A local woman appreciates the body positivity movement and how it is creating change and helping people embrace their uniqueness.

10 years ago, Sarah Harder discovered some discoloured spots on her elbow and she didn’t pay much attention to it until it started to spread.

It was as the spots became more noticeable that Harder decided to see a specialist. She was diagnosed with vitiligo in 2013 and began a process of trying to manage the skin condition.

Vitiligo is a skin condition where pigment cells in your skin either die or stop producing melanin, which is what produces the colour in your skin and it can happen to anyone. Many people of varying shades of skin colour have vitiligo and the cause is unknown. There are genetic factors and Harder says she isn’t surprised that she has vitiligo as her grandmother has dealt with the condition for years.

Harder is grateful for the support of her husband and her family. ‘My family has been very supportive of growing up. My grandma had vitiligo as well and she’s completely white now so I've always grown up having a white grandma, which is weird. 'cause I'm Indian, but when I started developing spots, then they were really supportive.’

She started going to UV light therapy to reverse the effects of the vitiligo and basically remove the spots, but it was a temporary solution that stopped once the procedure stopped. In addition to the intense itchiness that resulted, Harder made the decision to stop the treatments as it just wasn’t worth it.

‘Then I had to go through a little bit of figuring out whether I was just okay with it. I tried covering up the spots with makeup for a little while 'cause I didn't want people looking at me weirdly. But then there was a bit of a shift in my perspective where I just had to work through being okay with that.’

‘Once, I was okay with the spots and embraced what that was and just having them as part of who I am. Then it was something that I could celebrate and share with the world, which was a huge turning point for me.’

Harder has moved from a place of trying to hide her spots to embracing them. ‘It's a cool, unique part of who I am now and I don't struggle with it in the same way that I did at first.’

She has embraced her spots so much so that she takes time during the first day of school to talk about her vitiligo with her students. Harder teaches photography and graphic design at Green Valley School in Grunthal and addresses her skin condition to educate and put everyone at ease.

'It's just been a part of what I do on the first day of school now. And they've really embraced it too. One of my friends gave me a vitiligo Barbie at the start of this past school year and the kids in my class were like, ‘hey, that Barbie looks like you!’ And it was just so cool 'cause they notice that kind of stuff now too.’

Harder doesn’t view her vitiligo as a negative thing, and she feels that vitiligo awareness has grown in the last decade. And thanks to the body positivity movement on social media, being different is being embraced and celebrated.

As she sees more people posting what real life looks like, Harder is thankful and is joining in sharing and showing the world who she is. ‘I want to show them a joyful, ‘this is who I am’ kind of person and I hope that some people see.’

Hear the full conversation in the podcast.