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tions often start small-and in thís
case among the smallest of peo–
ple.
Before the Winged Bean
In the l930s there were about
35,000 healthy, delightfully happy
and expressive Efé Pygmy
peoples.
By the mid-l950s, the pure–
blooded Pygmy population was rap–
idly declining througb .destruction
of their forest home. By 1960, the
Efé Pygmy population had fallen to
around 15,000 persons. Greedy log–
gers and encroaching neighboríng
tribes were depriving the Pygmies
of tbeir traditional nomadic pat–
terns of supporting t heir lives.
Many Pygmies were succumbing to
díseases from the processed food,
unbalanced diets, candies and ciga–
rettes offered by tourists.
Appalled at t he tragic decline of
these peaceful peoples, a bush soci–
ologist and agronomist, Jean-Pierre
Hallet , already known by many of
our readers, realized that unless
immediate action was taken, the
Pygmies were menaced by extinc–
tion. ff he were truly to help he had
to thoroughly understand their tra–
ditions, values and feelings.
Mr. Hallet left civilization and
lived with unspoiled Pygmies in the
heart of the Ituri forest for a year
and a half, learning to respect the
Pygmy culture with its values and
wisdom- values that led the Pyg–
mies to adopt remarkably peaceful
giving and sharing ways.
Yet Mr. Hallet knew t heir
unique life-style would not be the
same again. The new ways being
forced on many would quickly not
only doom the race but destroy
their precious cultural identity.
The only realistic way to save these
peoples was through a feasible self–
help program based on the progres–
sive introduction of agricul ture and
better sanitation to compensate for
their vanishing forest home.
How Pygmy Fund Began
What the Pygmies most needed
were not alms-givers but teach–
ers - practical, u nsenti men tal
teachers to guide them. They
needed to develop their own econo–
my shaped to t heir psychological
and physiological requirements.
They needed recognition of their
26
usefulness and dignity as human
beings.
Start ing in 1957, within one
year's time Mr. Hallet establ ished
18 successful
paysannats,
or agri–
cultura! villages, for the Pygmies.
Land was cleared; specially chosen
crops were planted and grown.
The rapid success of these first
agricultura] villages won acclaim
from officials who visited them.
Then in 1960 political indepen–
dence carne to the Belgian Congo.
Chaos ensued.
Mr. Hallet did not give up. He
gave lectures abroad about rescuing
the Pygmies. But despite bis effor ts
and personal help, by the end of
1974, the Efé population had plum-
meted to less than 4,000. These
surviving few were about 10 per–
cent of the 1935 population and
perhaps only 1 percent of their
number in 1825.
To generate the imperatively
needed financia! help Mr. Hallet
established the Pygmy Fund.
Aided by this new support, Hallet
was able by 1975 to again organize
simple, locally geared agriculture
among the Efé Pygmies.
They were taught to cultivate
banana trees and manioc (cassava),
peanuts, sweet potatoes and rice.
The Fund provided resources for
tbe purchase of simple tools tbat
the smaller-statured Pygmies could
handle. They learned about select-
The
PLAIN TRUTH