Would you bleach your skin for Sh 10 million?

• Nyakim Gatwech, Sudanese model was asked if she would bleach her skin for Sh 10 million.
• Most celebrities in Kenya are bleaching themselves in the name of beauty.

When you mention the word bleaching in Kenya, the first name that comes to your mind is Very Sidika. Skin bleaching, according to livestrong.com, is the depigmentation treatment to remove dark spots caused by aging, blemishes, disease, hormone changes and the sun. People use chemicals to bleach and some of these chemicals as so harmful that they can cause cancer.

In Kenya, or should I say Africa, most people especially victims have fallen victims of bleaching. The reason for this is so that they may look more ‘attractive’; at least that is what I have heard people say. But does bleaching really make you attractive or more appealing?

I was watching a documentary of a Sudanese model who was asked if she would take $10,000 (10 million) to bleach her skin. She narrated how she went to the US and during her childhood, her fellow kids from school did not want to associate themselves with her. Some of the kids even told her to go shower to remove the ‘dark skin’.

“I felt really bad growing up because of how I was treated by other students. People looked at me everywhere I went and it made me feel like an outcast. I felt bad for having a dark skin at first but I learnt how to appreciate myself. I joined theatres at school and got the chance to have professional photos of me taken and that is when I realized I was beautiful the way I was,” said Nyakim Gatwech, the Sudanese Model.

One time while taking an uber, the driver posed the question of whether she would take 10 million to bleach her skin and she said no.

Black is beauty and we should learn how to appreciate how we look. However today’s society is showing us that having a lighter skin makes you more beautiful and some people would go to extreme lengths to have their skins bleached.

So, would you bleach your skin for Sh 10 million?