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print_article_inline|item-38488|article-gallery-6483859|7 comments_jump_inline|item-38488|article-gallery-6483859|1 email_share_inline|item-38488|article-gallery-6483859|1 facebook_share_inline|item-38488|article-gallery-6483859|2 twitter_share_inline|item-38488|article-gallery-6483859|3 pinterest_share_inline|item-38488|article-gallery-6483859|4 reddit_share_inline|item-38488|article-gallery-6483859|5 google_share_inline|item-38488|article-gallery-6483859|6 Photo: Matt Rourke, AP Image 1 of / 20 6483859|article-gallery-6483859|0 6483859|article-gallery-6483859|0 6483859|article-gallery-6483859|0 Image 1 of 20 Kabula Nkarango Masanja waits during a prosthetic limb fitting, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015, at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Kabula and four other children from Tanzania with the hereditary condition of albinism are in the U.S. to receive free surgery and prostheses at the hospital. The children were attacked and dismembered in the belief that their body parts will bring wealth.
Photo: Matt Rourke, AP Kabula Nkarango Masanja waits during a prosthetic limb fitting,... Image 2 of 20 Elissa Montanti, founder and director of the Global Medical Relief Fund, center, places a hand on Pendo Sengerema Noni, right, as Kabula Nkarango Masanja, left, looks on during a prosthetic limb fitting, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015, at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Pendo and Kabula along with three other children from Tanzania with the hereditary condition of albinism are in the U.S. to receive free surgery and prostheses at the hospital. The children were attacked and dismembered in the belief that their body parts will bring wealth.
Photo: Matt Rourke, AP Elissa Montanti, founder and director of the Global Medical Relief... Image 3 of 20 Baraka Cosmas Lusambo, left, and Mwigulu Matonange Magesa play before of an occupational therapy session, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015, at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Baraka and Mwigulu along with three other children from Tanzania with the hereditary condition of albinism are in the U.S. to receive free surgery and prostheses at the hospital. The children were attacked and dismembered in the belief that their body parts will bring wealth.
Photo: Matt Rourke, AP Baraka Cosmas Lusambo, left, and Mwigulu Matonange Magesa play... Image 4 of 20 Monica Watson, left, with the Global Medical Relief Fund, Ester Rwela, with Under The Same Sun, background, and occupational therapist Amanda Wodzinski, help Mwigulu Matonange Magesa put on his prosthetic limb, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015, at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Mwigulu and four other children from Tanzania with the hereditary condition of albinism are in the U.S. to receive free surgery and prostheses at the hospital. The children were attacked and dismembered in the belief that their body parts will bring wealth.
Photo: Matt Rourke, AP Monica Watson, left, with the Global Medical Relief Fund, Ester... Image 5 of 20 Kabula Nkarango Masanja, 17, right, smiles with Elissa Montanti, founder and director of the Global Medical Relief Fund during a prosthetic limb fitting, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015, at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Kabula and four other children from Tanzania with the hereditary condition of albinism are in the U.S. to receive free surgery and prostheses at the hospital. The children were attacked and dismembered in the belief that their body parts will bring wealth.
Photo: Matt Rourke, AP Kabula Nkarango Masanja, 17, right, smiles with Elissa Montanti,... Image 6 of 20 Baraka Cosmas Lusambo, left, and Mwigulu Matonange Magesa pass a block to one and other during an occupational therapy session Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015, at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Baraka and Mwigulu along with three other children from Tanzania with the hereditary condition of albinism are in the U.S. to receive free surgery and prostheses at the hospital. The children were attacked and dismembered in the belief that their body parts will bring wealth.
Photo: Matt Rourke, AP Baraka Cosmas Lusambo, left, and Mwigulu Matonange Magesa pass a... Image 7 of 20 Mwigulu Matonange Magesa holds his prosthetic limb during an occupational therapy session, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015, at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Mwigulu and four other children from Tanzania with the hereditary condition of albinism are in the U.S. to receive free surgery and prostheses at the hospital. The children were attacked and dismembered in the belief that their body parts will bring wealth.
Photo: Matt Rourke, AP Mwigulu Matonange Magesa holds his prosthetic limb during an... Image 8 of 20 Baraka Cosmas Lusambo looks at his prosthetic limb after an occupational therapy session Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015, at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Baraka and four other children from Tanzania with the hereditary condition of albinism are in the U.S. to receive free surgery and prostheses at the hospital. The children were attacked and dismembered in the belief that their body parts will bring wealth.
