SAVE THE PYGMIES: Central Africa, home of the Pygmies, Rainforest Destruction, the famous Mountain Gorillas, and continuing ethnic strife. While accompanying the Pygmies on a hunt in the tropical rain forests of central Africa, Dr. Peter Panagotacos found a surprising culture dating back to the dawn of humanity. It all began in 1970 while he was in his Dermatology residency. He discovered that one of his professors had been going to Africa to donate his medical skills to poor people in need of medical care. He went to Africa himself in 1971 for 3 weeks. Two Efé Pygmy boys on a tree-top monkey hunt. The following year, when he finished his residency, Dr. Panagotacos spent four months touring Africa on his own. He eventually traveled to Africa a total of five times. In 1972 he journeyed to see the famous mountain gorillas in the Virunga rain forest on the border of Rwanda and Zaire. To the South, local people said that a "crazy American woman" (Dian Fossey) was working to save the mountain gorillas and discouraged visits to the area. To the North, Jean-Pierre Hallet was filming a documentary about the Pygmies and their plight. And fierce fighting in the area between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups in Rwanda made it impossible for him to hire a guide, so Dr. Panagotacos went north to the isolated Ituri rain forest in neighboring Zaire. After a trek into the dense jungle he came upon a Beni Pygmy camp. He befriended these gentle people half his size, he was invited to hunt with them in the rain forest. Dr. Panagotacos spent a week with the Beni Pygmies, and learned from them more than he anticipated. Elderly Pygmy man The Pygmies are the original inhabitants of the tropical rain forests in central Africa. The Efé Pygmies of the Ituri Forest are the last remaining pure-blooded group of Pygmies, making them the oldest living pure ethnic group in the world. They have maintained their way of life for tens of thousands of years because of their isolation from civilization, combined with a way of life in total harmony with each other and with their natural surroundings. Dr. Panagotacos found the Pygmies to be friendly and generous people who enjoy the simple pleasures of life itself. They have few material needs, and what needs they have are satisfied by hunting and gathering in their surrounding rain forest home. They do not accumulate many material possessions. The Pygmies take care to teach their children to contribute to the group, and the children in turn help by gathering and hunting at an early age. In their rain forest home, there is no crime among the Pygmies. The Pygmies have great respect for their natural environment, and take great care to not waste food or foul water. And they make music a part of their life nearly all the time. Today the Pygmies are threatened with extinction, and Dr. Panagotacos is working with the Pygmy Fund to help them survive. In 1900 there were approximately 70,000 Pygmies. By 1930 their population had dropped to 35,000. Today the Pygmies number only about 4,000, with less than 2,000 living in the rain forest as their people have for tens of thousands of years. Pygmy girls on a firewood safari. The Pygmies survival is threatened by the impact of civilization on their forest home and on their culture. 99% of the tall trees in their rain forest have been cut down for lumber, and the land has been cleared for cotton and coffee plantations. Loss of their ancient way of life has forced many Pygmies to work in the fields to survive, where they lose their cultural identity and personal dignity. Civilization has brought them sugar and cigarettes. Thousands of Pygmies have sickened and died from contagious diseases brought by outsiders. There is no local help for the pygmies because, despite making up less than 1% of local population, they are hated by the tall people, who consider them primitive. Both the agricultural Hutus and the more urban Tutsis actively discriminate against the Pygmies. In Rwanda's 1994 civil war, about 75% of all Rwandan Pygmies were simply murdered. Tall refugees from Rwanda traveled to Zaire and then proceeded to displace Zairian Pygmies, and steal their food. Large international aid organizations have not been much help to the Pygmies because they are overwhelmed with the enormous problems facing tall people in the area. The Pygmies are overlooked. The small amount of aid provided in refugee camps is often stolen from the weak by the strong. The Pygmy Fund is a non profit fund helping the Efé Pygmies specifically. Formed in 1974, the Pygmy Fund is helping the Efé Pygmies by purchasing land, tools, medical supplies, and introducing high yield crops, so that the Pygmies can help themselves. Dr. Panagotacos first met the founder of the Pygmy Fund, Mr. Jean Pierre-Hallet, in 1975. Efé Pygmy child. Jean-Pierre Hallet, of Belgian ancestry, was raised among the Pygmies. He is a world renown author, explorer, filmmaker, anthropologist, naturalist, and humanitarian. He authored 3 kitabu (bibles): "Congo Kitabu", Animal Kitabu", and "Pygmy Kitabu". In 1987, Jean-Pierre Hallet won the US Presidential End Hunger Award, and by 1994 the fund had reached 46% of their goal of 500 acres of good farming land. In 1994 Dr. Panagotacos began working with Mr. Hallet to increase public awareness of the Pygmy's situation, and to help raise much needed funds to maintain the progress that the Pygmy Fund has achieved. Mr. Hallet passed away on January 1, 2004. His sons are working hard to insure that their father's legacy lives on through the organization he created. Donations to the Pygmy Fund can be sent to: The Pygmy Fund PO Box 277 Malibu, CA 90265 USA.