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Current Projects
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Education, Economic & Social Advancement
of the Mbuti Pygmy People
Ituri Forest, Democratic Republic of Congo
 Pygmies are known as the shortest people on Earth. Numbering 600,000, these hunter/gatherer forest-dwellers are scattered in many different groups throughout central Africa. Considered to be the original habitants of the region, their history goes back 6,000 years, with written notations by the Egyptians, dating to 2500 B.C.
Through the years, there has been some intermixing with neighboring tribes and only one group remains true pygmy. This group known as the Mbuti "People of the Forest," occupy an area of 24,000 sq. mi. in the Northeast Democratic Republic of Congo known as the Ituri Forest. Numbering 50,000, they live in groups of 15-60 people and have intimate knowledge of forest plants and animals.
The Problem: In 1996, a civil war broke out in the Democratic Republic of Congo killing over 3 million people to date. The Pygmies have been especially affected due to their unique situation. Some of the problems they now face include:
a) Systematic logging of the Ituri forest which has greatly reduced their roaming territory and therefore food-gathering capacity. This has caused gross nutritional deficiencies in the population.
 b) Due to their isolation in the forest, the Pygmies have never been recognized as citizens of their country. Without the ability to obtain birth certificates, they can never own land and the wages they receive for labour are tantamount to begging.
c) Thought to possess special powers of the forest, the Pygmies have been targeted by militias. Their women are raped and men killed in order to release the powers. With their knowledge and special skills, others are exploited, threatened and coerced in order to access the rewards of their mineral-rich territory.
d) Due to their nomadic lifestyle, this endangered group has no history of formal education so the majority of the population cannot read or write. They also have no access to the limited healthcare available in the region. With a lack of skills in agriculture, they have no way to sustain themselves outside of the forest. Those that are not brutally killed will die of hunger.
 Atrocities of cannibalism, gang rape, looting & destruction of their villages, and mass killings, including live burial, have contributed to reducing their population by 30%.
The Pygmies who ran away from the Ituri Forest have contacted other tribes and asked for help.
Outreach to Africa intends to reduce the suffering of these forgotten people in a program of complete and holistic development.
We have identified 311 families, 2,180 individuals, who have come out of the forest to request much needed assistance. A target group of 50 families, 350 individuals, have been selected for the first phase of rehabilitation.
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