Batwa Indigenous Empowerment Organization

Evicted from their ancestral forest homes three decades ago in a move to conserve wildlife, many of Uganda's Batwa people struggle for a more dignified way of life.

On a hike into the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, the songs the Batwa sing are supposed to be celebratory, but they sound mournful.

They are in praise of a good honey harvest, but there is no harvest as the Batwa are no longer allowed to gather honey, or anything else, from the forest.

Instead, these indigenous people take groups of paying tourists into their ancestral areas and in a choreographed performance act out how they once lived.

A rhythm is played on the metal keys of a thumb piano, known as a "ichyembe", as we reach a collection of huts 30 minutes into the forest.

Most Batwa people live as homeless wanderers, forced to beg for a living. Starvation, discrimination and abject poverty are the grim reality for the Batwa.