Central African Republic

February 2008

Kanjan Arafo is part of a nomadic race of hunter-gathers that have existed for generations in the rainforest of Central African Republic. His family, part of the Bayaka pygmies, lives off the land, hunting wild game and gathering edible vegetation that grows naturally in the jungle. They have never grown a garden or built a real house, sleeping only in small, easily made shelters that look to be nothing more than leaf igloos. But deforestation and dwindling wildlife populations have driven Kanjan's community from the jungle and into settled areas of the country where they are forced to be farmers. Here they have suffered extreme hardship, not knowing how to grow food for their families or how to build permanent homes. And the only water they can find comes from a drainage ditch along the side of the road. They are seen as inferior by the Central Africans, and are frequently harassed or forced into labor by neighboring tribes. Kanjan's community is one of many Bayaka tribes in the southern region of CAR where BWM is funding water, hygiene, and sanitation programming and we are excited to see the changes that will take place among these tribes. As Kanjan watched the well being drilled in his community he couldn't help but comment quietly that now his [five] children would not be drinking water from a muddy ditch any longer.