EXCHANGING WITH MAKOBASI AND ISSA
Category: Mbuti Pygmies | Date: Jan 17 2008 | By: admin
Would you remember the post of Madam Rosemarie Ruf about Makobasi and Issa??? Both pygmies working for long time in conservation. At moment they’re retired men, but they did train their respective boys and daughters for collecting leaves for feeding okapi.
I had time to exchange with them about the new house building which was initiated by Rosemarie Ruf of Gilman International Conservation in Epulu.
Reaching the camp around 3 pm, I met chief Makobasi , Issa and their brother in law Kisobe surrounding fire, this witnesses that those guys become lifeless.
From left: Kisobe, Chief Makobasi and Issa
My concern was to exchange idea with those chiefs’ pygmies on their house. Without delaying, Mr. Makobasi told me that it’s a good idea housing them because they are no longer strong for hunting, and go here and there as their relatives; they supposed to be sedentary.
“They already started sleeping in their house because the sheet metal is already fixed” said Makobasi
“This house is a shelter for me and my sons” Issa added
Mr. Somba in red T-shirt chatting with Makobasi, Issa and Kisobe
In fact , the building activity still ongoing and so far the really face:
those pygmies wives belong to Makobasi and Issa’s generation.
The soil is prepared for distempering the house
This charitable works is the effort made by some donors who judged important to help Makobasi and Issa as retired . Sincere thank to you.
Somba
Technorati : epulu, okapi. wildlifedirect, wildlifedirect
2007 OVERVIEW IN OKAPI RESERVE
Category: Community Work, General, Mbuti Pygmies, Ranger Patrols | Date: Dec 28 2007 | By: admin
In 96 hours, the 2007 year is about to end, so I would like to visualize you on snaps some achievement in Okapi Reserve. This, of course should motivate you for any help for safeguarding the home of the charismatic animal “OKAPI” and its relatives living in the Reserve.
So, please take your time
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Workers wives during a manifestation in Epulu
Miners arrested by field rangers in deep forest of the Reserve
The technical Director of ICCN welcomed in Epulu
The catholic bishop as stakeholder welcomed in Epulu
Workshop with traditional chiefs of Mambasa
Okapi TATU healthy in Epulu zoo
Senior Warden (bottom) and his assistant strongly devoted.
Thanks,
Somba
Technorati : congo, epulu., wildlifedirect
Your help needed
Category: Community Work, Epulu, Mbuti Pygmies | Date: Nov 13 2007 | By: admin
Makubasi and Issa who worked for us for over ten years collecting leaves for the Okapis are retired today and have a big dream. I would like to help them to make that come true. Issa who is widower and Makubasi divorced have no longer the much needed support which woman in Africa’s society provide to their spouses and society. Although they are still living with their clan the life condition is very sad. This is the reason why I will help them to get their own house and to make sure they will never get wet again. When raining the roof has to be of good material such as corrugated iron. To buy all the building material and hire some people for construction I would need US$ 500.- You can read more about them here.
This are the traditional Mbutie houses
Makubasi with his grand children
This is Issa with his grand children. The house in the background is what I have in my mind. The roof would be irrogated iron and not Mangungu leaves which have to be replaced every couple of month.
Difficult to believe but this is where they sleep today. The only luxury they have at night is the mattresses I gave them a while ago. The last years of their lifes should be more comfortable they deserve it.
Rosie
Preparing the diet for Okapis
Category: Epulu, Mbuti Pygmies, Okapi | Date: Nov 10 2007 | By: admin
Between 9.30 am to 10.00 am the leaves are dropped off at the hangar shown in the picture. The next stage is to prepare 1536 bundles of leaves for the afternoon and the following morning to feed the Okapis.
Electrical wire is used to wrap around every bundle which allows to hang up the leaves on a feeder in the Okapi pen.
Not every animal gets the same number of bundles of leaves.
The leaves will be loaded to wheelbarrow. Every animal has his keeper including myself we are 13 in total. I take care of Karu born in captivity in Epulu 2003
Collecting Okapi leaves
Category: Epulu, Mbuti Pygmies, Okapi | Date: Nov 08 2007 | By: admin
Early in the morning in Makubasi’s camp the day has just started but Baya ‘Makubasi’s son and Apomau ‘Isa’s son are already preparing their machetes before heading out to the forest. They will have to walk around 45 minutes in order to reach the place where they cut the leaves for the todays ration which will be fed in the afternoon to the Okapis.
Baya preparing his machete in the camp at 5.30 am
Baya and Apomau after cutting some ‘Ndulu’ a plant from the Marataceae family. They will later peel this stem and the string will be used to wrap the leaves to bundles
Apomau is very skilled to peel the stem
Baya has already enough strings to wrap the leaves he will cut later
Sometimes they need to climb trees for cutting the leaves
Once the quantity of leaves is cut they start to wrap the bundles
Apomau back from the forest heading to the station.
