Absolumon my friend!
I spent time in South West Uganda/Rwanda/Democratic Republic of Congo. Basically we (wifey and I) were working with a local aid agency with VSO. We were helping the Pygmies (locally known as the Batwa) adjust to life outside of the forest... hang on rewind a bit...
In 1990 the tropical rain forest along the Western borders of Uganda were turned into National Parks as a method of protecting the Gorilla's which abode there. In doing so they evicted all the natives and sent them packing. Most of the natives were Batwa, hunter gatherers who's life style hasn't really been corrupted by "Western" influences. These pygmies had lived peacefully in the jungles alongside the gorilla's and had established one of those harmonic relationships with them - taking only whats required to survive, and having a well developed sense of nature's balance (one of them even called it Gia - James Lovelocks influences stretch further than we ever thought!!!).
I digress, the Batwa, having been evicted were left no choice to squat on the hills and untenable land on the margins of the forests. The steep sided slopes are both infertile and, because of the angle, prone to washout - making them almost useless for crops. On top of this the Batwa received little (and in most cases no) compensation for being "relocated", and became Internally Displaced People.
IDPs have a hard life - basically refugees, but because they're not international migrants, and their story isn't as gut wrenching as others in Uganda, they got little aid (by most people discovered their plight Rwanda had kicked off, so keeping them out of the limelight). Instead the Batwa were shunned by the local communities as uneducated, primative barbarians. They had little or no skills for agriculture and ended up poaching and steeling for the survival of their communities.
They were in essence banished from the forests, and their normal routines of using the forests natural resources for shelter, food and fire lost. As a result many were arrested and imprisoned for poaching (for food), desecration of the forest (for shelter and resources), thus broadening the gap between them and the local population which they had been forced to integrate into.
In short, life was hard! And, whenever life becomes hard, people can turn to drink!
So, in 2000 me and the girlfriend (we only recently married), set out to help these poor souls! We (unfortunately) got setup with a Christian NGO (neither of us regard religion as a method of developing a nation - particularly when your almost forcing the beliefs upon a population with their own culture, ethics and codes!) - but, it was the only way we could get out there and get employed! So, whilst the God-squad preached, we continued to respect their own beliefs, and actively encouraged them to continue practising their own traditions.
I accompanied the Batwa several times on hunting trips and generally had a wail of a time learning about their skills, values and culture! I learnt the most from this tiny white haired chap who was about 90, and was one of the villages elders. He was perhaps the most understanding of the changes required of his people just to fit in, but, at the same time, he insisted on taking his bow and arrow with him!
In exchange for learning from them we taught them to use their historic skills to make money - bee keeping was a favourite!! On top of this, we showed them how to construct pit latrines, construct better shelters, farm more profitably and take care of themselves without too much expenditure!
In some cases they took to it like ducks to water - in others they were reluctant, distrustful (given the NGO we were working with this was understandable - their reputation cast a shadow on our work!) - but like good little aid workers we felt we'd done our bit!!!
Earlier I mentioned Rwanda and DRC - basically the Batwa and jungle area they use borders all 3 countries, so we often found ourselves crossing international borders without passports, or security, or any of the things which make it legal. Bricking ourselves is a good description of this - particularly given the amount of illegal diamond traffic in the region at the time (which still continues to this day!).
Anyways, to cut a much longer (you wouldn't believe i could go on) shorter, we are now married, living with her folks and enjoying life - well except for boring jobs! AND are planning to return to that amazing continent in the next few years to continue our work - and hopefully learn some new skills!!!
