Working in a small but busy charity, we rarely get the chance to look back and reflect on the remarkable achievements of our past. On the occasion of our fifth birthday, I wanted to take some time to reflect on our humble beginnings, and how we’ve grown since.

I started work on In the Shadow of the Sun in 2006. Through the documentary, I hoped to raise awareness of the plight of people with albinism in Tanzania. A part of me hoped that, in turn, this would inspire a movement. What I could never have known was just how much of an impact it would have.

In 2013, almost by chance, I met Anton Bilton with whom I founded Standing Voice. We had a simple goal: defending the rights of people with albinism in Africa. Our work isn’t done, but the momentum we’ve gathered in these last five years has become unstoppable.

As I write this message, our organisation is combatting discrimination and ill health on every front, in Tanzania and across Africa. Our advocacy campaigns are transforming hearts and minds in rural communities all over Tanzania, and increasingly penetrating global institutions like the UN and World Bank; our Vision Programme continues to give people with albinism a fair shot at education and employment; and our flagship Skin Cancer Prevention Programme is directly confronting the single biggest cause of death for people with albinism in Africa.

As we celebrate our first five years of operations, I salute the bravery of our beneficiaries, who fight stigma every day, and those within Standing Voice and its partners who work tirelessly alongside them. It is with great pride that I dedicate this message to the incredible individuals from the Standing Voice family, whom I’ve asked to share some of their favourite memories from their time with Standing Voice.

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