World Relief Burundi

solidarity

2009-06-30T05:54:00.001-07:00

Beatrice NIZIGIYIMANA (pictured left) is president of one of the Shigikirana Village Savings and Loan groups that World Relief Burundi partners with in Burundi. Although her personal story is typically painful of returning refugees in Burundi, she seems unique in her openness to share her struggles. The joy that lights up her face when she speaks is distinctive and telling.

Like other returnees and Savings and Loan Group members in the southern province of Makamba, Beatrice’s current challenge in life is to rebuild her home and livelihood in a fragile, post-conflict situation. While Beatrice faces similar struggles to other returnees, her situation is unique and perhaps even more challenging than most.

Beatrice is 37 years old and a widow. Her husband died four years ago, and while being a widow in a post-conflict country is common, the redeeming quality and her strength would ordinarily be found in her children. However, Beatrice is barren. This fact undoubtedly gave approval to her late husband to take a second wife to bear his children. After her husband’s death, his family gave the second wife and her children the majority of his assets and possessions— leaving Beatrice with next to nothing. While circumstance and society stripped her of financial stability and social worth, she was cheated of one last thing, her health. Beatrice is HIV-Positive.

Amazingly, Beatrice seems to not be hindered or owned by these circumstantial strikes against her. She embodies confidence, joy, child-like faith, and love. These qualities no doubt testify to her election as the president of her Village Savings and Loan group almost one year ago. The association, appropriately named Rukundo (meaning “love” in Kirundi), meets once a week for group members to together save earnings and buy shares. Monthly, they disperse their accumulated savings as loans amongst one another and pay interest on previous loans. After one year, the group’s amassed capital is distributed to its members according to shares bought throughout the year. Beatrice and her group are currently, in June 2010, approaching their one-year mark!

Rukundo is one of 60 Shigikirana savings group in Burundi, 34 of which are in Beatrice’s southern province of Makamba. The groups averaging, 15 to 25 people apiece, meet weekly—Beatrice’s group meets in the small red-brick Anglican Church of Kayogoro. Kayogoro is a small village, offering little but a market place to support the surrounding communes. In this market, most savings group members own various stalls and businesses. With loans they receive, they buy and sell vegetables, cooking oil, charcoal, clothing, fish, and other goods. After repayment, they often profit approximately $7-$15 over a period of one to three months. This extra income is often reinvested in the group through share buying.

For Beatrice, the personal benefits of her involvement in the savings group are multi-faceted. With a loan from the group, she hired someone to help her begin a business. She now makes a traditional, sweet banana drink and transports it to various restaurants to sell. The helper lives with her and assists her with farming her small plot of land— an invaluable help in her weakened condition.

Every savings group has a social fund. From this fund, members can request assistance with various expenses like school fees, funerals, and other such life situations that are predetermined by each group. Beatrice’s group helped put a front door on her house, and they help finance ARV drugs for her. Additionally, the community that she found in her savings group proved itself to be more than just financially supportive. In many ways, it is life-giving. “The best thing is the group. In the group, we come from different backgrounds, but we all work together,” Beatrice says. Solidarity is a powerful thing!

Beatrice’s second name means “trust in God”. To Him, she attributes her joyful existence. She says she is a blessed woman. In her savings group, she has an accepting and supporting community. Despite the differing socio-economic levels within the group, they work together. Their collaboration is based on mutual trust and care for each other. Beatrice has her trust in Jesus Christ’ unconditional love for her. It is with the support of her community and her faith in God that

Story by Isaac Barnes and Trina Chase

Community in Kayanza

2009-04-16T01:03:00.000-07:00

Regarded by some as one of the poorest provinces in Burundi, the northern province of Kayanza seems unaware of this imposed meager title. Steep hills carpeted in tea and coffee gleam under bright skies as children weave in and out of their mothers on the way to market. Kayanza town bursts at the seams with life on market days. Orange peels litter the ground this time of year, and people come from as far as Bujumbura to buy the potatoes from the Kayanza region. Unfortunately many times with increased commerce and social mobility comes the crippling effects of HIV/AIDS. On the main road from Bujumbura to Rwanda, Kayanza town now receives special attention from World Relief Burundi’s HIV/AIDS rep. Pastor Pierre Claver.

In the past year World Relief Burundi mobilized several volunteers in Kayanza town to 1). Help coordinate various HIV/AIDS trainings as money and materials were available, and 2). Organize and gather support groups of people living with HIV/AIDS. Two support groups only just started 6 months ago, but already the volunteers speak with excitement about the two communities. These groups care for each other when a member feels weaken by the disease, share food when some have none, and ensure that they take their medications properly.

The blessings of this harmonious sharing resonated clearly through the words of Minani Chantal as she communicated her story. HIV positive since 2002, she continues to live life with hopeful expectation. As a widow with two daughters Minani struggled to provide for her family as her health weakened, but she in due time was able to procure retro viral drugs from an NGO-helping her regain her much needed physical strength. With a small loan she started a basic business selling flour and other household items. Today, business is going well and her daughters both attend school. She recently benefited from a goat provided to her and others in her group from World Relief Burundi.

Minani counts herself blessed, as few attain so many forms of support. Today, She is part of a support group compromised of 12 men and 33 women. The greatest challenge they face exists in their weakening bodies. Even though some are able to find retro viral drugs without adequate nutrition, physical weakness persists and subsequently inhibits productivity and the ability to work. A dim reality that seemingly does not contain or define Minani as she confidently spoke of her hopes for the future. She desires to see her daughters finish secondary school. She also envisions the great awareness impact that her HIV/AIDS support group could be to their surrounding community. “To come out of fear and declare that you are [HIV] positive is the first step”, she says. Hopefully this painful first step can be made easier if there are more support groups and churches that will receive and support them.

