About Assejeba

Assejeba: Espoir Pour Les Jeunes Batwa (Hope for Batwa Youth) is the name of a group of indigenous leaders of the Batwa peoples living in Burundi, East Africa, founded in 2010 by Evariste Ndikumana. We work for the promotion of the rights of Batwa Indigenous (representing 2% of the population) in a number of areas: the right to our lands, to fair justice, to early childhood education, to the rights of citizenship including a National ID (National Identity Cards), to marriage, legal assistance, creation of income-generating activities (agriculture, livestock and trades), to protect ourselves from infectious disease, to engage in healthy activities and to the promotion of Batwa culture.

Changemaker Evariste Ndikumana and his team desire international and governmental recognition of both the indigenous identity of Batwa, and the room and right for them to be accepted in and contribute to society. We are proud to see Burundi become a more vibrant democracy as Batwa people receive legal recognition and can be represented and participate in political processes.

Who We Are

The Batwa alive now are the first generations of Batwa who are growing up without the knowledge and wisdom of the forest from our grandparents, a significant and dramatic cultural shift for an entire people group. After being dispelled from the forests, our ancestors settled on barren plots of land, establishing villages with elders and chiefs. We’ve maintained our skills as gifted artisans of pots made from earthen clay.

We are known for our exceptional pottery, and our dancing and singing: vibrant and spontaneous expressions of song and emotion. Our history is held collectively through oral tradition and storytelling, as many Batwa are unable to read and write. Our sense of time and being is also held communally, not individually.