History of the Woodcarvers Association

Augustine Muhangi (Rasta, Founder)

• Augustine Muhangi Rasta was born in 1982 on the edge of Bwindi Forest. As a young boy, he harvested resources like firewood, bush meat, fruits, and wild honey while grazing his father’s cows regularly. He would often move from Uphill (Musharara) to River Munyaga, which crosses the forest, for water. His father had a farm adjacent to the forest. After drinking, the cows would take rest in their farm. This gave Augustine opportunities to enter the forest with other children, which sometimes led to misuse of the forest.
• When the forest was officially turned into a National Park in 1991, strict rules were introduced on entry and use of resources by traditional users — the locals and Batwa who lived in the forest as their ancestral homeland. Traditionally, they survived by extracting resources such as wild meat, honey, fruits, medicinal herbs, timber, and minerals, in addition to farming. Their eviction made traditional users to become conservation refugees on land they had lived on for many centuries with their ancestors.
• As a child, Augustine used to play with clay on the banks of River Munyaga while grazing cows. Many people admired what he made out of clay. He later surprised many by moulding a gorilla out of clay on the streets of Bwindi. By 1993, tourists had started coming, and they would comment on his work and take photos.
• During that time, a man from DRC named Friday, who sold antiques, met Augustine and inspired him to visit DRC where they made art out of wood. He was able to go with Friday to DRC because of his passion for art. There, Augustine met different artists who made art from wood and started teaching him. He spent good time there and learnt how to carve  different animals including gorillas.
•  Therefore, Augustine became a pioneer of art in Bwindi. He started teaching other members, including Kasule Michael, Tushabe Stanely, and Byamukama Everest, who was the youngest at that time. They worked together for some time. By then, tourism was booming in Bwindi, though they later had misunderstandings and the group had to split.
• Augustine was consistent in carving, painting, and drawing. A group of the younger generation, including Onesmus Rutaro, joined him in 2003. At the age of 4, Onesmus would visit the workshop regularly, helping Augustine by cleaning, painting, and sanding his works.
• Augustine started teaching Onesmus and other children how to draw postcards, which they sold to tourists. Later, the dancing group was also initiated to entertain tourists who came for gorilla tracking. The group was called Bwindi Actors.
• As Onesmus and other friends learned from Augustine, Onesmus became the best student at carving gorillas.

 

Onesmus Rutaro’s Journey

• As he was completing his formal education, Onesmus was unable to continue due to lack of school fees. He had to concentrate on art, as the family had other young children to send to school through to A-Level.
• Onesmus focused more on carving; he was still energetic and hardworking. He also started brick laying and collecting stones to fulfill his dream of building his own house and starting his own family. Through art sales, he earned money to construct his house.
• Onesmus was motivated and started teaching young children how to draw postcards. As time went on, many children developed an interest in joining him. He later thought of starting an association, which became the Bwindi Local Wood Carvers Association.
• Onesmus met Dr. Koen Van Rompay (founder of the USA-based nonprofit Sahaya International) on Facebook. Koen was interested in the conservation work Onesmus was doing. Koen gave funds which were used to register the association. He also provided funds for building a small Craft Shop, a small workshop, and some carving and power tools that we use today.