GFW | Newsletter | August 2003 | Twa Women Cultivate Healthy Communities in Post-War Rwanda

INDIGENOUS RIGHTS

Twa Women Cultivate Healthy Communities in Post-War Rwanda

Union pour l'Emancipation de la Femme Autochtone, Cyangungu, Rwanda
(Union for the Emancipation of Pygmy Women)

The Twa, also known as pygmy, were the first peoples of Rwanda and the Congo. For thousands of years, these ancient people lived sustainably in the forests of Central Africa. During the last century, however, they were forcibly removed from their lands, and later victimized in the genocidal war in which hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. At least 30 percent of the Twa died, leaving 11,000, just 0.3 percent of the Rwandan population.

Aid workers estimate that two-thirds of the women were raped; many were infected with HIV during the Rwandan genocide. Women now make up 70 percent of Rwanda's population, and 50 percent of these women are widows.

Despite the bleak situation, a group of Twa women have organized themselves to overcome hunger and prejudice. "We saw that reconciliation efforts to heal and rebuild the country did not take into account the needs of the Twa," says Adolphine Muley, a Twa co-founder of the Union pour l'Emancipation de la Femme Autochtone—UEFA (Union for the Emancipation of Pygmy Women).

UEFA identified the problem that some Twa women do not have land to cultivate for food because they have been displaced from their forest homes. Those who own land lack the means to buy tools or fertilizer to cultivate the land. The Global Fund for Women's grant of $10,000, awarded in 2001, helped Twa women to buy tools and seeds to plant and harvest crops.

Illiteracy rates continue to grow since families cannot afford to pay for tuition, school books and uniforms. Maternal and infant mortality among the Twa are increasing because women cannot travel safely to doctors for prenatal vaccinations and health care. To address the dire needs of Twa women, UEFA is creating clean water wells and distributing clothing, contraception and medicines to Twa women living in Cyangungu, Rwanda. The group is also providing literacy training and income generation projects such as pottery making. UEFA helps the women, most of whom are heads of households, to set up cooperatives and women's associations that will provide the community with food and other goods over the long term. In all of its projects, the group seeks to fortify the women's self-esteem and spirits, while providing them with the tools to develop their health, maintain their culture and rebuild their lives.

Union pour l'Emancipation de la Femme Autochtone
Adolphine Byayuwa Muley, Coordinator
B.P. 127
Avenue Hippodrome n.8
Cyangungu
Rwanda
Phone: 00250 085 277 44
Fax: 00871 762 056 981
Email: uefafr@yahoo.fr

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