Me & the UOBDU Staff

As I wrap up my fellowship, and reflect on this past summer, I can easily say I’ve learned a lot.  This summer has had its joys and challenges and, of course, it certainly didn’t turn out the way I expected it to, but then nothing ever does, which is to be expected. 

It’s been interesting getting more of an inside view of UOBDU’s efforts, and seeing why they’ve had success with their programs.  Part of the reason, of course, rests on having a skilled staff that is passionate about its mission.  Participating with UOBDU this summer, I have been continually impressed the organization in general.  Additionally, as I discussed in an earlier blog about grassroots efforts, one of they keys that I think has contributed to UOBDU’s success is their insistence that the Batwa direct them, not the other way around.

In school, and in the news in general, I have learned and read, time and again, about organizations that failed to connect with their beneficiaries, and then put in schools/wells/latrines/etc. where they weren’t wanted; built things that were wanted, but then fell apart within a year or two, with the beneficiaries unable to afford repairs or access materials locally to keep whatever it was running; or started programs that couldn’t be sustained by participants.

Of course the intention is good.  And I know it’s incredibly difficult, even impossible, to know ahead of time the consequences of aid, development, advocacy, etc.  But I am surprised at how often the voices of those meant to benefit are marginalized, or even excluded.  And how often beneficiaries aren’t asked to invest, in some way, in the project or program being implemented, increasing chances that they will simply view it as a big hand-out, and decreasing chances they will take even partial ownership of it.  (Of course, aid for acute or emergency circumstances is a different story.  I am talking here about efforts that an organization hopes will be sustained over time.)

Something else I have observed is that much of what’s written about the Batwa [rather understandably] frames virtually all of them that have faced forest eviction as absolutely destitute, begging and living as nothing but victims.  But, on the ground, one sees there are vast differences in well-being between the different communities.  Certainly some of the Batwa communities are hurting very badly, but others are making progress, and are figuring out how to successfully live outside the forests.  They are still poor by any measure, but they live in cooperative communities, and with great dignity.  Not surprisingly, one of the key factors behind the difference in well-being between communities rests on those that own the land they live on, and those that don’t.  Land rights are vital.

Today was my last day, and as I said my goodbyes, I found myself feeling unexpectedly emotional.  It’s been an honor to participate with UOBDU this summer.  I know Peace Fellows are sent out to lend skills, advocate, and assist however they can, the organizations they are partnered with, but it’s understating it to say I have gained vastly more from UOBDU than I have given.

I encourage anyone who is even remotely interested in indigenous and minority rights, the Batwa, and Africa, to continue to follow UOBDU’s work.  Thus, one of the main things I’ve been helping UOBDU with is the creation of a website, which is presently set to “private,” but I went over the website with the staff today, and it sounds like they will review it, and launch it very soon.  When that happens, the URL will be: http://uobdu.wordpress.com/.  Or just keyword the organization’s name (bearing in mind that they spell “organization” with an “s”).  I hope you will keep UOBDU in mind, and check periodically to see if the site is live.

Many thanks.

Below is a video interview with Alice Nyamihanda, who works at UOBDU as its tourism officer.  She’s the first Mutwa in Uganda to get a university degree and, I believe, the first Mutwa to get one period.  What’s exciting is it sounds like she’s not the last!

BBC News published this article (and video) on her last year.

“When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free.”  -Nelson Mandela.

I used this quote last year as the title of one of my blogs last summer, after facing mockery in Kampala for being Asian.  It was given to me by Freddy Wangabo of ECAAIR, who is half Mutwa, and knows discrimination well.  I’m quoting it again because I have faced incidents of mockery again this summer, again aimed at the fact that I am Asian.  And indeed, in an intangible way, I have always felt people’s assumptions about my “Asian-ness” (both positive and negative), make me feel anything but “free.”

Some people have told me I’ve faced prejudice here because the Chinese have come in and used unethical business practices in Africa, which is upsetting in itself.  So, certainly that could be behind some of it.  In fact, I came across an article last spring stating that, especially in the southern states in Africa, where the Chinese have been especially involved in building a lot of infrastructure, racism toward the Chinese (and all others who look Chinese, like myself), is now well established because of exactly that reason.  I searched, but can’t find that article now, though I did find this article, discussing how it goes the other way too, toward black Americans and Africans working in China.  Not a surprise.