In less then 3 hours the leaves are collected
Baya is one of 48 Mbuties (Pygmies) who are employed to cut leaves every day for 14 Okapis. This is the place where the rations are prepared for the afternnon and the next morning feeding.
It is amazing how well this people know the forest and are able to find the amount of leaves every day which are needed to feed the Okapis. Seven days a week they are doing this job no matter if is rains or not.
Rosie
Dancing and Pygmies
Category: Mbuti Pygmies | Date: Sep 01 2007 | By: admin
Pygmies, in their tradition have the main task of dancing and hunting. It’s a kind of gymnastic in their life. Eat or not, they are able to spent time to satisfy themselves. I am from the Northern region of the Okapi Reserve where I assisted to a traditional dance, and I had some questions to Mr Peter of Mamgbau village, and explained me about pygmies of his area who are called EFE in Lese language. “In their culture, pygmies or Efe have to hide young daughters for almost 6 months once they attend the age of menstruation. In this period, the old mums are busy teaching them how to live in group, to maintain discipline towards the husband, kids, and behaving to others.”
The former President of Zaire today DR Congo the late MOBUTU SESE SEKO said, “Fortunate people who sing and dance.” I can imagine the ambiance during the traditional dance, and they are alway prepared accordingly. Bantus as spectators seize opportunity to sell traditional beer, organize small restaurant near the playing place and……
Through this blog I wanted to show readers how pygmies are also organized in their society. He takes time to edify their kids about the normal life.
Somba
Technorati : Congo, DRC, Mbuti, Okapi, Pygmy, WildlifeDirect
A Strong Brotherhood
Category: Epulu, Mbuti Pygmies | Date: Jun 06 2007 | By: admin
Makubasi and Issa the two pygmie man are more than 70 years old. They are always found and have been leaving together from their childhood. Their fathers George and Faisi were twins.
They used to live in the Bandindikwe area 5km east of Epulu village, next to their Mubila tribe master, called Ngoma. However, a conflict rose between the pygmies and the Babila due to incensuous ritual dance. The pygmies felt diminished and reacted in arrow battle.
Ngoma brought the pygmy clan to Mr. Putnam for sale. Putnam was living in Epulu his house was named ‘Palais’ (palace). He strongly condemned Ngoma for his criminal proposal and warned him that human being can not be sold. Putnma requested George and Faisi to move next to his property for safety.
At that time no bridge was set crossing over the Epulu River. People had to use embarkation.
After the death of their fathers, Makubasi and Issa stayed at Putnam’s property. In 1967 they moved to the Okapi capture station and set up their camp behind the Okapi enclosures and from their they changed again their location back to the forest close to Lelo River area.
Except for the time Makubasi worked in Garamba National Park for one year, feeding monkeys, warthogs and porcupines, he lived with his brother Issa in full harmony.
‘This requires good temper, culture of advising and understanding each other together with forgiveness’. Issa said that they learned it from their grandfahters and fathers. ‘Our grandfathers warned us about conflicts and wars’. They experienced arrow battles and predicted we would see firearm war. And they were very right as we realize it now ’said Makubasi.
George was Makubasi’s father and Faisi Issa’s. In the same coindience of George being elder to Faisi, Makubasi is elder to Issa. Issa keeps revealing this with a lot of respect. It bears the impression that speaking of two pygmy chiefs undermining two clans is not correct.
Analyzing the future harmony of the clan, Issa says their descendants quarrel very often, especially when alcohol is involved. Makubasi and Issa have the heavy task of resolving the conflicts among they young clan members.
How the group shall evolve in terms of mutual respect unity and land use will have responses in the future.
CROP DEVASTATION
Category: Community Work, Mbuti Pygmies | Date: Apr 30 2007 | By: admin
The Okapi Wildlife Reserve, a habitat protected area in DRCongo was only created by a Ministerial law on 2nd of May, 1992. It is almost 15 years old. Pygmies who are the first occupants of the Congo live inside the Reserve in interaction with fauna and flora.
An old pygmy woman
We conserve Nature including people, because the Government of Kinshasa decided not to evacuate men from the Reserve, especially Pygmies who depend 100% on the forest. Pygmies are healthy only inside the forest where they have the chance to hunt, pick fruit, mushroom, termite,…. The activity of hunting for them is a kind of gymnastic or relaxation. Could you imagine that an old man of 50 years old can accept easily participating for hunting?? Really it’s happening….
According to their tradition, hut building and the collection of food from the forest is a woman’s task. A woman is there to feed her husband, and it is serious.
Mr. Somba admiring a pygmy Woman building her hut.
