Since their removal, the Batwa have lived mostly on the fringes of existing
villages, or in remote areas just outside the forest, where farming is difficult. Clean water and sufficient food are often lacking, and access to education and healthcare is limited.
The Batwa tribe members are gradually learning to live in fixed agrarian
communities now that their nomadic forest existence is no longer possible. Outreach programs are working to help them maintain their ancient traditions and culture while building their new lives.
In 2001, Dr. Scott and Carol Kellermann, medical missionaries from the
USA, began working full time in the area of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Their
community-
Batwa children at play
The Batwa pygmies are indigenous forest nomads who lived for millenia in the mountainous rainforests of equatorial Uganda. They were removed from their homeland in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest when it was made a national park to save the endangered mountain gorillas. The Batwa are one of the poorest people groups in the world.
Who Are the Batwa?
"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
Matthew 25:40