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing to love one another, for he who loves his fellow man has fulfilled the law”-Romans 13:8

Pictured Top Left- Minani (center) and her two daughters
Pictured Bottom Right- Minani (center) and two other ladies from her HIV/AIDS support group

2009-04-01T02:27:00.000-07:00

Thursday, March 26, representatives from USAID came to visit WRB’s CSP, of which USAID Washington is the primary donor. Guests included Andy Caras, from USAID Nairobi, and Jim Anderson, from USAID Burundi. The visitors were welcomed warmly in song by a community care group. CSP manager, Donatille Sinonida articulated the successes of the program— discussing the positive response and openness to volunteers of the community, the passion for the work of the promoters and volunteers, and the already occurring changes to practices (i.e. extended breast-feeding) within the communities. The guests then had the opportunity to observe a community care group, listening as the promoter facilitated a review with the women about the symptoms of diseases and when and how to get their children immunized.

Overall, the visit was a success and Jim Anderson left, saying,

“World Relief, you do good work!”

Pictured: USAID Burundi Rep, Jim Anderson, welcoming CSP volunteers to their office in Bujumbura.

Pictured: Health Promoter on motorcycle.

Restoring Shalom

2009-03-16T03:01:00.000-07:00

Shalom!

While a common Kirundi greeting, “Amahoro!” the equivalent Hebrew word shalom is also a common greeting around the World Relief Burundi office these days!

A greeting. State of being. Uniting force. The world shalom encompassed all for us during our annual staff retreat this past February. The tranquility and scenic beauty of the Giheta Catholic Conference Center provided the perfect setting for our times of personal refection and community building. The Church Mobilization team carried most of the responsibilities for the structure and content of the 4-day retreat. They balanced our times of worship and teaching sessions with meaningful times of community shared around meals and free time. This provided us with moments to reflect on the challenging words we received and effectually take the first steps towards restoring broken Shalom.

So, how is your shalom these days? As we at World Relief Burundi are learning, it’s more than just a greeting. If we are going to be holistic in helping the poor and most vulnerable; it must emanate from our own personal lives. We cannot be agents of transformation in this world if we do not have shalom with it's people and Creator. How are we to be the voice of reconciliation when we do not reconcile our own relationships?

Pray with us as we seek shalom in Burundi!

Goats!

2009-02-17T23:27:00.000-08:00

“Yes, I am a Christian, but when the war came I lost my faith. But now, I have come back to my faith. I know that God exists. I am so blessed!”

-Andre Ntahondenga

A simple faith. Simply put. A faith that has been tested by war, hunger, and loss. A faith that was lost and now is found— a man firmly saying that he is indeed blessed. Andre’s story is no different than many of the life stories that gathered on a green-carpeted hill in Vurgizo this past week in the southern Burundian province of Makamba. Returnees and IDP’s assembled there, restarting their lives in this remote area.

Andre is a native of Vurgizo. He and his family fled to neighboring Tanzania to escape the persisting civil war that engulfed Makamba province. Ten years he lived away from his birthplace and home. Finally, in June of 2008, he returned home to Vurgizo. He now lives with his grown children who take care of him. His land was returned to him, although he says it does not yield enough to feed his entire family. Andre was identified by members of his community to receive a goat from World Relief because his community saw the disadvantages he faces on a daily basis. A goat is beneficial in many ways- to sell for profit, to eat as meat, or to use the goat’s droppings for fertilizer for cropland that has been stripped of its’ topsoil by the endemic erosion that plagues most of the Burundian hillsides.

There was hope in the air. It was heard in the laughter of men and women as they scrawled their names to receive their goats. It was seen in the shy smiles of each beneficiary as they pulled their resisting goat to green pastures. It was expressed in words of thansdfks to World Relief staff and to the One from whom all things come. There is hope— that as we reach out to each other in love, our relationship with the King is likewise redeemed.

Creating "Home".

2009-01-16T03:07:00.000-08:00

“We estimate more than 470,000 Burundians have returned home from Tanzania and other asylum countries over the past six years.”-Ron Redmond, UNHCR

Of these 470,000 returnees about 63,000 returned to Burundi just this past year in 2008. Most of these have returned to the southern province of Makamba, more specifically to Nyanza Lac. The center of World Relief Burundi’s refugee work.

Nyanza-lac is a lakeside community. The people there depend on the lake, as well as their sparse crops, for sustenance. Each night, one can see hundreds of rough, wooden dug-out boats slowly paddle to the depths of the lake’s center. At dark, the lake turns into the appearance of a flat city… as each boat lights a lantern to draw the fish into their nets.

Now, the little town of Nyanza-Lac and its’ surrounding communes are packed with people. Since December 2005, Makamba province has received over 28% of the countries returnees, with Nyanza-Lac commune receiving nearly 60% of those.. Not only is this area packed with people, which obviously creates land, food availability, and community issues. Additionally, this area was hit hard during the war and the need for shelter and food security in this region has only continued to grow with the return of refugees. Thus, it is here that World Relief Burundi has focused its rehabilitation and livelihood efforts since 2004.

As of March 2008, World Relief Burundi helped rehabilitate nearly 3,000 homes in Mukungu, Kabonga, and Muyange zones of Nyanza-Lac and Vugizo Communes! The construction of these homes and implementation of other food programs has been possible through various grants and partnerships with organizations such as Tearfund Belgium, Habitat for Humanity, and the US Bureau of Population, Migration, and Repatriation. While World Relief Burundi provides most of the construction materials, the actual building of the individual houses is the responsibility of the recipient and often becomes a community event. Community leaders are included in the process of identifying the vulnerable in their communities, and are also asked to help coordinate able-bodied community members to help these vulnerable peoples rebuild their homes.

World Relief Burundi is pleased to announce that Tearfund Belgium agreed to another year of partnership with us, which will provide funding for an additional 700 homes to be built in Nyanza-Lac. In addition to shelter for returning refugees, the valuable input of seeds and tools will be distributed to nearly 3,000 families! To those in the community who are able, these items will be given out through various “food for work” programs. Projects such as hillside terracing and ditch digging provide not only great means to exchange work for needed food, but they are helping to prevent the rampant erosion of precious topsoil from the hills that blanket most of Burundi.

Much is happening in Nyanza-Lac! We continually praise God for all He is doing. He is the Great Provider.