Some of it could be simply because I look “weird.”  That’s been my historical experience.  Growing up, I faced a lot of mockery for looking different.  I was raised by white parents, in an almost 100% white town, so certainly I wasn’t being made fun of for speaking or acting differently.  And, blasting me to my past, a lot of the rude treatment has come from children in Rwanda (we’ve taken a few weekend excursions there) who, being young, are perhaps less shy about openly demonstrating their impressions of me.

One thing that has surprised me is how old feelings are so easily aroused.  After one incident, where a kid spoke “Chinese” to me in a not-so-friendly way, I could feel the memory of what that was like in times past.  The memory wasn’t mental.  It was visceral, wrapping my entire being like a cloak.  And while I berated myself for letting a kid’s behavior affect me, a grown woman, affect me it did.

The most unkind incidents, however, have come from adults.  And, sadly, two of those adults were in uniform, if I count an incident from last summer as well, with one being a police officer.  A breathtaking example of maturity from an officer of the law, don’t you think?  I also can’t help but notice, regardless of the age of the person, every single incident has been perpetrated by a male.  Not sure what’s up with that exactly, but here, men definitely are seen as superior to women anyway.

But I’m not the only one facing discrimination here.  When we visited one of the communities last month, a gentleman from one of what some call the “dominant tribes,” felt compelled to tell us that the Batwa from that community weren’t using the latrine that NGOs had spent money building for them. Instead, he said, they were using his banana plantation to take care of business, thereby increasing risk of disease.  He seemed particularly concerned about the wasting of money to give benefits to the Batwa that weren’t then being taken advantage of.  He went from person to person, making sure we all heard his complaint.

As he pressed the issue, as an old woman had come down to the UOBDU truck to take some posho (maize) we had brought for her community.  She overheard him, and began yelling angrily at him at the top of her lungs.  Everyone completely ignored her.  I wonder if even an eyebrow was raised.  She took the posho, and began back up the hill, turning around to yell at him some more.  Still zero reaction.

Woman I am referring to

I asked what she was saying, and was told she was saying the man was lying, and that they do use the latrine that was built for them, not his field.

From the top of the hill, others from the community then yelled angry words down at the man, still getting absolutely zero reaction.  It was as if she, and they, were all invisible.  And while this ignoring of their yelling may be a “cultural thing,” this seems unlikely.  From my observations, being “reactionary”, i.e., getting and giving reactions to others, seems to be part and parcel of society here, not the other way around.

Community being accused

Later, when I asked one of the UOBDU staff about it, he told me that very same gentleman had actually advocated for the Batwa to be able to squat on the land they were on.  It wasn’t said outright, but impression I got, as I was being told this, is that man made a big deal of his “advocacy” for the Batwa, at the same time that he openly disparaged them.  Sort of Machiavellian, somehow.

Despite getting no reaction, Chris said it was positive that this woman felt enough strength and esteem to yell back at that man, and deny his accusations.  I guess that’s looking at the glass as half full.

I also think of Mauda’s comments during my interview – how the Batwa women would be raped by others at night, then rejected during the day, and how no man would take a Mutwa as a wife.

I’m not sure what I’m really trying to say about all this.  I guess I’m just putting it out there to tell the story of how we sometimes try deny each other the right to be different, and hurt each other deeply for no good reason.  I know discrimination is part of the “human condition,” and I personally think it always will be.

But maybe there is hope, and I am being too pessimistic.  I recently finished reading Jeremy Rifkin’s excellent book, The Empathic Civilization.  He argues there is a growing global empathy, the result of increased globalization and high levels of resource use (the high resource use requiring livelihood specialization that increases our sense of individuality, in turn enabling us to better appreciate others as individuals; and providing exposure to other people and cultures via, for example, access to the Internet, being able to vacation in foreign countries, etc.).  This, he argues, creates a paradoxical situation where the more consumptive your lifestyle, the greater your empathy for others, at the same time that your high consumption destroys the environment and leaves fewer resources for others.  But, he argues, we have the opportunity to reverse this excessive consumption, while keeping global empathy on the rise via a “third industrial revolution” that focuses on renewable energy, and a re-prioritization of social benefits over material benefits.  Thus, it’s possible to continue increasing the numbers of humans who see themselves as “global citizens,” while decreasing habits that will keep others from realizing this mind-set as well.

I hope Rifkin is right.

