Eva

Vitiligo is a condition in which the skin loses its pigment cells resulting in white patches in different areas of the body, it does not discriminate and affects any race, any gender and can occur at any age in life. It is estimated that 1% of the world’s population is living with vitiligo and there is currently no cure.  I am 13 now, but I was only four years old when I was diagnosed with vitiligo.  My parents took me to a local dermatologist who prescribed a very potent steroid cream in hopes to repigment my skin. However, both my parents were against using it due to the potential side effects and instead chose to raise me to love my spots.

I don’t even remember having vitiligo at such a young age, my skin was changing, but I didn’t know any different. It was only when I was about 6 or 7 years old, when it rapidly started spreading, that others started pointing it out. I didn’t understand that I looked different until I was told so by others. Kids in my school would call me cow, laugh at my skin and point and stare. I would always hear “what’s wrong with your skin”, my answer was always nothing and I would often come home crying. Vitiligo does not have any medical related issues, but it can take its toll on your personal mental health. I didn’t know how to answer the questions that people were asking about my skin and I didn’t understand why it was such a big deal. I quickly learned that spring, summer and early fall were the toughest months. As I would tan, and my skin would get darker, my vitiligo spots would appear more drastic. The changes in my skin are like night and day. The anticipation of those months was also difficult, it’s like I knew it was coming and I would have to mentally prepare. 

As my vitiligo continued to spread and we had all had enough of the rude comments, stares and questions about my skin, my parents decided to come up with a different strategy to handle these situations. We agreed to use those opportunities to educate people. We used them to spread awareness and where grateful that they existed so that we could inform even more people about vitiligo. My parents would always say that sometimes people just don’t know how to ask the questions about my skin, but if all we do is get upset over it then they are still lacking the answer they wanted in the first place.  They were right, and since then I have done just that. I am on a mission to spread awareness for not just vitiligo, but for anti-bullying, positive body image and overall acceptance of differences.