Back from Burundi

Greetings everyone. Well, I am back from Burundi with many exciting and humorous stories to share. But firstly, I must comment on Aaron's blog, which I just read for the first time. The story that I recommended to everyone, "How Jim ruined my Friday in 5 different ways," I am de-recommending. More of it is lies than I thought. For example, I did not start throwing cushions at Aaron, I only did so after he threw them at Karen, and the quote in number 2 paragraph was never said. It's still funny, but just read it with a grain of salt. But anyways, the focus of this blog is Burundi, not Aaron, as much as he would like that attention.

The clan that drove south was larger than expected, being Emmanuel (my boss), Everest (his boss), Cathleen (a photojournalist), Lucy (her daughter) and myself. We left for Burundi on Wednesday afternoon, not 45 minutes after I wrote the last blog, as I predicted, but an hour and a half later. Crammed in the backseat with all of the luggage, Emmanuel and I welcomed leaving the vehicle to go through customs in Burundi. As we arrived at our destination, I inquired...

"Emmanuel, I know this is a stupid question, but where are we?"
"We are in northern Burundi."
"No, I know that, but what district or village are we in?"
"We are in northern Burundi."
"You have no idea where we are, do you?"
"No, not really."

Turns out, we were in Kirundo, and since we arrived well after sunset, my sightseeing of the country was limited. It did not help that the electricity was out as well. During a candlelight dinner of goat and assorted vegetables, I met Julien and Leonardo, the FH workers in Burundi. Because our reserved rooms were already taken, we were then moved to a different hotel. The good news was that it was bigger and had electricity sometimes, but the bad news was that it lacked running water. Oh yeah, and nearby a truck of goats kept screaming all night. Using my a bottle water to wash my face and brush my teeth, I got ready for the big day ahead of me.

The big day ahead of me started with an early breakfast and a 45 minute drive over dust-coated terrain. And only if you have ever been tumbling in an operating dryer have you experienced the bumpiness of these Burundian roads. Looking out the side window, I noticed the stark contrast between Burundi and Rwanda. Though Burundi's landscape is similar, but with more lakes, its infrastructure was incredibly weak, probably as a result the civil war a little over a year ago.

After bruising my butt from the Indiana Jones adventure ride, we finally arrived in the commune of Bugarira, where Julien and Leonardo showed us some of the projects they have started in Burundi. The first was a Feed and Seed Project, which was designed around the fact that if hungry families were given seeds, they would simply eat them if they were hungry. However, if the families received food and seed, they would plant the seed and eat the food. In this way, the project follows the twin-track approach, simultaneously engaging in emergency relief and sustainable development. The second project was a Cassava Multiplication Project. For those who are not familiar with cassava, it is a staple food, similar to a potato, which still grows well during droughts. However, because of the new virus xanthomonas (remember this for Jeopardy) much of the cassava population has died. So Food for the Hungry (FH) has purchased a total of 15 hectares of a resistant strand of cassava for 5 farmer associations, with the plan to give each first year’s cuttings to another farmer association, etc., effectively increasing the hectares of cassava every year. If this remains consistent, within 10 years FH will have assisted in the production of 400 acres of this disease-resistant cassava for Burundi. Not only will the cassava be able to feed the 60-80 families in each farmer association, but also begin to generate income for them as well.

Now, why Emmanuel and I were there was to conduct assessments of these programs to confirm their effectiveness for FH Rwanda, which funds the operations in Burundi. Now, when I think assessments, I think indicators and statistics, but such was not the case. Basically, since the program has only been in effect for six months, before the first cassava harvest, it is difficult to assess. We went to the site, I asked questions and Emmanuel observed, offering suggestions where was necessary.

Though it was not what I expected it to be, I still learned a great variety of information and was able to meet many of the FH beneficiaries. The poverty was intense, and much more apparent than in Rwanda. Children wore ripped and worthless clothing, smiling folks cooking in slanted huts made entirely of a dry straw and men riding on wooden bicycles to get water 8 miles away (women had to walk) were frequent sights. Though scarce, hope was visible in the construction of a church, a fresh harvest and in a rosary which a young girl wore as a necklace. Surprisingly and hurtfully, the overwhelming weight of it all made me numb to it. I think it was my inability to comprehend what could be done to free these people, to give them opportunity.

But I think Emmanuel had the right idea. During a walk on Thursday evening, he told me some of his philosophy on development. He told me that it takes time to empower people. "If you give them too much they will be frustrated. At the end, they have to believe that they did it themselves." Since I am only here for the summer, it is hard for me to see how I fit into all of that, especially given my limited knowledge of the subject area already. But if I am here to learn, then learning I am doing.

So, after learning a sexist card game Thursday night from Julien, and visiting one more beautiful cassava field in the morning, we returned to Kigali by Friday afternoon. Sorry I could not get this posted earlier, but there was a lot in my mind and we lost power again shortly after dinner. Sigh. Thank you for reading this incredibly lengthy blog. God bless!