In the meantime, my husband and I talk a lot about how nothing is black and white.  Good and bad often seem to come together.  The glass is half empty/the glass is half full.  What do you think?

Hmmm. We’ve had heavy downpours with lightening and thunder, frequently overcast skies, and chilly temperatures. I think the rainy season may be creeping up on us in Kisoro. In fact, most of this summer has felt more “rainy season” than not, and I’m often cold.  Sometimes I wonder if I’m really near the equator.

The other day, Tyler and I tried to go for a walk, and got d…r…e…n…c…h…e…d. I learned my “H2No” jacket is more “H2Hello” when it rains that hard. We ended up jogging part of the way home because the lightening and thunder flashing and cracking all around us felt a little too close for comfort.

Now, my sandals, labeled “waterproof” because they’re designed to dry quickly after getting wet, feel oh-so-cold and clammy on my feet, not drying out despite my feet being in them for hours now (which usually does the trick).  And, as I mentioned before, weather like this makes me think about laundry (I never knew clean clothes meant so much to me!). In this sort of weather, we need to leave ours out on the lines under the porch for a few days before it’s suitably dry, and I’ve noticed the faint smell of mildew on my fleece jacket (ew).

Yahoo.

But I know I shouldn’t complain. At least we have a porch to hang our laundry under when it rains…right?

Moisture and mildew aside, the Batwa recently completed the Mgahinga Gorilla National Forest. Seven communities helped create the map (helping build it, and fill in the information). The final product looks amazing!

Below are photos showing the map’s progression:

A large topo map with color-coded contour lines is made; carbon paper is taped together to fit the size of the map; the contour lines are traced onto many different pieces of cardboard; the contours are cut out of the cardboard.

Topo of Muhuvura

Laying carbon paper for mapping Mgahinga

Tracing contours of Mgahinga

Cutting the contours out

The pieces are glued and stacked; the completed map is basted in crepe paper squares to soften the contour lines; the Batwa give their information (discuss, agree, disagree, confirm); rough draft string and pins, marking different features of the forest, are placed.

Mgahinga Mapping

Aligning contours

Muhuvura in foreground, then Gahinga and Sabinyo

Laying the base of the map

Laying Crepe Paper

Painting crepe onto Mgahinga map

Discussing Mgahinga Map

Adding "rough draft" markers

Strings mark rivers, roads, paths...

When all are in agreement, the map is painted with the details (boundaries, roads, rivers, etc.), pins and paper labels marking different communities and resources are placed, and a legend is created. (Whew!).

Muhuvura Volcano

I think this is Sabinyo Volcano

Gahinga volcano

Part of the map's legend

Final Product!

Some fun facts about the volcanoes:  there are five total, I think, but we can only see three from Kisoro.  The tallest is Muhuvura, next to it is the smallest called Gahinga, and then there’s Sabinyo, which as weird lumps on top of it.  I’ve learned “Muhuvura” means something like “the compass/guide;” Gahinga is named after the small piles of rocks farmers create in their fields as they dig up the soil (Gahinga looking like a cute “little” mound); and Sabinyo means something like “crazy teeth,” as its lumps look like…you guessed it…crooked crazy teeth.

So, here is my first video interview.  I interviewed an older woman named Mauda, who was born in Bwindi forest, and still has some memories of that time.

I have to admit I am still wobbly with video taking/creation, so sorry for the shakiness and lighting. It’s a novice first try, for sure.  I had a heck of a time getting the video to look clear on YouTube after the first try.  I imported, exported, updated software, zipped, compressed, etc…finally, I had to just re-do the whole thing using the newer version of iMovie, and (crossing my fingers), I think it worked!  It’s 10 minutes (a bit lengthy, but the more interesting parts of the interview come later, so I hope some of you will have the patience to sit through the whole thing.

One of the things that struck me about Mauda’s comments is the fact that the Batwa have been out of the forest for so long that they don’t want to return the way many think they do. What they would like, instead, is land they can settle permanently on (many are squatters on others’ land), and access privileges to the forest.

• Ask those you’re wanting to advocate for if you may do so.

• Make sure the voice the public hears is the voice of those you are advocating for.  Ask your constituents what message it is they want the public to hear.  If they don’t know in the beginning, you can help them figure it out.  But, as your relationship evolves, they should be the ones delivering the message (even if you continue to serve as a mouthpiece).

• Advocate for things your constituents have told you they want and need.

