Karisoke and DFGFI are involved in a number of health and other community projects in addition to educational outreach programs. These include working with local villages to treat intestinal parasitism and provide hygiene seminars , as well as clean water/sanitation initiative , and a program to rehabilitate and rebuild rural health clinics in the region, such as the Bisate health clinic.
In communities near Karisoke, DFGFI also works to help with special needs. This includes a goat project for the often-marginalized Ba’Twa people, indigenous hunter-gatherers who have historically hunted in local forests for protein sources. This program is aimed at helping the Ba’Twa integrate into local communities outside of the park, and to provide alternate sources of protein, in this case by raising goats.
