HENOC MUHINDO

Henoc is pressing for full economic citizenship rights for African Pygmy communities. He secured their rights to citizenship and education by organizing a movement that led the government of the DRC to grant citizenship to Pygmies living within its borders. This was the result of Henoc’s eleven years of work to uplift both the Pygmy and non-Pygmy poverty-stricken tribes that had no prior contact with the formal education system by creating a network of schools that Pygmies and disadvantaged children and adults from Mbuba, Lesse, Piri, les Wagenya, Watalinga, Kumu and Bantou tribes could attend.

Henoc is systematically working to shift the social perception of African Pygmy communities by advocating for access to their citizenship rights and creating opportunities for them to showcase their skills and abilities. The network of schools that Henoc created for children and adult Pygmies, as well as children and adults of disadvantaged tribes, was formally recognized by the government of the DRC in 2023 and became the focus of a newly created Ministry of Adult Education. Currently, 27% of Pygmies have acquired literacy skills and are able to read and write. Henoc has launched specialized literacy programs and is actively engaging the Pygmy community to increase their literacy rate to achieve a target of 75-80%.

Before the 2022 law formally granting citizenship to the Pygmy, Henoc brokered with the government a pathway that allowed both Pygmy and non-Pygmy children attending his schools to have the option to transition from that system to enrolling in elementary and secondary schools and later attend university. As a result, even though the law was only enacted in 2022, there are now Pygmy graduates from universities in the DRC who are taking up roles as teachers and administrators in the mainstream public school system and being recruited as members of university faculties. The Pygmies are the ones going to the government to advocate for their rights after obtaining education.

To date, approximately 10,220 Pygmies have obtained primary school certificates and more than 500,000 individuals, including Pygmies and others from the non-Pygmy communities, children and adults, have participated in the schools that Henoc has created. Henoc setting up schools in the middle of the community where indigenous people and Pygmies live bridged the divide between the two. Henoc is expanding his educational efforts to neighboring countries such as Rwanda, Cameroon, Benin, the Central African Republic, and Uganda, where Pygmy tribes live and are effectively, if not formally, denied access to education.

Beyond education, Henoc and his organization PPSDR (Programs for Health Promotion and Development in Rural Areas) have supported Pygmies in transitioning from a nomadic to a sedentary lifestyle and promoting sustainable agricultural practices. Following the displacement from their forest homes that have become national parks, forcing them to become nomadic, PPSDR has supported them in acquiring 30 community lands, providing settlements and agricultural areas for over 125,000 Pygmy families that are now stable with an address. In this process, 800,000 individuals, divided approximately evenly between Pygmies and other disadvantaged groups, have received training in agri-food processing, equipping them with bread-making and maize flour production skills.

African Pygmy communities are a group of ethnicities native to central Africa. According to 2022 estimates, the population of pygmies in Africa is around 2,500,000, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) alone accounting for approximately 800,000 to 900,000. The high figure in the DRC is due to the equatorial forest's presence in the country.

Since 1925, the Belgian colonial administration took possession of increasing portions of the forested lands where Pygmy tribes had lived for centuries to create a system of large public parks. Pygmy history has been characterized by displacement and migration to the far forested edges of that expanding park system. At no point in this process did government authorities offer any consideration to the effect of this expansion on the Pygmy population.

The failure of the DRC government to recognize Pygmies as citizens after the country's independence in 1960 left the Pygmies as the only tribe without any fundamental rights. Access to healthcare, education, and justice had been formally denied to the Pygmy until Henoc took up his work.

The African Pygmy population has endured a troubling fate, having been forcibly evicted from their forest homes, rendering them a nomadic people without access to land. Consequently, they are often viewed as a low-class tribe, marginalized and denied basic educational opportunities. Across the African continent, the plight of the pygmies is characterized by a lack of stability, resources, and societal recognition, perpetuating a cycle of poverty and exclusion.

The lack of access to education has long plagued the pygmy population in the DRC, with 99% of them previously being denied this fundamental right. However, through the efforts of the PPSDR program, there has been a notable improvement, with 27% of Pygmies now having access to education and being able to read and write. While this progress is encouraging, a significant gap must be addressed to ensure equitable educational opportunities for the entire Pygmy community across the DRC. Before interventions, Pygmies in the DRC were living on less than $0.5 per day, forced to resort to begging and hard labor to survive. However, through the Agriculture and Education projects of PPSDR and Henoc, the minimum daily income of Pygmies has now increased to 2 USD, a significant improvement in their standard of living.