• Actively involve your constituents in your advocacy efforts so that you are working with your constituents, not just for them.

• Constituents have the final word on decisions and choices, not you.  This does not mean you can’t help them make informed decisions but, in the end, they should be allowed to have the final say.  Assuming you have helped inform them of all the options available to them, and made them aware of pros and cons, if they choose what you think is the worst possible option, so be it.  (This is probably especially difficult for Westerners to do.)  That said, often your constituents understand or are immersed in things outsiders are not grasping, so what may look bad to you may actually be the best choice given factors you cannot see or understand.

• Throughout all your efforts, a perennial goal is empowering constituents to become capable of advocating for themselves.  Before this point, you are a capacity-builder/catalyst/person-who-can-open-doors they initially cannot, etc.

I know this all sounds very simplistic and idealistic, but UOBDU has demonstrated to me that these parameters are possible.  I’m sure all of UOBDU’s advocacy work isn’t perfect, and that undue influence occurs, etc.  But, from what I’ve observed so far, the guidelines above are guidelines they follow.

A couple of things the Batwa have done, regarding getting consensus, and speaking in a collective voice, is create committees and elect representatives they’ve entrusted to represent the larger community.  Different representatives from the various member communities come together regularly to discuss events and next steps.  In-between, UOBDU goes out and visits each member community once a month.  During these visits, they discuss a variety of subjects including health issues, whether or not parents have been able to regularly send their children to school, land rights, and upcoming projects and events for the collective.

It’s all been very enlightening for me.

Winfred talking to Kabahenda Community

Kamugemanyi Residents

Old Mutwa who was evicted from Mgahinga Gorllia National Park, Kabahenda Community

Winfred speaking to Gitebe Community

These past couple of weeks, I joined Winfred, UOBDU’s land rights officer, and Henry, UOBDU’s community organizer, on some of their visits to the communities to collect participants for the next mapping project, this time of Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.  We went to the communities that have members most likely to have good memories and knowledge of Mgahinga, and then asked them to nominate their selections.

Seven communities will participate in filling in their remembered knowledge of the forest’s interior.  With the exception of a few communities, there are 10 members from each that have been selected for their knowledge.  The Kenyans, who advised on the Bwindi map, are also coming in to assist with the project as well, so it’s all quite a big deal.

The whole project begins tomorrow (!).

Today, I was helping Winfred go over the itinerary that, right now, includes two straight weeks of activity (including weekends).  Each community will spend a day and a half filling in their knowledge before handing the reigns over to the next.  Transport, food, and accommodation have to be coordinated, which is easier said than done.  The communities live scattered all around Kisoro, some close, others quite far.  Yet, somehow things always seem to come together without fanfare.

Today, a young German guy who has been interning with Studio Edirisa for the past 11 months came in to interview a Mutwa, named Christopher Kangundu, about this next mapping project.  One of the questions he asked Christopher was, “What are your hopes for this map?”  Among other things, Christopher answered that he hopes the map will serve as a way for today’s Batwa children to know what their heritage is.  As he said that, it struck me that the younger Batwa don’t know the forest in a personal way, but only through stories they are told by their parents and grandparents.  And largely being an oral society, and with illiteracy still commonplace, the Batwa’s memories could all but fade if something concrete and permanent, that comes from the Batwa themselves, isn’t created.  Thus, it strikes me as quite wonderful that the Bwindi and Mgahinga maps are being created, and in such a collaborative way.

Batwa women weaving baskets

Pregnant Mutwa, Nyakabande region, Kisoro District, Uganda

Batwa women from Nyakabande Region

Batwa children outside their home, Kisoro District, Uganda

So, I did not post a blog last week because I had spent time (with a steep learning curve), on creating my first video interview of an older Mutwa woman named Mauda Nyiravuguhenda (what a surname!), and when I uploaded it to YouTube, the quality was terrible, so I’m a bit behind. While I get that sorted out, this is a good opportunity to discuss the events UOBDU has been putting on in the last couple weeks, and post some photos of the first community visits I’ve been able to join in on.

One reason I wanted to do this Peace Fellowship with UOBDU is because I am very interested in grassroots efforts and, from everything I’ve seen, UOBDU is an excellent example of successful bottom-up advocacy and capacity building, and the recent events they’ve held have been really inspiring.

