Fundraising for Batwa Medical Treatment and Crops

For Cde Sabiti and the Batwa Organization

The Batwa indigenous peoole are believed to be the original people of Africa,’and more particularly the first tribe that lived in the great mountains and the forests of great Virunga and Bwindi, impenetrable national parks, before 1991. The Batwa lived an independent, contented life in the forests.

The Batwa practiced their rights without any inconveniences. As hunter-gatherers, they fed on the forests’ bounties of fruits, vegetables, honeys and meats from wild animals while practicing ancestor worship in the jungle’s caves - their most important cultural practice. It would provide protection, blessings, life knowledge, unity good fortune and harmony to the Batwa for many generations.

However, in 1991 the government of Uganda evicted all the Batwa from the forest to implement conservation projects and a tourism industry. Unfortunately, there's no compensation or any form of re-locations that were done to re-settle the Batwa indigenous people in new lands.

Currently the Batwa people live a humiliated life outside their indigenous, squatting on church lands, with some organizations giving small plots and other forms of assistance. They live a marginalized life, discriminated against by wider society.

This fundraiser will cover hospital-related costs including treatment and transportation for members of the Batwa facing injuries from tribal assault and malaria infections, as well money for working small plots of land for displaced Batwa.