Friends of Batwa international

The Batwa lived a nomadic lifestyle, in thick impenetrable forests sleeping in caves, trees, and thickets, and were kicked out of bwindi-mgahinga forests in early 1990s , When this happened, they were not given any form of compensation or equipped with any skills for survival in the new and competitive environment hence exposing them as vulnerable conservation refugees. They now live as squatters on other people’s land and sometimes land purchased by different donor groups. Despite their hard work and resilience to the hardships of nature, the Batwa population has shrunk to about 6000 individuals. This is due to limited access to social services, Together with the myth that having sex with Batwa women cures backaches and HIV/Aids has landed the already vulnerable females into being taken advantage of. Many are lured into sex for food or raped hence either making them pregnant or infecting them with HIV or both. This has resulted in the Batwa having many children.