what sparked to the origin of Born Too White Ottawa.
Reuben and Desire (The co-founders of Born Too White Ottawa).
The challenges of being a newcomer in Canada may be even more severe when the individual is with Albinism. That is the main reason why, Born Too White Ottawa, a youth-led non-profit organization was established.
People with albinism that come from Africa can face a lot of problems even here in Canada. I totally agree and praise the idea. Good job.