Baron Blogs Burundi

The next chapter…

Saying goodbye is never an easy task. Especially when the people to whom you are saying goodbye are such kind-hearted, warm, loving, passionate people. You’ll meet enough jerks in your lifetime, but it’s only when you meet people who are completely opposite that you realise there are some amazing people out there. 1 month ago I decided to follow a gut instinct and come out to Burundi. I didn’t know what to expect, nor did I think I would be of much use here. 1 month on from then, and I now realise why my life had taken the course it has up until now. It doesn’t make complete sense, but I have a clearer picture.

And so as I pack my bags and prepare for my flight in a few hours, I accept that all endings are also new beginnings. I think back to the people I’ve met and worked with, and I stand in awe of their heart for helping others, their motivation through difficult times, their persistence in doing what they feel is just, and their dedication to social causes. I also think of those who impacted me albeit through a fleeting encounter; the street merchants, the laborious people up-country, the smiling community kids, and the mêler during rush hour amongst other things. And as I think back, I realise that I truly have been blessed during my time here in Burundi.
I may say goodbye with a heavy heart and watery eyes, but a part of Burundi will always be with me. Turikumwe!

Oh really? (Facts about Burundi)

Here are some random facts about Burundi:
- It is HOT! in May/June. Now, I’m pretty good at handling heat, but gosh it gets really hot by 9am. It takes some serious deodorant spray in the morning to counter the amount of sweat I produce. But evenings are generally cooler.
- Tap water is treated in Bujumbura so it is safe to drink tap water. The money I spent on water purification tablets was certainly a waste due to reading silly & false travel advice.
- Only women are employed to sweep the streets of Buja. I’ve talked to a few people but haven’t received any decent response on why this happens to be the case.
- In order to show respect and politeness, people touch their right forearm with their left hand as they shake your right hand. Also, almost everyone I’ve met has accepted things (money/goods/anything) with their right hand, and given things with their right hand.
- With Saturday mornings (7.00am to 10.30am) being community work period, you can find residents in Buja keeping fit from as early as 5.30am (I have spotted many running up hills whilst I was trying to capture the sunrise on camera).
- Most residents of Buja speak 3 languages; French, Kirundi and Swahili. It’s not uncommon to find some who speak 4, with English being the fourth language.
- Bicycles are one of the most common ways for locals to transport goods up-country. You see bicycles laden with tons of goods like crates, sacks, food, whatever – stacked to the point of disbelief – and being laboriously pushed up and down hills for hours. These people are laborious!! Some of the bravest will even mount their bikes and descend down hills at great speed in order to make the most of the downward descent and I suppose as a sort of treat for the uphill struggle.
- There are about as many right-hand drive cars as there are left-hand drive cars. And this is despite the fact that cars drive on the right side of the road (and so traditionally the cars should be left-hand drive). Apparently, this is because right-hand drive cars are cheaper to obtain and repair.
- Most Burundians are FASCINATED by “muzungus” (white people)! And the more blonde you are, the more you will be stared at. Muzungus are stared at all the time. Even in the capital city where most are based. Up-country, it is not uncommon for locals to just walk up to the car and peer through the window to stare at muzungus. However, I have seen some locals up-country run away from muzungus because apparently they grew up believing that white people eat humans (really funny when I saw a woman bolt away when she saw my Swedish colleague in the car). But rest assured, the staring is done out of fascination and not threatening at all (unless you are a muzungu who hates attention).
- Many [adult] Burundians do not like it if you take a picture of them without asking them. In fact, many run away once they see a camera. For kids though, taking 20 pictures of them is not enough. They will plead for you to take a million pictures!
- The President, 1st Vice President, and 2nd Vice President (don’t get me started on how the cabinet is composed!) all have heavily armed army convoys when they travel, and military personnel camped outside their offices. I suppose keeping power isn’t an easy task.
- Less than 1 in 100 people smoke in the capital city (based on my random sample), and even fewer smoke up-country. I guess the Europeans were unsuccessful in passing this habit.
- The CNDD-FDD (the current ruling political party) headquarters is one of the most expensive buildings in Buja.
- The vast majority of the population are Christians, and the vast majority of Christians are Catholics. Church attendance is very high.
- On most nights, you can have a clear view of the stars whilst in Buja, but you’ll have an even better view just outside the city.
- Cars horn/hoot incessantly. People hoot to: say hello, say goodbye, warn of their presence, premeditate danger, say they’re angry, say they’re happy, signal to get out the way, signal you’ve got right of way, seek business, seek answers, show appreciation, seek attention, and for countless other reasons!
My list is by no means exhaustive, but I hope this gives you a little taster of this unique country on the coast of Lake Tanganyika.