On July 14th, the Batwa here in Uganda invited up Batwa from Rwanda to show them their mapping project, and talk about the process of creating it, to give the Rwandan Batwa an opportunity to do a mapping project themselves. They showed a video of the 3-D map project the Bwindi map was modeled after (created in the Philippines), and discussed among themselves how their own process compared. They then sat around the map itself and talked about it, and the legend, and how different community members helped contribute, via their memories, and through consensus. Then they had a Q and A session. While UOBDU helped with the logistics of getting the Rwandan Batwa to Kisoro, the exchange was largely led by the Batwa themselves.

Then, on July 20th, there was a presentation of the map for the project’s funder, local council leaders, and other organizations that have an interest in the map, such as the Uganda Wildlife Authority. The Batwa, again, presented the map, and answered questions. Chris later pointed out that three Local Council 5 (LC 5) members attended (LC 5’s are considered very important people in local government), and one of them even put an arm around one of the Batwa at one point. Apparently, this has never happened before, and was quite a significant moment for Chris, who has been working with the Batwa for more than a decade now. He told me the LC 5 members, in the past, have often failed to even RSVP to Batwa events they have been invited to, let alone attend them, and many would never have made an effort to associate with the Batwa in any way. So UOBDU is seeing progress…as they say here “pole pole” (slowly slowly).

Something else that has struck me, from my visit this last December, and this time as well, is the different levels of well-being within the different communities. Certainly some of the communities in the region are struggling quite a lot, and relatively speaking (especially through Western eyes), all the communities live in challenging conditions, but some of them are doing okay, and are figuring out life outside the forest, which is not the message I got through the literature and academic papers I have read on the Batwa in Uganda. If I were to only go off written material, I would only have a picture of utter destitution. One thing that seems to make the difference in well-being between the different communities is whether or not they own the land they’re settled on. No surprise there.

At the same time, even those that have land can face other struggles. For example, in one of the communities we visited this last Friday, a woman, who had been given a piece of land with her husband, was struggling with her neighbor because she can only access her house by walking through her neighbor’s field. She is completely surrounded by private property. Her neighbor apparently is angry that she and her family walks through his/her (?) field. But what else is she supposed to do? This same woman’s husband also struggles with alcoholism, and beats her when he is drunk. He has tried to kick her and their children out of the house, but because UOBDU has discussed with the women their rights, she has resisted her husband’s efforts and insisted that, since the land was given to both of them, he can’t just boot her out.

Progress, “pole pole,” but not without many challenges.  Below are photos from the mapping exchange, presentation, and community visits.  Hopefully, I’ll have the video interview posted soon.

For those of you who may not have read my earlier blogs, UOBDU has been working with the Batwa to map their cultural knowledge of the forests they’ve been evicted from and, I have to admit, the 3-D map UOBDU did of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is quite impressive. It’s a miniature 3-D model of Bwindi and surrounds, made of stacked cardboard that was cut, layer by layer, and stacked (topo-style). Then I believe they covered the cardboard in crepe paper, and painted it. The map is made up of many separate blocks that, when placed side by side, create a completed map.

Different colored paint, yarn, and pins mark different aspects on the map. For example, white pins mark wild honey, gold pins mark wild yams, green pins mark medicinal plants, black pins mark caves, red yard-encircled areas mark traditionally forbidden boundaries, blue paint encircled areas mark gorilla habitats, etc. Burial sides, sacred sites, and other areas are also marked. I was struck by all the small paper tags with every hill and mountain top’s name, demonstrating the Batwa knew each and every corner of the forest.

The history behind the creation of the map is cool too. The Batwa traveled to Kenya to meet with the indigenous Ogiek people who are presently threatened with eviction from their traditional forest lands by the Kenyan government. (Click here to read about them.) One of the things the Ogiek were doing was this 3-D mapping. So, the Batwa returned to Uganda to do the same.

Details about the creation of the map, posted on the Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) website states, “More than 100 representatives from the Batwa communities surrounding Bwindi, including youth, elders, women and men attended the exercise over a three-week period.” Very, very cool. The FPP website has photos, but below are a few I took of the map, the key, and the three Mutwa who came and talked to the UOBDU staff last week (whom I discussed in my last blog). The dynamic woman, doing a lot pointing in the pictures, is Giovannis. She’s older, and obviously knew a lot about the forest. As I also stated last time, the Batwa have been evicted long enough now that increasingly fewer of them still hold knowledge of the forests.

