Uganda’s first Batwa pygmy graduate, BBC News

Written By Vishva Samani
I had the privilege to spend time with the Ugandan Batwa pygmy forest-dwellers who are some of the most marginalised people in Africa, evicted from their ancestral land in 1991 when the forests became national parks for gorilla conservation. The Batwa are traditional hunter-gatherers who have struggled to cope with life in the 21st Century. Among those I spoke to was Twenty-two-year-old Alice Nyamihanda, who at the time was the pride of her community, being the first ever to return to her impoverished native area with a university diploma. BBC News online featured my interview with her. I also did a travel feature that was broadcast on BBC World News, as some Batwa now work as guides for tourists - giving walking tours of the forests and an insight into their ancient and lost way of life.

I had the privilege to spend time with the Ugandan Batwa pygmy forest-dwellers who are some of the most marginalised people in Africa, evicted from their ancestral land in 1991 when the forests became national parks for gorilla conservation. The Batwa are traditional hunter-gatherers finding their place in the modern world.

Among those I spoke to was Twenty-two-year-old Alice Nyamihanda, who at the time was the pride of her community, being the first ever to return to her native area with a university diploma. BBC News online featured my interview with her.

I also did a travel feature for BBC World News, as some Batwa now work as guides for tourists - giving walking tours of the forests and an insight into their ancient and lost way of life.

Vishva Samani
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