World AIDS Day in Bubanza, Burundi

2008-12-12T00:08:00.000-08:00

The small, land-locked country of Burundi in central Africa falls 16th among the countries identified as most vulnerable to the threat of HIV/AIDS. Burundi has a prevalence rate of 9.5% to 10.5% in urban and semi-urban zones and is lower (2.5%) in rural zones according to a 2004 UNAIDS Report. It is estimated that there are approximately 250,000 people living with HIV/Aids in Burundi—220,000 adults (ages 15-49 years) and of those, 130,000 are identified as women.

The last 13 years of social, ethnic and political upheavals have put many families at risk and exposed them to situations of vulnerability and infection by the HIV virus. With an issue like HIV/AIDS greatly impacting the population of Burundi, the 2008 celebration of World AIDS Day was greatly anticipated and planned for by World Relief Burundi Staff and local partner, Dutabarane. Many choirs from various churches competitively auditioned a week prior to the event for the privilege of being one of the four choirs to sing at this celebration on December 1.

For our World Relief Burundi and Dutabarane staff, the day planned was full— a ceremony at the football field in Bubanza, the dedication of the new Dutabarane office in Bubanza, and HIV testing to be carried out throughout the day at various locations.

(Burundian drummers drew the crowds for the day's events)

The procession from Bujumbura was headed by a vibrant drumming troupe. Their rhythms and chants drew crowds at each stop along the way to Bubanza. At these stops the choir traveling with us would pile out of the bus singing a song that they had written about HIV/AIDS followed by a short message from a Dutabarane pastor.

(One of the 4 choirs)

The main events of the day took place in Bubanza proper with over 1,200 people participating and 13 churches. In the morning HIV testing was carried out at the local health center. By midmorning they had stopped taking people due to the lack of personnel and the sheer number of people that came for testing. 716 people were tested. It is encouraging and exciting to see so many people come for voluntary testing though a heartbreaking reality now faces those who will find out that they are HIV positive. Some 744 people received post-testing counseling.

(Choirs shared honest sentiments about HIV/AIDS)

The ceremony itself at the Bubanza football pitch was a flurry and whirl of Burundian drumbeats, harmonic choral voices, poetic story tellings, wordy speeches, and poignant statistics of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Burundi. As grave as the statistics are, this was not a memorial of resignation or defeat, instead it felt more like a rally to engage in a war that will require more than just awareness to win. The choirs were almost graphic in their lyrics and gestures as they sang about everything from the transmission of HIV to ways to prevent its transmission.

Hope was embodied best in the person and testimony presented by a young woman who is HIV-positive. She bravely shared her testimony of her life with HIV/AIDS in front of the whole crowd assembled. She found out that she was HIV positive while also pregnant and through being tested and understanding the disease she was able to keep her baby HIV negative. She spoke of acceptance and the reconciliation that she was able to have with her family. The fear of familial rejection keeps many HIV positive people suffering in silence, keeping them from health centers for fear that their families will find out.

While still much remains to be done to eradicate HIV/AIDS from Burundi, December 1st was a day of expressed hope. Hope that a people can become self aware of their danger, and seek to make informed choices that are in the end, life giving. Hope that there is a good God who is a great comforter in trying times. Hope that we can learn from our mistakes and receive grace and forgiveness and live a restored life in Jesus Christ.

(This banner asked the government for free retro-viral drugs for those living with HIV)

Stories from Turame

2008-11-18T00:08:00.000-08:00

The soft murmuring of prayer indicated that the weekly meeting had already started. The group sat in a circle at the far end of a poorly lit neighborhood church. In the middle of the group stood a bench lined with neat piles of Burundian Francs divided into their respective denominators. The tardy ones timidly entered the church and joined the group in a stealthy manner so as not to be noticed or counted as late, which would ensure a fine. A final “Amen” was said and the meeting began. Its always good to start with prayer.

This assembly of 26 women and 4 men is the self-titled “Jesus Is The Answer” group. With many different stories and backgrounds, they are brought together in this meeting as clients of World Relief’s Micro-finance institution, Turame. In these weekly repayment meetings, they not only come to pay on their loans, but they come to learn. They share with each other their business experiences from the past week, and impart to the group the lessons they have learned through these experiences. Some have been with Turame for many years and have been successful in their business dealings, while reversely some have just received their first loan and are beginning or continuing their own fledgling businesses. They all will grow and learn as individuals, but as a group and a community they will all be enriched and blessed together.

Here are a few portraits of the people who make up the mosaic of “Jesus Is The Answer.”

Jeanette Hatumgimana

Jeanette is a single young lady from the Ngagara neighborhood of Bujumbura. Her situation in African society would be considered a difficult one, as she is an orphan. She received a loan from Turame to help her begin a business in the market, selling vegetables. Unfortunately, before she could begin using the money, she was robbed. She turned to a cousin to help her, and with that borrowed money she was able to sell vegetables in the local market. She was able to pay back her first loan to Turame and also pay her cousin back. She is now in her second cycle loan.

She was happy that she had been able to repay her first loan and also her cousin given her circumstances. She seemed hesitant to share much about her hopes for the future.

Tite Simzotuma

Tite is one of the 4 men in the 31-client group “Jesus is the Answer”. He was eager to share is experience with Turame. He has been a client since 2006, when he took out his first loan. He had had no money to start his shoe business so he obtained a loan with Turame to begin his business. With the savings from his business, he was able to buy a property out in the countryside where his family now lives. Property prices are getting very expensive in Burundi, and he fells blessed to be able to afford land.

Tite shared his joy that his 2 children and wife are now able to live in the country on their own land. He is thankful and appreciates the experiences that are shared among the members of his loan group. He values these as a good way to improving his own business.

In the future he would like to increase his loans with Turame, and to receive more business training.

Consolatte Mibigira

Consolatte shared her story with a beaming smile. She is eight months into her first loan, and she says that it has already done so much for her. As a mother of five kids, she has spent most of the profits from her little business in the Kamenge market on her children. Three of her eldest children now attend school. They are not hungry anymore and are dressed well. She even has enough to save after her loan payments each week. She said that now there was peace in her home, and that her husband was happy.

