Heather Houser, Rhodes College
“Permission to Change: The Role of Culture and Cultural Tourism in Development”
Bio: Heather was born in Zimbabwe and grew up in Botswana and Namibia. The child of US citizens, her family moved to the States in 1999 and now resides in West Texas. Heather is a senior Economics and International Studies major at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. She spent the fall semester of her junior year on an SIT Development Studies program, where she conducted an internship and research with the United Organization for Batwa Development in Uganda. This last summer she interned at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, helping to plan the Senior Executive Seminar. Heather hopes to work or study abroad in the development field following graduation.
Abstract: The Batwa are an indigenous people group living throughout areas of central equatorial Africa. In Uganda, they constitute a small minority and live in parts of the West and Southwest. This study was conducted among the Batwa of Kisoro District, where they have been excluded from their ancestral homelands in the name of conservation. This action forced the Batwa into a position of squatting and begging to make a living. Today, one form of income-generation advocated by organizations working with the Batwa is cultural tourism. This study sought to explore the concept of cultural tourism and its implications for development. To this end, it examined the ideas of culture and development for the Batwa and the importance of the forests to their livelihood. It broadly studied the similarities between indigenous peoples worldwide and the role of culture in their development. This paper also explores the inherent link between land rights for indigenous peoples and their right to practice their culture and choose their own path of development. The content of the paper is centered on the concepts of culture and ethics, and the role they play in development. As a result, many of the findings from interviews and field research are presented in a discussion format, and final conclusions are left to the audience. It is also hoped that this close examination of the quality of life of a country’s minority population—in this case an indigenous minority—will offer insight into the true state of Uganda’s development.
