Pushed Out and Forgotten †The Batwa Essay

Born in the United States, I grew up believing that the children who tolerated next door or the boy who sat across from me in class had it every. Even as an adult, there are bits of me that occasionally envy the family with the perceived perfect life church every Sunday, home office with a big window, stain- slight carpets, and children with perfect hair. But, I know better. Life in the United States is something I take for granted. I knew this and needed to cue myself just how truly grateful I should be for the life I get in the great states. How do I do this? What do I need to regulate in order to really understand life turn upside America? I needed to leave my country and visit a place that has many struggles where people snuff it humbly. What I didnt realize was that I would leave the country I chose to visit, wanting to go back and get along a difference.Rwanda is rich with many things culture, diversity, and bring down. Rwanda has also perfected the art of discrimina tion. When my plane landed, I could not have grabbed my luggage and left the airport more than quickly. I was excited for what the change in culture would bring me. What I would take home to teach my own family and friends. Some were excited to see me and others were less than thrill to see me traipsing my way through their lands. I did what I could to respect the people and their cultures, as I did my research before coming to Rwanda. The population there is do up of mostly Hutu traditional farmers. The peace of mind of the population, mostly consist of Tutsi (or warrior people) and the Batwa. Though I would have enjoyed getting to know all the different people and ethnicities of Rwanda, I spent most of my time with the Batwa (Whitelaw, 2007).The history of the Batwa is something that I came to hold close while traveling with some who are conflicted with the fear of the past and the uncertainty of their future. The Batwa were former Central Africa residentswho lived their lives hunting and gathering in the rain forests. Though the lives they lived were not ideal for all, they were happy. But as time went, so was the expectation that they left their homes in order for the rainforest to be used for forestry and conservation. You may say, So, were they compensated for the land they had to give up? Well, no. The Batwa were physically removed from their homes and their land and were never wedded a red cent to live elsewhere. Kicked out of home, with no money, no good explanation, and expected to build a life in an area strange to most.The Batwa had no idea what this was going to do to their lives. They knew they did not want to leave but because of their nave understanding of the modern world, they would face some struggle ahead. This was a disaster in the making. It didnt help that many of people, already living in the areas the Batwa were forced to move, did not accept them as people. They were and continue to be discriminated against. The Batwa live in po verty in what is supposed to be a more modern society than what they were founded on.Yet, the population continues to deteriorate. How is this possible? It is possible because they have no land to live on, they eat the farming scraps left after a harvest, they are shunned from the education system because of illiteracy and a privation of money, they are allowed to right to vote but not allowed to be part of government, and they find it almost impossible to find a job that can support their needs because of discrimination and lack of education (New African, 2010).The Batwas situation sounded eerily familiar to me. I equated their situation to the Native Americans situation when the Europeans came to America. Pushed out of their land and forced to live a different way of life in a place that was approved by the rest of the people. I can imagine that the way the Batwa live is similar to the way the Native Americans are forced to live. The difference is that the Native Americans feel forced by lack of education of the rest of Americans, where the Batwas are forced because they are still not accepted in todays Rwandan society. Another big difference I see is that the Batwa are a part of Africa and are being discriminated by their people. Yes, they are a different ethnicity and would live their lives differently, if not forced into another. But, they are still from the equal country. After drawing time with thisamazing group of people, I have realized that I could not accurately explain the difference between ethnicity and race.six months ago, I lumped those two terms together. Though they have similarities, they are different. I am a Caucasian, but that doesnt mean it is easy to assume my ethnicity. My great friend is Caucasian, but that doesnt mean her and I have the same ethnicity. I was born and raised in a small town out of Minnesota and she was raised in Ireland. The two terms are different. Her family traditions around the holidays are different than mine . Really understanding the differences between race in Rwanda and their ethnicities was definitive when trying to understand why there is and was so much discrimination. Though the race may be nearly the same, each group of people lived on the whole different lives. The Batwas lived in a rainforest and Hutus ran farms in a more modern lifestyle.Even the way each culture enjoys leap is either accepted or it is not. The Batwa were forced to study Christianity, eat the foods of the modern people, and even had to learn how to wear clothing differently. The way the Batwa chose to live their lives in the rainforest would not be acceptable in the eyes of the rest of Rwanda. Ethnicity and race are different and this is why discrimination exists in Rwanda (New African, 2012). * Learning the history of how the Batwa live, by choice or not, begged the question, what has this done to them as a people? The discrimination of the Batwa and other small groups of people, have made it difficult fo r them to thrive much less survive. They impact they have on the government is nil, so seeing a dramatic change through government representation is unlikely.There are groups such(prenominal) as the Organization of Rwandan Potters (COPORWA) who consider the Batwa and their situations. The Batwa are value their culture and ways of life, but have lost touch because of highly encouraged religions and lack of credenza of their culture. The Batwa do and will continue to struggle to be recognized as a minority group who needs help (Ingelaere, B., 2010). * The Batwa have lost their land, they are losing their culture, the people are not surviving, and the idea of maintaining hope is slowly slipping away. Spending time with my new found friends made me want to bring them all home with me. But, as I have learned, moving people from their homes and lives can create more problems than intended. Though, I would see to it that they were treated with the respect they deserve, it does not hold t he bigger problem.Thehuman race has much to learn about what the true meaning of love, life, and respect is. Unfortunately, discrimination and a lack of understanding is a earthy course of nature. There are some things out of our control and others in which we can only influence. If I could change anything about my visit to Rwanda, it would have been to spend more time there to understand more about why the other cultures see the Batwa the way they do. Though the discrimination against the Batwa is moving at a snails pace in the right direction, at least it is moving that way. Until then, I send my prayers and well wishes to the Batwa people. I would also challenge those of you culture my article to take some time to travel to a place similar to Rwanda to learn about another culture what it has to offer is far more than money can buy. *ReferencesBatwa A people under threat. (2010). New African, (497), 38.Ingelaere, B. (2010). Peasants, power and ethnicity A bottom-up perspective o n Rwandas political transition. African Affairs, 109(435), 273-292.Whitelaw, Kevin. (2007). Rwanda Reborn. U.S. watchword & World Report, 00415537, Vol. 142, Issue 14