She shared her desire for her family to someday be able to buy their own house. (They currently rent a house). She asked for prayer for the safety of her family. In addition she asked for prayer against thievery (which she said is a big problem) and the continuing peace process in the country of Burundi. She hopes to receive another loan from Turame when she pays her first one off.

ZUBERI

2008-08-29T03:19:00.001-07:00

Meet Zuberi. He is an eight year-old Burundian who lives in the southern province of Makamba. He was born and lived the first years of his life in a refugee camp in Tanzania because his family fled Burundi due to the fighting and people that were being killed near their home.

His family returned to Burundi in 2000 to their small plot of land near Lake Tanganyika and are being helped by our rehabilitation and livelihood programs in Nyanza-Lac, through shelter to protect them from the rains and a goat.

Life is simple and difficult for Zuberi and his family. They eat fish from the lake and try to grow cassava and beans on the tiny land that they own. His mother says that her greatest struggle is to provide food for her seven children and the one orphan that they adopted.

Yet, they work together to survive. Zuberi helps by bringing water the 5 kilometers from the nearest fresh water pipe and cares for the goats. His sisters help make cassava flour, tend the house, and care for the three-year old and 8-month old babies.

Zuberi is a quiet boy. Even his mother says that he does not say much around the house and that he is very obedient and good at keeping the goats. However, he enjoys playing a bottle cap game with his siblings and neighbors, and often, they run down to the lakeshore together... kicking a home-made soccer ball back and forth, cartwheeling, and plopping down together, giggling, in the sand.

For the next year or so, we will follow the life of Zuberi. Stay posted as to what happens with him and his family and how his life is affected by his world... the events in Burundi, his family, and World Relief.

FIRST CHILD SURVIVAL CARE GROUP

2008-07-30T01:42:00.000-07:00

Nine Burundian women gathered in a small room at a local health center. Four babies were present- two at their mother's breasts, one smiling and cooing on a lap, and one sleeping- snuggly wrapped in gitenge on her mother's back.

The World Relief Health promoter, a smiling woman named Gertrude, welcomed the women who were meeting for the first time and us visitors (a team from WR, USAID, and another NGO who were there to observe). These women, health volunteers selected by their community, were gathered there to learn about diarrhea... their first lesson that they would take and then bring to 10 other women in their community in the next two weeks.

Gertrue asked questions about their knowledge of diarrhea. She laughed. She inspired debate and conversation among the group as they discussed the disease. The group together defined diarrhea as "a sickness that brings noise like a sheep in your stomach and breaks your back." A pretty descriptive and accurate definition! :)

I sat quietly and observed, enjoying the obvious rapport of the group. Although I didn't understand the language, I could tell by the women's relaxed postures, their laughter, their open answers and thoughts that were translated for me, that they felt comfortable.

During this first lesson, they discussed the tell-tale signs of diarrhea, its' possible causes, and that a main preventative is simply cleanliness- in the kitchen, with food, with garbage and human waste, and water. The promoter moved around the room, showing pictures and engaging the volunteers. And at the end, she tested their knowledge... and was rewarded with right answers and much clapping and smiles.

RETURNING REFUGEES

2008-07-10T02:14:00.000-07:00

It was Tuesday afternoon. We were on our way back from Tanzania and, at the border, we ran into this: Eight-hundred refugees. Twelve UNHCR trucks. People coming back into Burundi.

It's one thing to know the stats: Tanzanian refugee camps closing and shooing thousands and thousands of refugees from Burundi back into the country. Many of these have lived in Tanzania since 1972. Many are children and do not know Burundi as home. Many have established as much life as possible in Tanzania and are uprooting the little structure they have to come back to what they do not know and to what they still fear.

And it's another thing to see the faces. To shake their hands. To smile and wave and say (in my rusty Kirundi) "God bless you and good luck!"
To wonder what these people are thinking and feeling as they are being brought back into Burundi. And of course, there are more questions than answers:

What do they fear as they return? What will they experience in the few days/weeks in the transit camps? What happens when UNHCR and government support stops? Do they have any family connections that they are returning to? Will they have any access to land (as land issues are so significant)? Potential for work? Education?... Hope?

GOATS

2008-07-02T03:06:00.000-07:00

A goat is an answer to almost everything, even my personal problems.

One of World Relief Burundi’s oldest programs works to help returning Burundian refugees and internally displaced persons (“IDPs”) get their feet on the ground by providing for the most basic of needs. Our rehabilitation and livelihoods programs are located in the southern province of Burundi, in an area called Makamba, where refugees are returning daily. In fact, as Tanzania has committed to closing refugee camps this month, Burundian government officials estimate that approximately 3,000 returnees will be flooding the transit camps and making their way back into Burundi EACH week for the next month!

For these people, we provide assistance on several different levels— materials for shelter, food for work, seeds, tools, and goats.

Goats?! While goats may not seem to top the list of a human’s most basic needs (one would tend to think food, water, shelter…), they actually are, as Dolla our Rehabilitation Program states, “an answer to almost everything...”

They really are quite funny animals… crazy bleating noises, nervous skittering, beards like old men… but when you learn a bit more about them, they are quite interesting and useful animals!

A dairy goat will provide very useful resources to a returning refugee or IDP family. Such a goat will give one to two liters of milk a day, a very adequate amount to consume at home but not enough that would compel a family to sell it. This milk provides MUCH NEEDED nutrients that a malnourished child could not receive from a mother who herself is malnourished— protein, minerals, and vitamins.

Also, because goats have a gestation period of five months, they produce an average of one and a half kids a year. Even more as the occurrence of twins is more than 60%! These kids are sometimes sold in the market, increasing the well-being of a family. Goats are typically sold in a market here for between $30-60— which can provide food for a family for two months, the financial means to access health care, the ability to buy a uniform and materials so that the children can attend school, and so forth.

The offspring of these goats are not only sold for profit… the recipients are required to give every other kid that is born to another member of their community that has also been selected to receive one (selected by their community because of the health needs of their family). This sharing of livestock, in Burundian culture, is a powerful way to build relationships. When someone gives a gift like that to another, friendships and community are established.