Where do I start? With so much to do (or at least so much that I’ve tasked myself to do), one would say just start somewhere and go from there. But even what I consider to be the simplest of things tends to reveal more issues which show just how much more there is to do before task 1 can be achieved.

Everything seems to sap energy out of me; the hot weather, the thought of work, and the fleeting time. 1 month working for 2 organisations = 2 weeks each = 10 work days each. Take out 3 work days to complete an organisation review, 1 day attending a celebration up-country, plus Burundian timing, and you’re left with a mammoth task if you’re about as ambitious as me who think if Rome wasn’t built in a day then the workers weren’t trying hard enough!

Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, my hosts still show so much appreciation for the little I do. And when I look at the end beneficiaries of the completed projects, and how their lives are transformed by the selfless work of the employees of the small organisation, I can’t help but think that I should be the one showing appreciation for what THEY do. Being out here really puts things into perspective. And when I see a group of people running down the hill, singing and chanting as they keep fit, or watch little kids chase each other in the dust, or hear 3 languages in one sentence, I realise it’s the simple things that will make this experience one of my most memorable experiences.

A splendid celebration

On Friday, I joined the HROC team on a 2.5hr drive to Mutaho (in Gitenga province) for a celebration in honour of the water filter project that HROC had successfully delivered in this community. The drive was a pleasant drive for 1hr through hilly paved roads which revealed the beauty and naturalness of the plains of the inner country, and 1.5hrs of off-road bumpy terrain which showed why transport infrastructure is one of the main priorities of the current government.

My most embarrassing moment; we were being introduced by the HROC coordinator and we all had to get up to say a word or two. The other international volunteer has been taking Kirundi lessons and so could say a few words to the delight of the crowd. I, on the other hand, got quickly told a couple of words by the staff member sat next to me before my turn, but when I got up I said something completely different to what she told me. Everyone looked on silently as I tried to smile my way out of this pickle. Still no sound from the crowd. I tried to say the other word I was told, but even that came out muffled and wrong. I should’ve just spoken in Swahili or French. Anyway, I smiled again, sat down and gave myself a mental telling-off.

My most memorable moment; seeing the faces of the people whose lives have been changed by now being able to have drinkable filtered water. Despite the rain which interrupted proceedings (the locals said we were a good sign because they had been asking for rain given the summer heat’s effect on crops), everyone was in good spirits.
In the car ride back to Buja, the team sang church songs in Kirundi, Swahili, French and English. Luckily I had brought my shakers to keep everyone in tempo.

A [not so] typical day at work

8.30am: I’m at HROC’s office in downtown Buja. I’m popping by quickly before heading to the FWA clinic in order to verify whether MS Office had successfully been downloaded onto the work laptop which was still downloading when I left at 4.30pm yesterday. Official work hours are supposedly 8am to 4pm, but after being here for 8 days I’ve already come to accept the “polé-polé” (a Kiswahili term for “taking things easy”) lifestyle that everyone leads, and I’m not surprised that 3 out of the 4 staff members are not in yet.

MS Office hadn’t downloaded successfully. I’m gonna have to do this again tonight (MS Office is needed to export Quickbook files to Excel, which is the format a donor wants the monthly reports).

9.00am: After a journey through traffic to the small town of Kamenge about 5km away (it’s amazing how chaotic traffic is here – another blog to follow on that!), I make it to FWA’s clinic. For the last week, I’ve been carrying out an organisational review at both organisations, alternating between the organisations every other day. The review consists of assessing all aspects of the organisations from budgeting, to funding, to accounting and financial controls, in order to assess where their strengths and weaknesses lie, and then propose actions they will need to take going forward in order to improve their financial management capacity. Kind of like an audit, except considering the competition for scarce donor funding then this review is really important to the organisations in order to improve their chances of getting funding.
This morning, I’ll be reviewing FWA’s accounting records and monthly donor reports, and seeking clarification on different points.

11.45am: FWA’s accountant and I are heading back to Buja. This afternoon, I have a Financial Management 101 workshop lined up for both the FWA and HROC accountants at HROC’s office. With the limited time I have in Burundi, killing-two-birds-with-one-stone is definitely a strategy I’m employing. We jump in a transville-minibus. They’re called matatus in Kenya. You would normally expect to make a hand signal to get them to stop to pick you up, but the drivers are so skilled that they can tell without a signal who’s just standing around and who needs picking up.

