The Dispossessed

The Bwindi Impenetrable Forest of Uganda lives up to its formidable name in more ways than one. Not only is it an arduous undertaking for visitors to navigate its dense undergrowth in pursuit of the celebrated mountain gorillas that inhabit the region, (9) .......... the forest's former human residents — the Batwa pygmy people — are no longer permitted to enter it at all. Strictly (10) .......... , the dense canopy does not physically obstruct tourists from venturing in to observe the great apes; it merely impedes them considerably as they push through. Yet (11) .......... in mind that they are at least granted access to this remarkable place. No such privilege is extended to its original inhabitants, the Batwa — a people who called this forest home for millennia. The Batwa were expelled from their ancestral lands in 1992 when the Ugandan government designated the area an exclusive gorilla sanctuary. The decision was undoubtedly beneficial for the apes; one cannot (12) .......... wonder, however, whether it was equitable for the Batwa. They drew what can only be described as the (13) .......... straw: they received negligible compensation, partly (14) .......... their traditionally nomadic existence, which precluded formal land ownership. Since their expulsion, the Batwa have been locked in a relentless struggle for survival. They cannot (15) .......... of prosperity or comfort — they ask only for (16) .......... which every human being is entitled: a life of basic dignity.