Additionally, a goat will produce a kilo of droppings a day. These droppings provide the best possible natural fertilizer to the family. These families rely on their land for subsistence— land that they rarely get enough food from to provide for their family because is nutrient-depleted, farmed year in and year out for years on end.

Therefore, these funny animals are an incredible resource for needy Burundians in Makamba. And they are a successful, ongoing, and life-changing project of World Relief Burundi. Providing milk. Money. Community. Fertilizer… “an answer to almost everything…”

MORE ABOUT CHILD SURVIVAL

2008-06-11T06:35:00.000-07:00

The facts:
For every 1000 children born in Burundi, 156 die.
Of every 1000 children who make it past infancy, 231 will die before they reach 5 years old.

Malaria is the responsible for nearly half of the deaths of children in Burundi.
Malnutrition is the second leading cause of death.
41% of children under 5 in rural areas are underweight.

What we are doing:
World Relief Burundi began a Child Survival Program in the Health District of Kibuye (near the center of the country, in a province called Gitega) to fight such stats. We're addressing 4 main health concerns in women of child bearing age and children under 5: malaria, malnutrition, immunizations, and diarrhea. It's all done through an incredibly complicated network of volunteers who are taught to creatively and culturally teach these health messages to their neighbors. The program intends to reach approximately 60,000 women and children!!

As an update on the program- we're just in the beginning phases. It takes a lot of work to begin a project like this. The first few months after the project began in October were consumed with preparatory work: hiring staff, meeting with partners, collecting data in the population through a survey, and writing a detailed implementation plan. Now, the nearly 30 staff (all but 2 are women) are walking the hills in Kibuye... performing a census of all women and children in the area and acquiring women volunteers (who agree to be trained and to go to 10 of their neighbors twice monthly to share health messages).

It's an exciting program as there is potential for incredible change and many lives to be saved. We will keep you updated here on this blog as the program continues.

Child Survival in Burundi

2008-06-03T05:48:00.001-07:00

more thoughts by James Misner

The African Church Mobilized: What can we learn?

I want to give a report about the Child Survival Program (CSP) in Burundi. Out of all of my travels this is one of the most impressive programs that I have seen! In short, the CSP has a staff of 28 women. These women all recruit and train 124 volunteers each and then meet with them every other week. That means that 28 women pour into and train 3472 volunteers bi-weekly!! They train these volunteers in simple health messages that help to prevent diarrhea, malaria and the like—all preventable disease, diseases that kill 1 in 5 Burundian children. They also train them in how to pour into the communities spiritually.

These 3472 volunteers each commit to training 12-16 families with those same messages every two weeks…and they all commit to this for 5 years! You do the math! That is roughly 52,000 families who are visited by a Christian who brings them health messages and spiritual messages every two weeks for 5 years. Wow! Think of the impact this can make! Think of the number of children who will survive because their mom knows how to prevent disease. Think of the number of people who will be transformed from darkness to light because a volunteer cared for them physically and spiritually!

We can learn a lot from the churches who are working in this program! I was thinking of something that Ngaira, World Relief’s Country Director in Burundi, shared with me during a recent visit to Rwanda. He shared two passages of Scripture where the church is mobilized in an incredible way. The first is Luke 5:1-11, the passage where Jesus calls his first disciples by having them cast their nets after a fruitless night of fishing only to be swamped by the number of fish they caught. The second is Nehemiah chapter 2 when the walls of Jerusalem are built in 52 days as the people of Israel are mobilized to do the impossible. Take a second and read these two passage if you have the time.

There are several principle’s that Ngaira pulled out of these two passages of scripture for me as he was explaining how he has worked over the course of his life to mobilize the African church. I will share 3 of them with you.

1. It requires an act of faith and obedience before God will do amazing, monumental, life altering things in and through you. Both the Israelites and the first disciples had to blindly trust God before he chose to bless them immeasurably. What areas of your life are you acting in faith and just trusting for God to provide? Or are you just making small calculated risks?

2. The second principle he shared with me is that it takes a certain level of commitment for God to really work in your life. The disciples chose to devote their entire life to the cause of Christ; Scripture says they left everything and followed Him. The Israelites stopped everything for the duration of the wall building and worked day and night to complete it. What areas of your life are you dedicating your all to the cause of Christ? Or are you just content to serve or volunteer on a Saturday morning every once in a while out of obligation?

3. The final principle that I would like to share from Ngaira is that both of these mobilizations of the church started first with failure and suffering. The disciples had fished all night and caught nothing. For a person whose livelihood is based on fishing, this would be a disaster. The Israelites had been defeated and their city was in ruin, obviously not a good situation. However, both groups allowed the Lord to work in the midst of these hard times and work through them. What areas of your life are currently in distress or going through suffering? Are you willing to take a risk and let God use those areas of your life for His purposes?

There are many more implications from these two passages that we can glean, but for now let’s think about these lessons that this African brother taught me. Lets meditate on the results of this type of thinking…28 women impacting 52,000 families. I don’t know about you but I think he’s on to something.

PEACE IN BURUNDI

2008-05-26T23:52:00.000-07:00

We have PEACE!!

Just yesterday- Monday- the FNL (Burundi's last active rebel group) signed an unconditional ceasefire agreement with the Burundi government. This comes after six weeks of fighting that left thousands of people displaced and around 100 people dead.

The agreement said that this declaration of a ceasefire meant that "the war should finally end and Burundians enjoy lasting peace and stability..." And the spokesman of the FNL, a man named Pasteur Habimana, said that for the FNL, "this means the war stops forever."

This ongoing conflict in Burundi has left at least 300,000 people dead in 15 years and fears of fresh bloodletting had mounted when combat resumed on April 17.

This, of course, brings hope of a FINAL END to this drawn-out crisis. Please continue to pray for this small nation as it is taking the first steps towards lasting peace!

INTERRUPTIONS IN TIME

2008-05-13T06:38:00.000-07:00

by James Misner
McLean Bible Church
WR Partner

Once again I have had the opportunity to travel to Burundi with MBC’s World Relief Partnership and once again I have deepened my understanding of this place as well as my understanding of myself and the Lord.

