Tanzanian teen whose limbs were cut off because she is albino finds hope in the U.S.

After a vicious attack, a Tanzanian teenager is proving that nothing can beat her resilient spirit.

Bibiana Mashamba, 16, is an albino, and in Tanzania, witch doctors and certain cult members think people with albinism have body parts that are magical and bring wealth and prosperity. Mashamba's parents both died when she was young, and her aunt and uncle brought her and younger sister, Tindi, who is also albino, to live with them. Mashamba told KTLA that one night when she was 11, robbers came into the house and drugged her, then cut off her right leg and two fingers; she woke up as they tried to saw off her left leg. After her cousin discovered what was going on and screamed, the attack stopped. "The witch doctors who are telling them to come and chop our limbs, they are liars," Mashamba said. "How can someone get rich off my bones? I am not rich and they are my bones. This is the work of the devil."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.