Batwa¹ of Rwanda are recognised as being one of the 'pygmy ' peoples of Central Africa. However, most of them were long ago forced off their lands and abandoned life in the forests that were once their home. Their current status is that of a minority both numerically and politically, with a long history of discrimination and marginalisation.

In 1958 the Batwa were assumed to make up one per cent of Rwanda 's population. It is believed that up to 30 per cent of the Rwandese Twa population died or were killed between October 1993 and June 1995 during the genocidal conflict, and today, they are probably no more than 0.2 or 0.4 per cent of Rwanda's population or approximately some 11,000 people (Lewis and Knight 1995).

The life of the indigenous people of Rwanda has always been difficult and miserable Always at the margin of society they have never participated in the life of the country, whether at the social, economic, political or intellectual level. The policies of yesterday and today. have never wanted to face their problems.

Indigenous women have not been spared this calamity, and this explains the underdevelopment that characterises them. a problem that unfortunately will not he solved tomorrow or even in the near future.

Economically. the Batwa women live miserably as they have no means to solve their own problems. The majority have no land to cultivate. and the very few who do face difficulties buying seeds or even simple agricultural instruments like hoes. For those who do practise some form of agriculture, the lack of cattle and hence manure means that their outcome is meagre.

Finding work to do for the other population groups is not a solution as they are not appreciated, are underpaid or do not even receive a salary. Most therefore survive by making their traditional pottery, but they have to confront an increasing competition from the more durable metal or plastic products now available.

Often badly dressed and dirty due to lack of money to buy essentials like soap, clothes, pomade, etc., Batwa women find themselves the laughing stock of everybody and left aside by their sisters from the other social groups of the Rwandese society.

They often live on their own and in small groups, and many of them have no place to live in or live in makeshift huts or shelters. This also explains why they are often completely isolated and even rejected by the other populations groups in Rwanda. This further contributes to making them backward and marginalised.

Maternal and infant mortality are on the increase because the Batwa women do not dare to go and claim the care and the vaccines they need during their pregnancy and after the birth of their children. When the women present themselves at the hospitals they are the laughing stock of the medical personnel. In the case of diseases they do not have the money to pay for medicine.

Another reason for infant mortality is that they give birth under poor conditions, in unhealthy places. As they do not receive the necessary support and care, they do not know how to feed their children correctly They in turn develop kwashiorkor and many die at a young age .

Because of the bloody events which have saddened this country, many women have found themselves as widows with a great number of orphans for whom they are responsible. Taking care of these children is becoming more and more difficult because you cannot raise a child without food, clothes or even a shelter. It is easy to imagine the future of these poor children; it will of course be one of mendacity or delinquency.

Many women are illiterate. Because of their marginalisation, they cannot easily be integrated into the other groups of the Rwandese society, which also explains the limited number of children that attend school.

What also contributes to the Batwa women's miserable situation is that they have no one to help them. Batwa women are not represented politically in the country. There are no Batwa women ministers, no members of parliament, no mayors, no directors, and there is therefore no one to whom the women can address or explain their problems.

They are never invited to participate in meetings, conferences or other events together with the women from the other classes of the Rwandese society, and they cannot be members of the associations of these women.

In order to improve their situation, the indigenous women try to confront these problems. The women attend meetings organised at the village level by the authorities, where they can get useful information, and despite the discrimination described earlier, an increasing number do nevertheless approach the health care posts when they need pre-natal health care or advice on infant nutrition.

To overcome illiteracy, indigenous women are also making an effort to send their children to school. But the problem of school fees, expenditures for school materials and school uniforms is not easily solved and therefore many drop out of school before even having learned to read and write. The young Batwa boys, however , get more opportunities to study than the girls who must help their mothers with making pottery which they learn to do at a young age; or with looking after their younger siblings while their mother works; or with cooking while their mother is making pottery.

Batwa women have also tried to establish co-operative groups in order to organise themselves better, to share ideas, to learn to read and write, and to get more productive skills like dressmaking, embroidery, knitting and other handicrafts. They get some support from those Batwa women who have had some education, but it is difficult as they are scattered all over the country and cannot visit everyone of the groups due to the lack of money and means of transport.

The indigenous Twa women are going through a very unhappy situation. They need guidance and help to be integrated into the other groups of Rwandese society. And they need support to overcome the difficulties they meet.

This support could, for example, be the creation of associations to group them, where they could be reached in order to facilitate contact with other women. It could also be securing some representation at the national level, for example in the ministries. Other areas could be the creation of jobs in rural areas, reduction of school fees for orphans and widowed mothers or other incentives to pursue an education, provision of convenient shelters and basic things like household equipment, food and clothing, school materials for their children, cattle, agricultural implements and seeds, etc. Support could also be aimed at developing and modernising the women 's pottery production through the introduction of improved stoves and other forms of appropriate and sustainable technology and by training them in modern pottery skills. It could also be by inviting them to educational meetings with women from other population groups.

Once the goal of being integrated in the other social groups of the Rwandese population has been attained, the Batwa woman will no longer be the laughing stock of others, and she will no longer have any problems in the society.