Kainta is the first Mutwa to reach secondary school

Aug 19, 2009

YOU might never have heard of Wilson Kainta, but this little man was illiterate until the age of 14. The Batwa are a very short people found in western Uganda. They are highly marginalised by the communities around them. They used to live in the forests o

PROFILE

By Fredrick Womakuyu

YOU might never have heard of Wilson Kainta, but this little man was illiterate until the age of 14. The Batwa are a very short people found in western Uganda. They are highly marginalised by the communities around them. They used to live in the forests of Bwindi and Mgahinga.

They depend on hunting game meat and wild fruits in the forest.

“Before my family left the forest, this was the kind of life I was used to. We did not have a school. We had minimal contact with other tribes,” Kainta says.

So every morning, Kainta got out of his father’s grass thatch in Semliki National Park, collected his arrows and bows, donned his skin and walked over 60km to hunt game meat and gather wild fruits.

However, when the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), evicted them from the park, the Batwa were forced to live a strange life.

UWA, together with their partners, the European Union (EU) and Adventists Relief Agency, set up the first primary school in Kasitu sub-county in the western district of Bundibugyo, five years ago. And Kainta jumped at the opportunity to educate himself.

Although he did not perform well during his Primary Leaving Examinations, passing in division four, he was allowed to proceed to secondary school. Kainta even got a scholarship from the EU.

He is the first Mutwa from Bundibugyo district to get secondary education since Uganda gained independence in 1962, Kainta is now in Senior Two at King of Kings College in Kabarole district, western Uganda.

At the age of 21, Kainta has become a ‘legend’ and poster boy for activists promoting education of the marginalised groups in the world.

For Kainta, reaching high school was a major accomplishment. Not only has he successfully completed the first level of education, but also overcome a lifestyle that does not value education. When he was 13 years old, no Mutwa was going to school.

“The EU constructed semi-permanent houses for us. They were so hot and for the first one month, we did not sleep there. Instead we slept in huts,” he says.

His first days of school were difficult.

“When I went there, I could not understand anything. Ten of us from the Batwa tribe went to the school, but by the end of the first week, only two were left,” he recalls.

“We were not used to just sitting and listening to others. We feared we would sleep hungry because there was no food at home,” he says.

Kainta says the Government forgot that they did not have their own gardens to grow food.

“By the end of the school calendar, Kainta was the only Mutwa left at the school but he persisted despite all the challenges.

“When UWA expelled my people from the forest, I knew we had no other alternative. The chief administrative officer, Elias Byamungu, used to visit me every week. He would come with food and pocket money for my parents and I,” Kainta adds.

By then, he had learnt the value of staying at school. “The people who advised me were educated and had good jobs,” he says, adding that he wanted to be like them.

Kainta has big dreams. “I want my people to be better. I want to educate other Batwa.”

But he admits it may be hard. “My father died three years ago and I am the only child left to take care of my mother. I have no job and when she gets sick, we just use herbs to treat her,” he says.

Kainta adds that lack of pocket money is also hampering his education. “Although the EU pays my fees, I have no pocket money.”

When Education Vision visited him, Kainta had briefly left school to take care of his sick mother. But when he wanted to report back to school, it was hard to find transport, partly because he recently married. Also all the 93 Batwa in Kasitu look up to him for everything.

“I have to take care of my wife as well as the rest of the Batwa. None of them works or owns a garden, so when I get some money, I buy food for them,” he says.

Asked why he married before completing his education, Kainta says: “Many Batwa are dying of HIV/AIDS. I married this girl so that I remain faithful to only her and she also does the same. She is a good woman and I trust her.”

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