During the trip, the accountant recounts the time when she was separated from her husband and three kids during the civil war. The hardship. The terror. The memories are still so fresh. The mental scars evident. But the people are bouncing back, she mentions. Things are getting better.

12.15pm: We arrive HROC’s office, and I invite both accountants out for lunch. Considering we’ll be spending loads of time together, we may as well build strong relationships. Both accountants confirm my view that Burundians love french fries, peas and grilled fish (amongst other things) with the dishes they pick.

1.15pm: We’re back at the HROC office, and ready to begin my first lesson on financial management. Over the next 3hrs, I touch on why I’m here, why good financial management is necessary, what financial management includes, the financial planning process, and the principles of good financial management. ALL IN FRENCH! After my second trip to the Larousse French dictionary in the office, I finally concede that accounting terms are not included in normal dictionaries and try to find a different way of explaining things. Equipped with a large A1 sheet and 3 markers, I’m drawing diagrams, bullet-pointing, using examples which mainly include cars, engines and street merchants (these randomly popped into mind!), and answering questions as the accountants soak in what I say. Before today, I was panicking at the thought of how I was going to explain accounting issues in French. Now, seeing the little time available, I have no time to consider my fears and plunge straight into work, only taking time after we’re finished to marvel at how far I’ve come linguistically.

4.15pm: Workshop ends and “class” is dispersed. I can sense the accountants realise the mountain of work that needs to be done, but I’m encouraged by their determination to improve things. I make a few notes in my work pad, and take a moment to absorb what just happened before leaving for the day.

5.00pm: I’m out the door. Tomorrow, I’ll be heading out with the HROC team at 7am to a small town about 2hrs drive away called Mutaho, in the province of Gitega. There’s a celebration ceremony as the team hand out water bio-filters to the locals with instructions on how to use them. A photo-op for me, as well as a chance to see how things really are in the smaller towns. On Saturday, I’ve been invited to a traditional Burundian wedding. Another great photo-op!
As I head home, I think to myself; if I could get a sponsor, I would definitely stay here for a year!

The hard truth

Time is never enough. Lasting change is hard to implement and maintain.
These are assertions anyone who’s been working at an NGO would profess, and truths I’m going to have to accept.

In the 5 days I’ve been here, I’ve met over 20 foreign NGO workers from a wide array of countries including England, France, Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Germany, USA, Togo, Kenya and Cameroon (to name a few). It’s like being in an NGO bubble. The passion to develop sustainable communities is present in these individuals, and even more vehemently in the locals that work for the non-governmental organisations. After speaking with the local staff at the organisations with which I’m working, I’m lost for words at the sacrifices they make in the name of developing their communities.

But building capacity and implementing change isn’t easy, and the obstacles one encounters are constant and very challenging. Intense competition for donor funds means great ideas often don’t come to fruition. Lack of local capacity means over-reliance is placed on foreign workers with no resources to develop the local staff. And then of course, there are those who actually benefit from the status quo and therefore create impediments to change. Conflict zones are often the sites of obstructive policies. With so much international funds pouring into these countries, there’s no real rush to implement changes that would be successful and thus consequently reduce the amount of foreign aid sent to these countries. And so change is sometimes unnecessarily slow, whilst those who badly need it could not want it quicker.
So, as change slowly takes its course, I think of the passion of those who are desperate to make a difference, and consider how the lives of the local community would be changed.

All together now

It’s 7am on Saturday and the sight shocks me. Scores of people going up and down the road. Some running. Some walking. Some in groups. Some alone. Cars are yet to be seen.

I’m told every Saturday is “Community Works” day; no cars are allowed to drive between 7.30am and 10.30am without a permit, and shops are generally not open during that time either. Today will be different due to the governing national party congress that will be held later in the afternoon.

But the idea of a community work period intrigues me. The time is set aside for people to help their community in some way; either by getting their places in order, or by some other community work. I’m told the President could be found doing some farming and talking to locals in rural areas during this period.

With poverty eradication, reconstruction and economic recovery being some of the main policy aims of the President who inherited a country devastated by 12 years of civil war, one should applaud these measures to pull the people of the country together in order to jointly lift themselves out of poverty (current GDP per capita is around $160 – the lowest in the world!) But in a democratic society where free will should prevail, is the passing of a bill for citizens to compulsorily do community service the right approach?

As I join the Diplomat on her daily 5 mile walk with her bodyguard, I wonder what else this country has in store for me…