29/04/2020
Activist Spotlight | Tessa Schiethart () 📣 ⠀
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“I was born with a port wine stain birthmark. A part of the Sturge Weber Syndrome that I have. Doctors advised to start with laser treatment when I was about six months old. But at age two this went terribly wrong as the treatment severely burnt my birthmark resulting in scar tissue on my birthmark. ⠀
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The scars belong to me as much as my birthmark does. I have eye sight problems as a result of the syndrome, and so for me, it is so much more important that I can see the world rather than spending my time treating my face for the sake of being seen differently in society. ⠀
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Last year I conducted research on the experience of people with visible differences, who deal with stigma and discrimination. It has been quite a journey meeting and speaking to special people with a variety of faces, and it definitely formed my own journey and relationship to my birthmark. ⠀
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I believe in education and letting the world see and engage in diversity in all its forms and facets. I am a personal coach, and I coach people on their relationship to their looks and body. Below the pigment, form or size, we all have the same essence, and with that, we should collectively move beyond divisive features of humankind.” | submitted by community member , photos by | @ London, United Kingdom
