Thank you everyone for your support so far!
The Batwa people of southwestern Uganda have been facing many problems since they were forcibly evicted from their native lands in the 1990s so the government could profit from tourism with no compensation for them as their people were forced out of their traditional lifestyle and into poverty, lack of resources, and loss of their cultural heritage.
I myself wasn’t aware of this until around half a year ago when mutual friends of mine who had visited Uganda and worked with organizers such as the current guardian of Immaculate, Gerald, at the Batwa Indigenous Development Organization (BIDO) introduced me to Gerald and other staff members.
Since then I have been doing what I can to spread word of their people’s situation. For transparency, I was asked by members at BIDO to make this GoFundMe because GoFundMe does not allow campaigns to be based in Uganda but since it is the most popular crowdfunding site Gerald and other members thought it would be a good way to gain support regardless. This is why my name is on the campaign, but I promise I send every donation to Gerald (for this campaign) or BIDO’s treasurer Jane (for the other campaign) and will gladly show proof of such to anyone who wishes, and if you are more comfortable I can even give you Gerald or Jane’s info so you can directly send them donations abroad yourself.
(that is Alex, the founder of BIDO leading a youth organizing group in the photo above)
But yeah, this past half year there have barely been donations to either campaign, and after finding out about this significant medical fee this past couple weeks, I and Gerald were both worried about if she would be able to get the support she needed in time. Before this week the orphan’s GoFundMe had only $22 donated to it. The impact that simply everyone reblogging this post has been having is incredible, and I am incredibly grateful for all of you who have helped share and donate and I am sure Gerald feels the same.
As soon as all the money needed for Immaculate’s surgery is transferred out of GoFundMe and I can send it to Gerald I will let you all know and make sure to update on her condition and when she is getting her surgery. Hearing regular updates about all the pain she has been going through has been heartbreaking for me and I am so glad this little girl can finally get relief from some of her hardships.
After surgery, while the orphans will still need help of course, there are not as many desperate immediate needs for them, so I would highly encourage if people wish to, to also donate and share BIDO’s main fundraiser. This fundraiser will not go towards the needs of any individual person, but instead is to support BIDO as an organization that can create long term structural change by and for the Batwa indigenous people. For example, some of their goals include acquiring a self sustaining source of income for the organization such as goat farming or beekeeping, ensuring the education of local Batwa children both in general and in retaining their indigenous culture, and making a local health clinic so Batwa people in certain poor areas will not have to not only be scammed by doctors taking advantage of their desperation, but so they also will not have to worry about the high costs of transportation to get access to good medical care at the moment.
(Photo above from a recent burial of a young man who died from disease, they were only able to afford the porridge they served at the ceremony and transporation to it because of donations from people abroad)
If you want more regular updates directly from the organizers feel free to message me and I can connect you with them on Facebook, or alternatively, the founder of BIDO, Ahimbisibwe Alex, has recently started documenting BIDO’s work on Instagram occasionally as well. You can follow his Instagram here.
Here is the link to BIDO’s organizational fundraiser! Thank you again for all of the support!