Opportunities & Social Justice for Africa’s Indigenous Batwa People
www.redemptionsongfoundation.org
MEDIA
MAGAZINE ARTICLES
Amid Discrimination and Ejection, the Batwa Community Pays Homage to the Rainforest Through Sustainability and Conservation Efforts. By Amir A. Sadiq. The Habibat Project, Global Indigenous column. Dec 31, 2024.
Meet Wendee Nicole: Q&A with Redemption Song Foundation founder about the overcoming challenges and future dreams. San Diego Voyager. Jul 29, 2024.
Long road from Uganda to Stanford: Joyce Orishaba’s remarkable journey. By Deusdedit Ruhangariyo. Indian Country Today, Global Indigenous column. Aug 21, 2024.
Poway to Palomar Student’s Powerful Story Wins NYT Contest. RSF Director's daughter and Batwa Tribe member Joyce Orishaba tells her story. Palomar News, Palomar College. Feb 3, 2023.
Rancho Bernardo teen from Uganda wins NY Times personal narrative contest. By Perla Shaheen. ABC News San Diego. Dec 27, 2022.
100 Words From a San Diego Teen for Her Ugandan Tribe. A Rancho Bernardo teen's short essay landed her in the New York Times. By Joe Little. NBC News San Diego. Dec 9, 2022.
How gorillas stole a Ugandan forest from humans, bloomed it as it bloomed them. By Fredrick Mugira. New Vision Uganda. Dec 18, 2020.
Indigenous Power: Are Indigenous People the Best Guardians of Rainforests? By Fredrick Mugira. Rainforest Journalism Fund in partnership with the Pulitzer Center. Oct 6, 2022.
Finding Paradise: Environmental-Art Exhibit Makes Difference with “Edge of Eden” by Emily Slater. The Howler, Lonestar College Newspaper. Feb 6, 2017.
An Interview with Wendee Nicole, Founder & Director of the Redemption Song Foundation. By Georgia Woodroffe. Voices for Biodiversity. Jun 16, 2016.
Forest life: When Wendee Nicole travelled to Uganda as an environmental journalist, she had no idea that what she saw there would lead her to sell her home and immerse herself in social and conservation efforts. By Tamsin Walker. DeutcheWelle. May 10, 2015.
Handmade baskets help Ugandan villagers displaced from home. To help make the villagers more self-sufficient, [Wendee] buys colorful, woven baskets and resells them in the U.S. By Larisa Epatko. PBS NewsHour. Sep 8, 2016.
Is the Human Cost of Saving Gorillas Too High? Forest dwellers known as Pygmies were evicted when their homes became national parks a generation ago. Now they're fighting back. By Wendee Nicole. TakePart. Nov 25, 2014.
Seeing the Forest for the Trees: How “One Health” Connects Humans, Animals, and Ecosystems. By Wendee Nicole. Environmental Health Perspectives. May 1, 2014.
Reporter’s Journal: The forests of Uganda. "In late January, I traveled to Uganda as part of the first Mongabay Special Reporting Initiative to report on the next big thing in tropical forest biodiversity conservation." By Wendee Nicole. Mongabay. Mar 26, 2014.
Tipping the scale: how a political economist could save the world’s forests —and its peoples. By Wendee Nicole. Mongabay. May 29, 2014.
PODCASTS & VIDEOS
The Batwa of Uganda. A short film co-produced by Wendee Nicole & Joel Kwizera, and shot by Joel about Redemption Song Foundation's work with the Batwa.
Hilary Sloane speaks with environmental journalist Wendee Nicole and her daughter Joyce Orishaba in this podcast episode of Driftwood Conversations, a moving exploration of identity, adoption, resilience, and love across cultures and generations. May 28, 2025.
Founding Discover The Lost Tribe and the importance of using your story for good with Joyce Orishaba. Thriving in Intersectionality Podcast with Lola Adeyemo. March 30, 2023.
Redemption Song Foundation. Freelance journalist Wendee Nicole first visited Uganda to research the mountain gorilla. What happened next changed her life. East African NGO podcast by Patrick Hill, Team in Faith. Nov 9, 2020.
Sharon's Story. A short film about a young Batwa woman in our project. By Adellah Mbabazi.
Still Here: The forgotten pygmies of Uganda. A short film by James Wooldridge and Merika Andrade. Apr 8, 2018.