The Pygmie Efe, Lese, Sua
and Mbuti of the Bambuti (and associated Bantu people) in the Ituri
Forest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. . This
people group, commonly called Pygmies, are the “least of these Our
brethren” the Lord is talking to us about. They are smaller than,
and inevitably slaves to some degree or other to, their Bantu neighbors.
Their average life span is either 18 or 24 years, according to
different sources. While there used to be millions of Efe and Lese,
their numbers were reduced to 75,000 just a few decades ago and again to
about 3000 now (reported numbers vary per tribe). War, alcohol, money,
marijuana, rape, AIDS, deforestation, genocide, systematic
discrimination, respiratory and other diseases and the loss of game in
their hunting ground have decimated this people group. This people group
seem to be targeted for destruction. 
Most of their Bantu
neighbors, upon which they depend for typical staple items, commonly
view Pygmies as animals or subhuman. This view is common, pervasive and
has old and deep roots. For example, Belgian colonial authorities
exported Pygmy children to zoos throughout Europe, including the world's
fair in the United States in 1907. During the long DR Congo civil war,
which took more lives than any war in history except WWII, both sides of
the conflict hunted, killed and ate Pygmies. Their flesh was sold in the marketplace. Not long ago,even some Christians in the
area view them as animals or subhuman or of a different species. Some Pygmies still roam in the jungle of the Congo defenseless and naked except for some coverings made of bark. Congo is the rape capital of the world according to the UN. Girls are often pregnant by eight. Since poverty has become very prevalent in the Pygmy communities, sexual exploitation of indigenous women has become a common practice. Commercial sex has been bolstered by logging, which often places large groups of male laborers in camps which are set up in close contact with the Pygmy communities. There is a widely held belief that sex with a Pygmy woman can rid a man of HIV. This myth places these women at high risk for HIV exposure. Other myths include eating Pygmy flesh can confer magical powers.
...
Because of deforestation, Pygmies have
been pushed into populated areas to join the formal economy, working as
casual laborers or on commercial farms and being exposed to new
diseases. This shift has brought them into closer contact with
neighboring ethnic communities whose HIV levels are generally higher.
This has led to the spread of HIV/AIDS into the pygmy group.The DRC government and other governments refuse identity cards, deeds to land, health care and proper schooling as though these peoples do not officially exist. Access to health care, medicine and education (if it exists) is further refused due to lack of ID cards and money. They are subjected to discriminatory and humiliating treatment if access to these systems is attempted. The Hutus of the Interahamwe, wish to eliminate the Pygmy and take the resources of the forest as a military conquest, using the resources of the forest for military as well as economic advancement. Since the Pygmies rely on the forest for their physical as well as cultural survival, as these forests disappear, so do the Pygmy.
According to Minority Rights Group International there is extensive
evidence of mass killings, cannibalism and rape of Pygmies in a campaign
of extermination against pygmies. Although they have been targeted by
virtually all the armed groups, much of the violence against Pygmies is
attributed to the rebel group, the Movement for the Liberation of Congo,
which is part of the transitional government and still controls much of
the north, and their allies. And, a cannibal group known as Les
Effaceurs ("the erasers") wants to clear the land of people to open it
up for mineral exploitation. 
The foregoing is apparently the
worst of the problems and may not appropriately reflect an average case
and there are many exceptions. i have witnessed my self that the Pygmies are “struggling to survive”. And, even to today the pygmies live in the jungles, most of them with no medical care, no clothes poor housing and there land has been grabbed by the locals and the government.
Pygmy culture is threatened today by the forces of political and
economic change. In recent times, this has manifested itself into an
open conflict over the resources of the tropical rain-forest, it is a
conflict that the Pygmy are losing.”The Lord has called us. lets join hands and see how we can reach these the least of our brethren, i was in Congo few months ago, we now hope to introduce Bee keeping as tool to help boost their economic status and also help in their nutrition and medical life, stand with us in prayer and any support, this will help a lot, since they enjoy living in Jungles they will easily keep bees and harvest honey, also because they are weak naturally, bee keeping requires less energy. and honey products will help them in many ways,through wax they will get Candles to light at night, and also they will eat Honey as food and medicine, and also sell it to get money.
The Pygmies who live in the forests without any means
of getting food apart from the honey which they Hunt, and wild animals which
are now scarce because of over cutting down of forests where they have lived
all their lives, some even can’t afford a meal of food a day, thus bee keeping
can provide for them food, Employment, Medicine and also be their economic
activity, since they are naturally weak people who can’t do heavy work that
need much energy. Bee keeping is the
only activity they can do easily and without a lot of concentration and skills.
Once they are showed what to do and how to do it.
More later
Edwine
Contact emails starsofhopemins@gmail.com and Edwin, ediebusi@gmail.com ,
.
No comments:
Post a Comment