Henoc's school model of education, based on experimental learning, differs from the traditional school model in several ways. Instead of a rigid and hierarchical approach, Henoc's model emphasizes learner autonomy and active participation, allowing students to shape their learning experiences. This model also incorporates the cultural context and specific needs of both Pygmy and non-Pygmy students, fostering a more inclusive and diverse learning environment. Henoc has learned that mixing Pygmy and non-Pygmy students in the classroom promotes mutual understanding, cultural exchange, and breaks down stereotypes. He has witnessed inspiring stories of collaboration, respect, and shared learning among students, leading to a richer educational experience for all. Registered with the Ministry of Education, it has created opportunities for Pygmies and other disadvantaged communities to access education beyond the traditional school age. His schools promote integration by mixing Pygmy and non-Pygmy pupils from disadvantaged tribes and offering a customized curriculum that addresses the specific needs of each community.

Henoc also creates opportunities for young Pygmies to travel and share their experiences with other communities. For example, he established a gospel music choir for Pygmies that gives concerts in cities such as Goma, Bukavu, Beni, and Butembo in the DRC and neighboring countries.

Henoc's work has produced prominent Pygmy professionals, including lawyers, medical doctors, agronomists, teachers working for the Education Ministry, and elected village chiefs. His organization is now preparing candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections. For example, Titiya Bahidika, a Pygmy lawyer in the DRC, Mbeni Samunane, a physics teacher, Dunia, a French language lecturer, and Rev. Baleke, a theologian and Pygmy church Reverend.

Henoc's agricultural projects aim to improve the livelihoods of marginalized communities, specifically Pygmy families, by providing land for cultivation through partnerships with local authorities and organizations. Funding for land acquisition is secured through fundraising efforts and collaborations. These projects promote integration by encouraging collaboration and knowledge-sharing between Pygmy and non-Pygmy communities, and training programs are implemented to equip families with agricultural skills and sustainable farming techniques. This initiative significantly enhances food security, generates income, and empowers families with self-sufficiency and economic independence. Henoc also leases and purchases fields, provides technical assistance, and partners with organizations like FAO DRC, PROLASA CANADA, and Maison Artemisia France to support seed breeding and other community projects.

Henoc's system change initiative has identified the necessity for a dedicated ministry to address the needs of Pygmies and other indigenous and ethnic groups, aiming to benefit these communities. This model can be replicated in other regions where similar situations are prevalent among indigenous communities. Henoc's strong network and reports, submitted to the Ministry of Social Affairs, Division of National Solidarity and Social Reintegration, Ministry of Justice, and Education Ministry, successfully advocated for the establishment of a specialized ministry focused on art, adult education, and vocational training. This approval signifies the recognition of the importance and urgency of such a ministry in addressing the unique education challenges faced by these communities.

Henoc continues to advocate to the Congolese Government for the full implementation of Law No. 22/030 of July 15, 2022, on the protection and promotion of the rights of indigenous Pygmy peoples. This includes supporting the project of disseminating this law in favor of the indigenous Pygmies throughout the country, guaranteeing land compensation for the Pygmies to allow them to have appropriate spaces to fully live their culture and tradition, build their homes, and practice agriculture for their full development; and a separate ministry will be created specifically to address the concerns of Indigenous peoples in the Congo, ensuring their needs are effectively met while preserving their minority identity. This ministry will operate independently from the previously mentioned education ministry.

His initiatives aim to improve the lives of Pygmy communities in these regions through various projects and interventions. This geographical focus highlights the breadth of his efforts and the targeted impact across multiple states in the DRC, showcasing his dedication to supporting Pygmies in these areas. Henoc plans to scale his work beyond the DRC by expanding his model to Uganda, Central African Republic, Rwanda, and Burundi in the coming years. This expansion will allow him to extend his impact and support Pygmy communities in these neighboring countries.

Henoc was born in Kalevya, a village located in the Ruwenzori community in the territory of Beni. He grew up in a family of farmers with a 5-hectare field next to a Pygmy site in the Bahatsa forest. Henoc is a Bantu of the Wa Nande tribe, Ba Hira clan. He has two sisters and four brothers.

From a young age, Henoc developed a strong attachment to the Pygmy people. When he noticed that many of them lacked clothing, he began collecting used clothing from his family to give to the Pygmies when he was around 13 years old. They then nicknamed him "Moses", which means "our savior", encouraging him to expand his clothing collection to his extended family. At school, from ages 14 to 19, Henoc mobilized his classmates also to collect clothes for the Pygmies during vacations.

Henoc obtained his state diploma in general pedagogy and later obtained a bachelor's degree in public health in 2010. He was recruited as a teacher at the Laïque University of Idjwi in 2010. During a field activity with his students, Henoc discovered that the island of Idjwi also housed Pygmies facing the same problems as those of his childhood. He then decided to leave the university teaching to devote himself to the Pygmies. In 2011, he created his organization, the PPSDR (Programs for Health Promotion and Development in Rural Areas), whose first branch was established in Idjwi, before being gradually duplicated in other areas inhabited by Pygmies in the DRC.