Photo: Matt Rourke, AP Baraka Cosmas Lusambo looks at his prosthetic limb after an... Image 9 of 20 Mwigulu Matonange Magesa, left, and Baraka Cosmas Lusambo help each other to put their prosthetic limbs in a bag after an occupational therapy session Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015, at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Mwigulu and Baraka along with three other children from Tanzania with the hereditary condition of albinism are in the U.S. to receive free surgery and prostheses at the hospital. The children were attacked and dismembered in the belief that their body parts will bring wealth.
Photo: Matt Rourke, AP Mwigulu Matonange Magesa, left, and Baraka Cosmas Lusambo help each... Image 10 of 20 Mwigulu Matonange Magesa, left, and Baraka Cosmas Lusambo look at a television Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015, at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Baraka and Mwigulu along with three other children from Tanzania with the hereditary condition of albinism are in the U.S. to receive free surgery and prostheses at the hospital. Their condition also causes vision problems. The children were attacked and dismembered in the belief that their body parts will bring wealth.
Photo: Matt Rourke, AP Mwigulu Matonange Magesa, left, and Baraka Cosmas Lusambo look at a... Image 11 of 20 Mwigulu Matonange Magesa inspects his new prosthetic limb, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015, at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Mwigulu and four other children from Tanzania with the hereditary condition of albinism are in the U.S. to receive free surgery and prostheses at the hospital. The children were attacked and dismembered in the belief that their body parts will bring wealth.
Photo: Matt Rourke, AP Mwigulu Matonange Magesa inspects his new prosthetic limb,... Image 12 of 20 Emmanuel Festo Rutema works with occupational therapist Alexis Jacobs Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015, at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Rutema and four other children from Tanzania with the hereditary condition of albinism are in the U.S. to receive free surgery and prostheses at the hospital. The children were attacked and dismembered in the belief that their body parts will bring wealth.
Photo: Matt Rourke, AP Emmanuel Festo Rutema works with occupational therapist Alexis... Image 13 of 20 Emmanuel Festo Rutema, 13, carries a dictionary back to a shelf after working on English language exercises with Mwigulu Matonange Magesa, 12, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015, in Staten Island, N.Y. Emmanuel's surgery attaching a toe to his right hand several weeks ago was successful allowing him to grasp objects. Emmanuel and four other children from Tanzania have been in the United States for more than two months to receive surgery and prostheses for limbs that were cut off to be used for witchcraft.
Photo: Julie Jacobson, AP Emmanuel Festo Rutema, 13, carries a dictionary back to a shelf... Image 14 of 20 Still needing physical therapy and training for the new prosthetic for his left arm, Mwigulu Matonange Magesa, 12, holds it at his side while studying English language lessons with social worker Ester Rwela Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015, in Staten Island, N.Y. Mwigulu and four other children from Tanzania have been in the United States for more than two months to receive surgery and prostheses for limbs that were cut off to be used for witchcraft.
Photo: Julie Jacobson, AP Still needing physical therapy and training for the new prosthetic... Image 15 of 20 Mwigulu Matonange Magesa, 12, adjusts his prosthetic as he plays a card game at the GMRF group home, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015, in Staten Island, N.Y. Mwigulu still needs physical therapy sessions to learn how to use the new device. Mwigulu and four other children from Tanzania have been in the United States for more than two months to receive surgery and prostheses for limbs that were cut off to be used for witchcraft.
Photo: Julie Jacobson, AP Mwigulu Matonange Magesa, 12, adjusts his prosthetic as he plays a... Image 16 of 20 Mwigulu Matonange Magesa, 12, right, pulls off his prosthetic as Baraka Cosmas Lusambo, 5, plays in their bedroom of the GMRF group home, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015, in Staten Island, N.Y. Because their skin is very sensitive, the children can only wear their new prosthetics for an hour at a time. Baraka and Mwigulu along with three other children from Tanzania have been in the United States for more than two months to receive surgery and prostheses for limbs that were cut off to be used for witchcraft.
Photo: Julie Jacobson, AP Mwigulu Matonange Magesa, 12, right, pulls off his prosthetic as... Image 17 of 20 Kabula Nkarango Masanja, 17, left, holds back tears as she listens to GMRF founder and director Elissa Montanti before boarding a plane at JFK airport in New York to travel back to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015. After more than two months in the United States, Kabula finally received her prosthetic and was traveling back ahead of the other children to take a national test to advance to secondary school.
Photo: Julie Jacobson, AP Kabula Nkarango Masanja, 17, left, holds back tears as she listens... Image 18 of 20 Kabula Nkarango Masanja, 17, left, wipes tears from her eyes as she says goodbye to GMRF founder and director Elissa Montanti, at JFK airport, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015, in New York, before boarding a plane to travel back to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. After more than two months in the United States, Kabula finally received her prosthetic and was traveling back home to take a national test to advance to secondary school. Kabula and four other children from Tanzania have been in the United States for more than two months to receive surgeries and prostheses for limbs that were cut off to be used for witchcraft.
