HISTORY OF THE BATWA

The history of the Batwa is a tragic one. Located in Southwestern Uganda adjoining the Democratic Republic of Congo is an exceptional and isolated portion of the jungle called the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest . This woodland together with Echuya forest in Kabale and Kisoro are habitats to an incredible array of mammals, birds and plant life and within its borders lays one half of the world’s population of mountain gorillas. Along with this perfusion of flora and fauna, the jungle also has an indigenous people-Batwa (the pygmies). The term pygmy denotes the ancient dwellers of the forest, described as short stature people, commended for their talents as dancers and story tellers. Traditionally, the Batwa were hunters and food gatherers. They survived by hunting small game by means of poison tipped arrows or nets and gathering a variety of flora and fruit that the jungle naturally supplies.

In 1992, the Bwindi Impenetrable and Chuho forests were gazetted as national parks and world heritage sites to protect the 350 endangered mountain gorillas within their confines. Good news for the gorillas but bad news for the Batwa, for in this course, over 2000 Batwa pygmies who had lived w ithin this vicinity were evicted. The ancestral land rights of the Batwa have never been recognized by their governments and no reimbursement has been made for their lost land. The last stroke to break the camels back has been the clearing of the forests for agriculture, development projects, logging and creation of conservation areas. This has forced myriads of Batwa to leave these areas and currently majorities are landless and live in abject poverty. A single visit to any of their settlements is bound to be a strange and sad experience to you.

Due to their pygmy lineage, they have continued to suffer ethnic bigotry, bias, aggression, broad exclusion from the public and are often ignored in discussions. Batwa children have little or no access at all to education and their population has fractional representation in local and national government. It is strange and shocking that a neonatal mortality rate of Batwa is around 18% contrasted with that in the US of 0.7% and an under five mortality of 38% compared with a US statistic of 0.8% and a Ugandan average of 18%! The fertility rate is low because they produce another child only when the youngest is a toddler and it is readily apparent that if something is not done forth with that, these people will soon cease to exist.

Investigation has revealed a significant problem in these pygmies who remain landless. Their children under age 6 in this sub-group has a mortality of 59%. Almost 7 in 10 children die before attaining their sixth birthday due to malnutrition because their families have no food and other necessities to care for these vulnerable. Consequently we (GSMBA) are striving actively in the acquisition of land for these wretched pygmies since many are landless. It shouldn’t sound strange to your ears if one puts it that these Batwa are currently living at the edge of existence!

One might think of these people as primitive and incapable to adapt to the tone of the contemporary world. This isn’t the case. They are able bodied and have all the potentials to innovative changes and this is attested by the performance of pupils already in primary schools. They are performing excellently though they lack scholastic materials and alike. A great deal of work remains to be accomplished. The schools need to be engorged and supplementary facilities need to be constructed in these remote pygmy settlements. Equally, the Health Care assistance to this secluded populace needs enhancement with permanent and temporally treatment centers.

They live in small temporary huts constructed with leaves and branches which are deserted after a few months when they reposition to a different part of the woodland in hunt of new supplies of food. Use of blankets at night is more or less out of their vocabulary and this has left a good number of them especially the young ones dead due to pneumonia caused by night coldness. The tools used outstandingly remain pre-stone age which include; arrow tips which are just fire-hardened and wood sharpened sticks for digging and cutting. Until recently, this indigenous group of people seems to exist in this alien jungle much as they have for the last thousands of years.

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Bibliography (if needed)

Turnbull, Colin

• 1961 The Forest People: Simon and Shuster
• 1973 The Mountain People, Picador, London

   Kabananuke, K

• (1996) Report on a Study of the Abayanda Pygmies of South Western Uganda for Mgahinga and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Conservation Trust, Unpublished Report MBIFCT
• (1999) Towards Increased Involvement and Participation Of Batwa/Abayanda Communities In Conservation, GAF Consult Ltd, Kampala UWA

   Kidd, Chris

• (2001) The Future for Uganda ’s forgotten people- The Batwa Pygmies of SW Uganda