The other white girl

There is another white girl in my village, and she's not an azungu. She's an albino Malawian, maybe 6 years old. The first time I saw her, I was on my usual path to the market and a group of little girls ran up through a gap between two houses, pushing their albino friend out in front of them, as if presenting her to me. Their actions said, "Look! You're the same!" At the time I was a bit annoyed (although 'annoyed' isn't quite the right word; I was thrown off), so I just greeted the kids and kept walking, like I do with the other 50 kids that point out the fact that I'm white on my short walk to the market. "Yes, I get it," I thought, "I'm white, she's white, whatever."

I had completely forgotten about this girl until I passed by her house today on an experimental route home from the store. She was in a large group of people, that I greeted as a whole, and the women in the group nudged her out towards me. "Say hi," they whispered. I said 'bo' and kept going, but this time the girl's expression stayed with me. She looked nervous to be pushed out in front of me, but hopeful, like I could save her from something--isolation? It made me wonder what kind of discrimination she faces. Maybe instead of, "give me my money," the kids shout equally alienating things at her. Or maybe she is also just tired of being stared at.

I think I'll have to make a new friend.