Im in southwestern Uganda, right near the border with DRC.
Yesterday I went for a hike in the mountains and visited the Mountain Gorillas
for an hour or so. It was definitely a good experience. I like the area Im in
at the moment and rather than head straight off on the highway North Ive
decided to go and do another short hike and visit the Batwa people…
Most of us “non-Africans” would have no idea who the Batwa are and
I was in the same boat till I read one of those little advertising brochures
that was laying around in the backpackers that I was staying at,,,
But Im pretty sure everyone has some idea about Pygmies, and that’s
who the Batwa are J
… Actually the “Ba” part of the name means “tribe/group/people” so
the tribe name is more or less the “Twa” and it turns out that they are the very
minor third tribe in the area… The Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa…
When I think of Pygmies, my initial thoughts are more or less
defined by some very old childhood memories that are in turn defined by Hollywood
ideas that are overlaying old Comic-book character “Phantom” ideas… clearly my
knowledge is minimal J
But up until yesterday, if you said Pygmy my word association
results would be: Short African people (130cm or less) who live in deepest
darkest Africa (say central Africa in the Congo region), who live in the jungle
and are rather deadly adversaries who use poisoned arrows… or maybe blow darts?...
and of course they are the sworn friends of the jungles defender of justice…
The Phantom!
Then the slightly more mature me remembers from somewhere that
they are definitely small in stature and that this means they have had a very
difficult time with other tribes in modern times… Particularly the women who
are frequently raped if they go anywhere alone… because much larger men can
overpower them so easily… Not a happy thought!
And though technically Im still in East Africa, when you look at a
map, Im pretty close to the middle of Africa and am indeed at the headwaters of
the Congo river, so I am in the right
place. J
Well, it turns out that most of my “ideas” are basically true …
though I must admit that Ive seen neither hide nor hair of “The Phantom”, and
the Pygmies I questioned denied all knowledge… But that’s exactly how it was in
the comix, so I reckon hes real and hes out there… Defending the Jungle from
injustice!! J
Right, back to the story… Well, the Twa are indeed having a very
hard time of things in the modern world… They are hunter gatherers and their
entire culture is based on living in the jungle… But there is virtually no
jungle left in Uganda (particularly not in the South-West where I was), and
about 20 years ago the Twa were “evicted” from the national parks (the only
remaining jungle) to protect the gorillas environment (The Twa don’t eat the
gorillas at all but they eat any other animals there and to catch them they use
snares as well as spears and arrow, and the gorillas get caught in the snares
etc.) And so they were removed from their home, but the government didn’t give
them any land (cos traditionally they didn’t own land) and the Twa were just
left to try to live as best they could in an urban/agricultural world with no
education and no skills and , well, Not much hope either really… Hence the “Damned” part of the title L
But the situation was eventually noted and some land was given to
them (not in the jungle but near-by) and education and assistance programs have
been running etc, and things are somewhat better but are still pretty tough. And
the biggest challenge is that of course they are losing their culture… Its all
based on the Jungle, and they have virtually no access to it any more … Very
Sad L
But they have started some programs where the Twa get to somewhat
share their culture and access the Jungle by doing “Cultural Tours for we
Mzungus” (and 50% of the income from the tours goes to the Twa villages). Now
Im usually not a fan of the “dress up and sing and dance for the tourists” type
shows, but the Twa are having such a bad time and I wanted some way to help them
just a bit, so I decided to go on one of their little hike/cultural tours.
And so I got to meet a group of four “Pygmy” men and they were “dressed
up” in more or less traditional garb, and indeed they did some singing and
dancing as we walked through the jungle on the tour… and every time they put on
one of their little shows, I felt embarrassed for them and for me… and I though
how sad that its come to this for them, and I just felt terrible…
… But it felt a little less bad after each little dance and I
guess I was getting to know them each a little, even though all conversation
was through a translator since none of them spoke any language. And I tried
hard to share some laughter with them, and indeed they were quick to laugh J But I
think the best part of the tour was “making Fire” (see next post) which took all four of them and even a little help from the Mzungu (me) to
do, and it really felt like being with some friends after that even though we
could barely communicate.
In the end I felt OK about the little tour and I have to say that
while Im still against these kind of tours if they are just for the tourists…
BUT, if (as I suspect really is the case here) taking the tourists through the
forest and showing them how you used to hunt and how you make fire and where
the special places for you are; If doing
all that helps you stay in-touch with your history and your culture and helps
you teach your children and feel that it all still has some value and relevance
in the changing modern world (and I truly believe it does have value) ; Well
then I say do it and I wholeheartedly approve, and if me being a selfish
tourist and wanting to see Pygmies can be harnessed in some way to help then Im
OK with that too.