Our team worked mostly with the Child Survival Program in Burundi, but I would like to write about two interruptions to my trip. The tale of these two interruptions when woven together and viewed through the lens of scripture has taught me more about our savior that two years of planned itinerary ever could have.

Interruption number 1 occurred 4 days into our trip when the FNL, Burundi’s last active rebel group resumed their military campaign by attacking the capital Bujumbura. Our team was never in direct danger but an uneasy tension arose in my Burundian colleagues who are literally trying to mobilize the church to hold their war torn country together. When they spoke of this fighting the pain was evident on their faces as they contemplated the continuation of decades of violence and destruction in their homeland. In this region of central Africa there is always fear of civil war and possibly genocide. Most of my colleagues in Burundi have lived their entire lives in and around conflict, it is not something on the far side of the world to them, it is simply on the other side of their neighborhood, if not at their neighbors.

It was a Saturday night as a lay in bed thinking and praying about this situation, falling in and out of sleep, only being woken by the sporadic sounds of gun fire and dull explosions in the surrounding hills.

The next morning our team of 7 divided up and went to 6 different churches who are partners with World Relief’s Child Survival Program and it was here where I encountered interruption number 2. The church where I attended was a free Methodist church that was connected to a missionary hospital where the Child Survival Program is based. Frank and Carol, two US missionaries who have served a combined 60+ years in central Africa were celebrating their last Sunday in Burundi before returning home to the US. After church I was eating a meal with Frank and Carol and their congregation, celebrating them and their time in Burundi. Half way through the meal Frank, a surgeon, was handed a note. He quietly read it while chewing his food, and preceded to slap me on the knee, told me to eat quickly because I was going to go with him and see ‘something amazing’. I came to find out that Frank was about to perform an emergency c-section out in the bush of Burundi, in a conflict zone, in order to save a mother and a baby and I was going to be part of the story.

As I witnessed this miracle, I could not help but notice the stark contract between the events that had conspired in the past 12 hours of my life. From bombs and bullets to a new baby. From sounds of death to the sounds of life in a newborn baby’s cry. From faces of despair to a mother’s face of hope. From destruction to dreams of a bright future.

To me, this was a spectacular image of the transformation that happens in our lives when we go from being enemies of God to His adopted children. It was an even more brilliant image of God’s sovereign control over the world. An image of not one life coming or going without it being allowed by Him. It was an image of God having ‘a time and a season for everything under the sun’. An image of God having a plan that is perfect from beginning to end.

As I listened to the crying of the newborn, my mind was taken to a passage in Ecclesiastes that a team member had shared earlier in the week. I leave you with this passage and hope that your image of these events if more than just the jet lagged ramblings of WR church partner. But an image of a God who is alive and active in a war-ravaged country in central Africa and a God who is alive and active in your life and situation as well.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-11

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—A time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. A time to search and a time to give up as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; a time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace. For What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves. He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

BURUNDI CHILD SOLDIERS

2008-05-06T11:18:00.000-07:00

This was recently in the news and caught my eye. Excitement (good things, this time!) continues in Burundi...

More than 200 child soldiers held by rebels have recently been demobilized here in Burundi! According to a report from UNICEF, the children, including one girl, were being held by a dissident group that had broke from the FNL (the last remaining rebel group here in Burundi).

The corpse of a young rebel of the National Liberation Front (FNL) lies in a street of Bujumbura, Burundi, 13 July 2003 (file photo)

Many of the children were as young as 10 when they were recruited by the FNL, and they were being kept in camps (in very poor condition!) to the north of Bujumbura. Even though negotiations for their release have been in the works for the last seven months, part of the motivation for their release now was the ongoing fighting between the national army and the FNL that has been occurring here for the last couple weeks. The children's security was at risk, as they were likely being kept in areas where there was/is fighting.

Since 2004, 3,000 former child soldiers have been returned to their communities with a 94% success rate of reintegrating back into Burundian society.

Of course, the process of reintegration is a difficult one. The former child soldiers suffer from a number of illnesses (like malaria and skin diseases), and many are severely traumatized by their brutal experiences and have to undergo psychosocial counseling. These children were taken to Gitega, where the process of reuniting them to their families will begin. According to statistics, it takes approximately 18 months to reintegrate them into their communities (plus, as we are learning through our Vocational Skills Training program that works with young demobilized soldiers and other types of vulnerable populations, it really takes years to "normalize"- whatever that means!). UNICEF estimates that there are still approximately 1,000 child soldiers in Burundi and that rival armed rebel groups continue to recruit children.

And this "hits home" for Seth and I, as Enoch (who works in our home) also was a former child soldier. (He is pictured right, in the white shirt, with Sara and his younger brother Emmanuel). He was recruited by a rebel group called the CNDD-FDD (who is actually a rebel group turned political party that now LEADS the Burundi government!) when he was only 13 years old. He spent 5 years fighting "in the bush"- years without schooling, family, etc.. His younger brother Emmanuel was also a child soldier (from about 15-18 years old), part of the FNL. To leave the group, he had to escape and actually hid out in our house (years ago, with its' previous owners) when both the FNL AND the police were after him (the police thought he was a rebel... the rebels wanted him because he left... a tough spot to be in, to say the least!).

Neither Enoch nor Emmanuel went through a process of demobilization. And Enoch thinks that the process of demobilization is often not enough. He says that these young former soldiers need years to learn how to live, how to make money, and to "be good people." Both Enoch and Emmanuel have been learning those things. Enoch has been a good worker (and raved about chef) in this house for over 3 years. He also began and continues to pastor a church in an area south of Bujumbura, in Ruziba (called Maranatha Church Community: Peace and Gospel Source). Emmanuel used to work here as well, and now works for some of our friends. He has come to me to help him start a soap business, and I am waiting for his business proposal! :)

So. Even in times of conflict, there is hope. In the news- as we here about these many child soldiers being returned to their families. In our home- as we remember where Enoch and Emmanuel came from and how God has been gracious to them. And in our own hearts and lives as we continue to process and pray through all we are learning and experiencing here.

