June 2024

The encounter

Floris: “In June 2024, I travelled through Uganda for a photoshoot. Our guide in Rubuguri introduced us to the local Batwa community. Until recently, the Batwa lived as hunter-gatherers in the forests of Central Africa. The expansion of large-scale agriculture and conservation initiatives gradually reduced the area in which they could live. In 1991, the Ugandan government designated two large national parks as protected habitats for mountain gorillas. As a result, the Batwa were permanently displaced from the forests and were subsequently largely left to fend for themselves.

Life has been extremely difficult for the Batwa ever since. The community faces discrimination and social exclusion, extreme poverty, abuse, addiction, teenage pregnancies, unemployment, inadequate education, poor housing, limited hygiene and almost no access to medical care.

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I stayed in touch with our guide after my trip. He asked whether there was anything I could do for the Batwa. I started looking for an organisation that could support the community in a sustainable way. After a short search, I found Lattice, an agency in Kenya specialising in organising and managing development projects in Central Africa. Following our discussions, members of the Lattice team travelled to Rubuguri to assess the situation and develop a project programme. This ultimately became the ‘Beyond Barriers’ project.”

Floris: “In June 2024, I travelled through Uganda for a photoshoot. Our guide in Rubuguri introduced us to the local Batwa community. Until recently, the Batwa lived as hunter-gatherers in the forests of Central Africa. The expansion of large-scale agriculture and conservation initiatives gradually reduced the area in which they could live. In 1991, the Ugandan government designated two large national parks as protected habitats for mountain gorillas. As a result, the Batwa were permanently displaced from the forests and were subsequently largely left to fend for themselves.

Life has been extremely difficult for the Batwa ever since. The community faces discrimination and social exclusion, extreme poverty, abuse, addiction, teenage pregnancies, unemployment, inadequate education, poor housing, limited hygiene and almost no access to medical care.

null

I stayed in touch with our guide after my trip. He asked whether there was anything I could do for the Batwa. I started looking for an organisation that could support the community in a sustainable way. After a short search, I found Lattice, an agency in Kenya specialising in organising and managing development projects in Central Africa. Following our discussions, members of the Lattice team travelled to Rubuguri to assess the situation and develop a project programme. This ultimately became the ‘Beyond Barriers’ project.”

The project

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Activities and expenditure

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Funding and fundraising

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Project Reports

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