Photo: Julie Jacobson, AP Kabula Nkarango Masanja, 17, left, wipes tears from her eyes as she... Image 19 of 20 Global Media Relief Fund founder and director Elissa Montanti, right, and assistant Monica Watson cry together at JFK airport, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015, in New York, after saying goodbye to Kabula Nkarango Masanja, who was traveling back to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. After more than two months in the United States, Kabula, an albino whose arm was cut off for witchcraft in Tanzania, finally received her prosthetic and was traveling back ahead of four other children to take a national test to advance to secondary school.
Photo: Julie Jacobson, AP Global Media Relief Fund founder and director Elissa Montanti,... Image 20 of 20 1st of Tanzanian albino kids with missing limbs goes home 1 / 20 6483859|article-gallery-6483859|0 6483859|article-gallery-6483859|0 NEW YORK (AP) — Kabula Nkarango Masanja returned home to Tanzania with a new American prosthetic arm replacing the limb that was chopped off with a machete by followers of African witchcraft.
She's one of Tanzania's children with albinism, a condition that leaves people with little or no pigment in their skin, hair or eyes. Their severed body parts are used in potions witch doctors believe bring wealth and good luck. The soft-spoken 17-year-old Kabula is now one of the lucky ones.
Doctors at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Philadelphia recently created new artificial limbs for Kabula and four other youngsters. And New York City resident Elissa Montanti provided housing about two hours away in the borough of Staten Island and organized all their daily, medical and travel needs.
Kabula boarded a plane Tuesday at Kennedy Airport , heading to Tanzania's capital, Dar es Salaam. She'd been in the United States since June with the four other children, ages 5 to 15, who also were fitted with prosthetics.
"God be with you till we meet again," she wrote neatly on a piece of paper left for Montanti and the Global Medical Relief Fund , the charity she founded.
Montanti, who lives up the street from the charity's "Dare to Dream" house, has spent years flying in children missing limbs from dozens of crisis zones including Bosnia, Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria.
"But I have never, ever been so pained as watching these children," says the 62-year-old former radiation technician.
While the 200 or so youths Montanti has helped were victims of land mines, earthquakes, tsunamis and other disasters, "this is deliberate" she said of the witchcraft victims.
Lacking natural pigmentation, people with albinism look almost white — ghosts of departed humans, according to witch doctors who order body parts to be hacked off: hair, nails, teeth, tongues, hands, feet, even genitals. More than 200 witch doctors have been arrested so far in the killings of Tanzanians with albinism. The government outlawed witch doctors last year.
Still, attacks continue; at least eight were recorded in Tanzania in the past year.
There's another, even more cruel twist.
Some parents are collaborators because "they still believe their children are cursed," says Ester Rwela , a social worker who accompanies the children and translates their Swahili language.
The father of 5-year-old Baraka Cosmas Lusambo was arrested after part of the little boy's right arm was sliced off last March amid ear-piercing screams.
Tanzanian diamond dealers, businessmen and politicians have paid as much as $75,000 to hunt albino people, says Rwela. "Elections are high season for the witch doctors," she says. "And people with albinism live in fear."
But the kids' lives aren't consumed by the monstrosities.
"Guess what? They're still capable of loving," says Montanti, who constantly holds their hands and hugs them.
They sing in a van that takes them to Philadelphia to fine-tune the prostheses and learn to use them.
Emmanuel Festo Rutema, a 13-year-old missing his left arm and several fingers on his right hand, also goes to a dentist to replace the front teeth knocked out as a witchcraft prize. Attackers tried to cut out his tongue but only damaged it.
On a summer afternoon in the Staten Island home, the rooms are alive with laughter.
" Baraka Obama !"
That's the nickname his friends jokingly call the small boy. He cracks a shy smile, adding, "I don't know who Obama is."
On the sofa, Emmanuel is playing cards with 12-year-old Mwigulu Matonange Magesa, who's wearing a hooked extension of his left arm to pick up the cards. It's an easier tool than the prosthetic hand he hasn't yet mastered.
Kabula is studying for the school exam she faces after returning to Dar es Salaam, where she and the other four have been living in a "safe house" far from their impoverished villages.
"God says forgive your enemies, but as a human being, I cannot forgive them, because they can do this again," says the teen, whose right arm was cut off to the armpit.
She wants to become a human rights lawyer.
At Kennedy, Kabula wiped tears from her eyes, crestfallen at the prospect of leaving her friends and the safety of New York.
"But I told her, 'this is not the end, it's only a bright new beginning,'" says Montanti.
The other children are leaving in late September. And they'll be back next year for new prostheses matching their growth.
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Online:
Global Medical Relief Fund: http://www.gmrfchildren.org