I got the stats in this blog from an article I read on http://voanews.com, by a gal named Lisa Schlein.

NGAIRA

2008-04-30T04:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a long overdue welcome and bio.

This is Josephat Ngaira.
(pictured right, in the black shirt with our Church Mobilization Manager, Sophonie).

He has been serving and leading World Relief Burundi for the last 7 months. He came on board last October and was welcomed enthusiastically by the WRB team.

Ngaira has served as a missionary leader and mentor in cross-cultural ministry for 22 years now. He spent 11 years with Mission Moving Mountains and the rest between CORAT Africa, MAP International, and World Concern. Before joining World Relief, Ngaira worked for World Concern as Country Director for Somalia as well as playing the role of Capacity-builder for staff in the Africa region.

Ngaira has worked for Christian organizations whose main missions were to empower God’s servants to work for the vision of transformation, for reconciliation among the poor, and for the Church to grow in Africa. His main calling and passion is to lead by and communicate the love of Christ in word and deed. Ngaira says that he is one who is still learning and growing in God’s ways and understanding His (God's) passion for transformational leadership and ministry for reconciliation and restoration for the suffering poor. He has participated in mentoring many others who have similar Kingdom vision and passion from many countries in and outside

Ngaira says that he has had many dynamic experiences of life ranging from living with less to living in the word of love, hope and service for the Glory of God. He believes that without vision of hope in God, people become lazy and fatalistic in spirit and lifestyle. Currently, Ngaira hopes to serve as Country Director for World Relief Burundi with a compassionate heart for the vulnerable poor. He is committed to leading the WR staff in partnership with the Church to serve the poor and to bring life and hope for the Glory of God. Ngaira has a family with three children; two girls and one son. The youngest daughter is in high school in Kenya.

VST SCHOOLS

2007-08-28T06:16:00.000-07:00

World Relief Burundi is in year one of a Vocational Skills Training Program- a school for 16-25 year olds to learn basic trades- skills like sewing, carpentry, brick-making, metal-working, etc. Students in these programs are young people who haven't been able to make a living because they were forced out of school because of the war... or they were formerly rebels and are now trying to make a go at "normal" life in Burundi... or they have families that are living in poverty that they are trying to provide for.

The program itself is actually a pretty sweet deal: the students get 6 months of both in-classroom and hands-on practical instruction, and then when they graduate, they have access to loans through our Microfinance Program (called "Turame") to begin their own businesses. And, WR is working closely with Burundi's Ministry of Education in this so that in the near future, we can hand it completely over to them... making this program something that is sustainable (not just a short term good thing brought in by people from the US but a long-term program that the country can run even after money from the US and other donors runs out).It's another great program that WR does and that we get to be a part of.

Our deputy program manager has been running this project brilliantly. He is a cool, smiley Burundian man named Andre, and he really makes everything happen. This is a guy who has an incredible heart for the Church, for Burundians, and even though he is new on staff with World Relief Burundi, he is jumping in with gusto and making the work assigned to him his own.

The images here are of a young man and a young woman and others who are, through the VST program, putting effort into making lasting change in their lives. I don't know their stories. Their families. What their hopes or dreams are. I do know that being educated in a trade can be a huge step in making a difference in the direction their lives take. And we here in World Relief Burundi (Andre and the whole team here) and our partner churches and donors Stateside have the huge privilege of being a part of it.

A CULTURAL TIDBIT

2007-05-28T02:01:00.000-07:00

Burundi is known for its' drummers.

To see them perform live is an experience- the rhythm makes you unconsciously sway in time. The deafening beat makes your ears ring. The graceful and powerful movements of their dance forces a smile to your face. Their drumming is beautiful and powerful- a rich component of Burundian history.

Their performances are actually a traditional part of ceremonies-- births, funerals, coronations for kings (historically). In Kirundi, the drums are called "karyenda" and are considered sacred- representing fertility and regeneration. The Royal Drummers use drums made from hollowed tree trunks covered with animal skins. The central drum is called the Inkiranya- while the "amashako" drums provide a continuous beat and the "ibishikiso" drums follow the rhythm established by the Inkiranya.

The performance of the Royal Drummers has been the same for centuries, and their techniques and traditions are passed down from father to son. The members of the ensemble take turns playing the Inkiranya, dancing, resting, and playing the other drums, rotating throughout the show without interruptions. At the beginning of their performance, the drummers enter balancing the heavy drums on their heads and singing and playing. There are some extra members who carry ornamental spears and shields, leading the procession with their dance. They then perform a series of rhythms, some accompanied by song, and exit the stage the same way, carrying the drums on their heads and playing.

Nyanza Lac

2007-05-17T02:55:00.000-07:00

Her name is Jeanine NSABIYUMVA. She has seen and experienced much in her 26 years. War. Poverty. Fleeing from her home. Living in a displaced persons camp in Burundi. The birth of 3 children. The death of her young husband who was killed by the military while she was pregnant with their last child. All by the age of 26.

Now, somewhat “settled” in the province of Makamba, in the Kazirabageni area, she rents a two bedroom, mud-walled hut from her neighbor. The floors are dirt. The ceilings are low. Each room is approximately 10’ x 10' and her neighbor allows her and her children to sleep nights in his home. Her children are malnourished— the youngest is especially sick and malnourished and looks only 5 months when he should be a robust 1½ years.

And tragically, her heartrending story is all too common for the people of Makamba, Burundi. During the 13-year conflict in Burundi, 300,000 people lost their lives and over one million people became refugees or were internally displaced. 341,911 refugees have returned from Tanzania to Burundi since 2002, and there are estimates that 390,000 Burundian refugees still remain outside, mainly in refugee camps in Tanzania.

Although Jeanine’s story may not be unique, her story resonated with me. As I listened to her talk through a translator, I unconsciously did a comparison/contrast of our lives. We are both women, about the same age, both married. And although that is where our similarities ended, I sensed a connection with her as she shared her life story and looked in my eyes as she spoke. It was like she thought I could understand Kirundi, like I could somehow relate to her life situation. It broke my heart.
But here is where her story hinges. Jeanine was one of 38 families selected (by the local health center and through World Relief Burundi) to receive a dairy goat. She, with others in her community, was trained in how to care for her goat, how to breed it, how to milk it, and how to use that milk to feed her malnourished children. She will now have milk daily to feed her children and will later have the goat’s offspring to share with her community and to increase her family's income. There will be follow-up, and WR staff will come alongside her to ensure that she is caring for the goat well and that her children are healthier and receiving the benefits of the protein and nourishment that are rich in goat’s milk.

