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| Pygmy Children of the Congo |
The Pygmies in the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa have long been
the poorest and the most ostracized of all people groups in this already
impoverished region. While others support themselves through
agriculture and raising livestock, the Pygmies have no land and have
historically been a nomadic people surviving as hunters and gatherers.
Today, because the forests have been ravaged through years of war, Pygmy
families are forced to beg for food. Concerned with basic survival, the
education of children holds little importance to parents.
FAMA seeks to change this cycle of poverty by supporting the education of Pygmy children. For the school year beginning September 2007, FAMA has launched an initiative to support this education in the province of Muyinga, Burundi. Currently, 125 children whose families are completely illiterate are attending school for the first time. FAMA provides the children with school supplies, clothes and shoes, and follows up regularly with the administration to ensure that they are making adequate progress.
FAMA believes that further stabilization can be achieved by providing basic food and clothing rations for the families of the present school students. This comes in the form of bi-monthly distributions of maize flour, beans, oil and soaps, and occasional distributions of donated clothing. FAMA is presently petitioning the Burundian government for a parcel of land located adjacent to the Pygmy village for their own cultivation and harvesting of self-sustaining crops.
Furthermore FAMA is seeking to build basic dwelling places for the families in order to encourage them to remain in one place while the children are getting their education. This project requires the Pygmies to participate in their own advancement by making the bricks needed to construct their homes. The initial model home was constructed in 2008, and in 2009, 13 additional homes were erected. These modest homes included beds, mattresses, sheets, tables and chairs. As the project evolves, FAMA's goal is also to teach basic trades to adults and young adults enabling them to break the cycle of poverty and become self-supporting.
The national and local governments enthusiastically support FAMA's work
among the Pygmies. The national government has given FAMA land on which
to construct 100 homes. A local Pygmy senator who has been able to
break out of the cycle of oppression was one of the most enthusiastic
motivators in encouraging the Pygmy children to enroll in school.
With your help, we can change the lives of all the Pygmies in Muyinga.
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| Pygmy Elder |
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| Pygmy Child Next to Hut |
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