Sometime toward the end of the month, or in early August, UOBDU will work with the Batwa to map Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. I’m excited that I’ll get to see the process!

Bwindi 3-D Model.

Discussing the map

Giovannis, in the middle, explaining aspects of Bwindi

Half the model's key

Other half of the model's key

It’s supposedly the dry season, but we’ve been getting rain and colder overcast weather, as well as windy days, here in Kisoro.  Today has been one of the nicest in the two weeks since we’ve been here.  One doesn’t typically imagine being chilly on a regular basis in East Africa, but I’ve felt cold more days than not so far!  I believe Kisoro’s elevation is around 6,000 feet above sea level, so that helps explain it.  Overall, though, I must say I prefer this to hot muggy weather (Kampala right now).

I’ve already noticed how lifestyle changes lead to different observations and feelings about things like the weather.  For example, I’m regularly checking the sky in the mornings, to see if it’s a good day to do some washing.  If it’s overcast, I feel a strange sense of disappointment that has only partially to do with the fact that the sun might not come out.  It’s not a good day for laundry to dry!

But not to sound like I’m slaving away with laundry all the time. We have hired a woman named Bernadette as our “housekeeper.”  She comes once a week to clean our place (and do laundry as well) for 10,000 shillings (less than five dollars) for 2-3 hours work.  We felt a bit weird about this but were told that the average Ugandan earns around 5,000 shillings per day, so 10,000 shillings for a few hours work is considered quite decent.

On the work front, in this first week, I’ve had the opportunity to learn more about the Batwa’s hunting and gathering practices before they were strictly barred from the Mgahinga, Bwindi, and Echuya forests here in SW Uganda.  Two community representatives and a chairperson (all mutwa, which is singular for Batwa) came and spoke with some of the UOBDU staff about their memories of living and foraging in the forests.

They were asked a lot of questions about resources they consider vital that they can’t access outside the forests, and they talked of wild honey, wild yams, gold, medicinal perfume, weaving materials, material for pot coverings, and fruits and veggies.  The wild honey and wild yams seemed to be of particular importance.

The honey, in addition to serving as an offering to their forest Gods, is also a primary form of medicine for them.  I have read how certain types of honey can have strong antibacterial properties, and Chris discussed with the group how honey made by bees that have pollinated numerous types plants is going to have greater beneficial properties than honey made by bees that have only pollinated a few.

The Batwa covet the wild yams they can no longer access because, when they used to eat those yams, they could feel sated for 3 days without further food.  They also stated the wild yams had medicinal properties as well, and that, in general, the food in the forests is “stronger” than food outside the forest. Those strong foods, they said, kept them healthy, whereas now, they frequently fall sick (though no doubt the greater circumstances they live under also has a lot to do with this).

Their point about food being stronger in the forest made me think of a few things:

-When I was a little girl, my family kept chickens that were fed an organic diet and allowed to scratch around in the yard during the day and eat bugs and things like that.  We only ate eggs they laid.  I was invited to a friend’s house for breakfast and was served my first store-bought egg.  I remember an overwhelming bitter taste of “medicine” when I took my first bite (what I now realize was probably all the hormones the chickens were fed), and I could barely choke the bite down.

-At a farmer’s market, I once bought some salad mix that included arugula.  The greens were so spicy and potent, they were almost overwhelming.  Now, I know farmer’s market greens are not wild greens, but it opened my eyes to the potency certain types of greens can have that we just don’t get at the store

-I read once that the average piece of fruit grown for the commercial market today has a fraction of the “brix” of sweetness fruits grown for the same purpose some decades ago, when pesticides and things like that were less common.  I have no idea how accurate this is, but I found this interesting blog on fruit brix if you’re really curious.

Anyway, the bigger point is that the Batwa, in ways both glaring, and subtle, have lost a lot.  One thinks of the sustainable livelihoods they lost when evicted, but even smaller things, like the difference between food inside and outside the forest is also a big deal to them.

What also became clear to me, during the meetings this weekend, is that they are also losing their cultural knowledge.  One of them mentioned how the ones that once would have taught them things, like how to worship in the forests, have died.  And, not being able to access the forests today, they can’t go in anyway, to do that.

So the mapping project UOBDU is doing, to “map” the Batwa’s remaining knowledge of the forests is very cool.  I’ll talk more about it next blog, as this one is getting too long!

Little chameleon in a bush outside the house