I realize this cannot change her story. This cannot break her from the chains of poverty and sorrow that life has dealt her. But now, where there once was only despair, there is now a remnant of hope.

Here are a few more pictures from that day and other families who received goats:

Interactive Map of World Relief's Activities in Burundi

2007-05-12T02:54:00.000-07:00

... and for some interesting places to know about in Bujumbura ...

Food Distribution

2007-05-08T02:52:00.000-07:00

Here is Seth's video about World Relief's food distribution in the Burundian Province of Kayanza. Check it out!

Gitega

2007-05-07T02:51:00.000-07:00

Gitega is the second largest city in Burundi, about a two and a half hour drive from Bujumbura. It is a cool town- with red dirt, a market on a hillside, and a view of rolling hills of fields of banana trees and beans. And it just has a cool name. Fun to say. Gi-teg-a.

And it is a place bursting with people- families who have lived there for generations, returning refugees after the 13 year war, and former rebels and army personnel who are being incorporated back into the community.

Seth and I (with Sara) went there to learn about and film World Relief's microfinance program there. It is a pretty incredible system. There are 7-10 "loan officers" who oversee approximately 2000 clients! These clients, in groups of about 30 (for community and accountability), each receive substantial loans to start a business. For them, this is a way to get the financial means and practical know-how to support themselves and their families (many for the first time!). They learn how to sell their products-- beans, shoes, onions, flour, etc.-- as well as learn to manage their money and their business, how to resolve conflict, and other practical things to make them leaders and valuable contributors to their community. It is actually a really cool system.

The majority of the clients are women, as they tend to be more reliable and hard-working than some of the men (not all). It was a treat to meet them and learn about their lives... deeply affected by the war, poverty, food shortage, HIV/Aids, and countless circumstances and trauma that we in America can never truly imagine. While we may never understand completely their situations and their life stories, here are the faces, in black and white this time, of some of the women that we met who are part of this microfinance system... and the market in which they sell their goods:

Kayanza

2007-05-07T02:49:00.000-07:00

Survival. Hunger. Poverty.
Words that can stay theoretical and abstract until you meet the person experiencing them.
More accurately: Words that have stayed theoretical to me until I met someone experiencing them.

I met Katherine Nibaruta on March 29, 2007— the day World Relief distributed 35,000 kilos of beans in the northern Burundian province of Kayanza. The 1,500 people to receive the beans were all from the Kabarore Zone and came together eagerly and thankfully at the Kabarore Primary School to collect the promised food. Thousands of dark faces, bright smiles, and colorfully arrayed women greeted us. Katherine was one of them.

Here is Katherine in the doorway of her small home.

She came from a family who had lived in the Kabarore Zone of Kayanza, Burundi, for generations. It is a land of tall hills, bright green fields of tea, and stretches of wide-leafed banana trees. The land is so beautiful and so lush, one is struck by the contrast of the beauty of the land and the great poverty of the people residing in it. Katherine’s family had farmed that land for years— growing sweet potatoes, beans, corn, bananas, and avocadoes. But now, even though the land appears green and fertile, it is actually desolate. The excess rains and floods, and then lack of rains, have destroyed their crops. The soil is infertile, and they have no manure to nourish it and give the soil the nutrients it needs.

On March 29, when I met her, Katherine had no money in her small, dirt-floor home. She said money went only to the strong who can work for food. At 55, she is considered elderly by her community and can no longer work to earn money to buy the food that is so expensive in the local markets. She had no food in her home. The banana trees were too old and no longer produced fruit. The avocadoes and potatoes and corn were ruined by the rains. Only a few beans and bean leaves from her garden to sustain herself, her ailing husband, and their four remaining children.

Unfortunately (and true of many Burundian families), this was not the first time Katherine and her family have been in such a dire situation. As a child, Katherine grew up in a nearby home with two sisters and two brothers. Her childhood was filled with typical Burundian home activities— fetching water, cooking, and cleaning. As a young girl, she attended Catholic school for five years, receiving only a basic elementary education.

Katherine married at the age of 20, the second wife of her husband Juvenal. His first wife had nine children. Katherine bore eight, but only three of her own survived. The war in Burundi was the beginning of hardships for Katherine and her family. The cows that they used for milk and manure (for the soil) were stolen. The military took up position right behind her house to protect their village, but they still were forced to flee several times to Rwanda.

Katherine's husband Juvenal.

And now, with the inconsistent weather and food shortage, Katherine’s situation seems bleak. She received a bag of beans from the food distribution which she is thankful for and brings a bit of respite. 23 kilos of beans. 10 days of food— one meager meal once a day in the evening. I asked her about her future, and she said she could not really see her future. She says, “I have no hope for food, for my future.”

And Katherine is only one story— one real person that has changed my thinking of survival and hunger and poverty from a trite theory to a sad and terrible reality.

The other 1,500 people that received food that day all have stories and situations that parallel Katherine’s. They came to the school that day from nine surrounding hills, invited by the leaders of their communities including the nine local chiefs, an array of national and local security, and nine pastors who partner with World Relief to bring aid to the people. These nine pastors came together from a range of denominations— Catholic, Baptist, Pentacostal, and Assemblies of God— partnering with World Relief for the sake of their people. As the crowd gathered to collect the food, one of the pastors addressed them. He spoke about creating hope for the future and encouraged them, saying that Christians in America know of their need, have given money to help them (through World Relief), and are praying for them in their hardship. In response, the people of Kabarore were thankful. They waved and shook our hands in a gesture of gratefulness. But their struggle to fight hunger, poverty, and to survive will continue. Katherine’s struggle will continue. This is no longer theoretical.

Some of the 1500 families who received food.