The management of the Reserve started to zone the reserve in specific zones such as integrated zones, agricultural zones and hunting zones. At this time some agricultural, and hunting zones are limited. This is a long process which takes time and the community as a stakeholder plays a key role during the limitation. In fact, the main importance of zoning the Reserve into agricultural zones is to see how to stabilize farmers in groups, in case of crop devastation,
Rangers can intervene when there are problems with wild animals. We discourage farmers who do not like to cultivate in groups, because then they cannot benefit from our intervention.
Could you imagine the 13,700 square kilometers is controlled by only 83 Rangers?? Is it easy??? And we are not sufficiently equipped by the Government, and sometimes animals are hounded by poachers from a region and so they slowly move into a secured zone, maybe along the main road.
This is the result of crop devastation in the OWR region. Really farmers are suffering. Below, the recent dung of an elephant that devastated crops of Mr. Madodoyi
Recent dung of elephant in crops.
Favorite crop of the natives are banana, rice, beans,casava, ……
Banana crop
Devastation of banana plantation by elephants.
In case of devastation, we always tell farmers to report to the Management of the Reserve for organizing a patrol, and Rangers once on patrol have the opportunity to communicate with the Warden by satellite phone calls “Thuraya “. This kind of communication equipment allows the Anti Poaching Unit (APU) to be in permanent contact with Rangers in any corner of the area to intervene for instance for crop devastation,……or to readjust their routing.
Mr. Somba in patrol instructing a second rangers team
The lesson learned in the Reserve is that people have not enough money to survive (3 $ are used for feeding a family of 5 people/ day ), also the ICCN as a parastatal company is very limited in terms of job opportunity. We encourage villagers to work close to the road where our intervention can be consistent.
Somba
Technorati : congo, epulu, okapi, wildlifedirect
Generations of Mbuties
Category: Mbuti Pygmies | Date: Apr 30 2007 | By: admin
First and second gereration of Mbuties
Ever since GIC started the project 1987 in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve the Mbuties became a part of our work crew.
There knowledge of the forest and what kind of leaves the Okapi eats in the wild is impressive.The number of Mbuties we offered a job at first consisted 15 people belonging to the same clan. Today we employ 49 Mbuties from 11 different clans.
MAKUBASI AND ISA
Those two, Makubasi on the right and Isa on the left side, are the ones who worked with us many years until their children reached the age to take over from them.
Neither Makubasi nor Isa know how old they are but judging to the storys they tell they must be more than 65 years old. Today they are retired but remain still very active. The food ration and medical care is the kind of pension they receive from the project. Unfortunately Isa lost his wife last year and Makubasi’s wife left him a few years ago. This phenomenon we call divorce is very unusual in their culture. Lucky the family ties are very deep and the two old men (muzee) are very well taken care off. They still remain as chief of the clan and the young people still respect them.
ISA, APUMAO AND BROTHER OF ISA KAKUMBA
Isa has only one son and like his father Apumao followed in his father’s footstep. Kakumba retired today also used to work for us during many years.
MAKUBASI, WANGONDA, MUSA, ALUFANI, BAYAA AND HIS GIRL
Makubasi with four of his nine children (five boys and four girls). Four of his son’s work with us today. Wangonda is not the tallest on the picture but the first born. Musa has been chosen by Makubasi to become the next chief of the BABWEME clan.
MAKUBASI A PROUD FATHER WITH HIS SONS AND GRAND CHILD
A longtime relationship connects the clan of Makubasi and Isa to the project. It is to hope they will stay for many more years with us.
Technorati : congo, epulu, okapi, wildlifedirect
Food Rations for the Mbuti Pygmies
Category: Community Work, Epulu, Mbuti Pygmies | Date: Apr 15 2007 | By: admin
A PART OF THE MBUTIE’S SALARY is distributed as food rations. The total of 10 kg of rice, 3 kg of beans, 3 bottles of palm oil, 1 bar of soap, 1 kg of salt and 4 tobacco leaves are divided up three times a month for every Mbuti.Those days are party days for the entire family which is present when the distribution takes place.
Preparation ration Rice, Beans, Soap and Salt
This Orange looking mass is palm oil
This is the local tobacco which the Mbuties love to smoke probably anti smoking campaigns wouldn’t be successfull.
The value of the ration for the Mbuties is almost equal to their salary.They definitely have a different relation to money than we do. Unfortunately many of them are illiterate and lost if it comes up counting money. Their employment contributes to local economic development, as many people benefit from their money when they purchase goods. It improves their livelihood, in terms of managing their money, in addition to the traditional hunting, gathering and swopping lifestyle. That’s why together with them we came up with the food solution and they appreciate this arrangement.
Woman and children are patiently waiting for their ration
She was not sure when I took her picture but was smiling when she saw herself on the screen
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