I am sitting in our bedroom in Bujumbura, Burundi. The afternoon is warm and humid. I have the laptop on my lap (hence the name) and I’ve put a spare folded bedsheet on my legs to keep the heat from coming up from the computer. Hank is resting, having preached a very good sermon from Luke 24 on the Holy Spirit, part of a series that the church, Partners Trust International, is doing in anticipation of Pentecost next Sunday. He was translated into French for the first time this year, since everywhere else in Burundi we have been translated into Kirundi, the local language. We hope to go to an international service this afternoon where all the expatriates and interested Burundians gather to worship in English and French. Then after that we hope to have a nice dinner with Freddy and Marie-Josée Tuyezere as a thank you for hosting us.
A Burundi Sunrise (courtesy of Donna Edwards)
The Orphanage and Freddy and Marie-Josée
Freddy and Marie-Josée are a special Burundian couple that we met in 2001, the first year that we taught for a term at ESSA, Evangelical Seminary of Southern Africa, in Pietermaritzburg, South. He was already the director of Youth for Christ in Burundi then and he invited us to come. This is our second visit. They have three young boys, so the house is not quiet. But they do have a spare bedroom, so we get to live with a local family, something many times we do not get to do, staying instead in a guest house. Most Africans we know have their bedrooms filled with relatives, so they are unusual in saving a room for visitors. It’s a great experience for these young Burundian boys to meet people from around the world.
Freddy and Marie-Josée have also started an orphanage under YFC sponsorship. A lot of teams come from the USA and Canada to help the staff there. When we were here two years ago, they had just bought the land. Now there are three home units with 6 children each and one mother, as well as an administration block. They will soon build a medical clinic, have a two room school to be expanded to include local village children, and will over the next while add five more units. There are so many children who have lost parents here due to the civil war which is not well known like Rwanda’s short war, as well as from AIDS. Some children can be placed with extended family, but many families cannot afford to take more children. Burundians in general are very poor. Their cattle were killed for food by rebel troops and the herds are not yet rebuilt to supply milk and meat. (A man this morning mentioned that before the missionaries ever came Burundians called their country a land of milk and honey, just like God described Israel.) So the Burundians are looking for overseas help to replenish their stock. The same is true of chickens. In some countries you see chickens everywhere; here, not as much.
(photo courtesy of http://www.bridgecity.org/Africa/AfricaBlogPage.php)
Burundi: Crisis Comparable to Rwanda
Burundians are not receiving the attention and resources from overseas that Rwandans have received since their war was not so much intense as it was extended over time. But YFC USA and Canada are doing very well in supporting this particular orphanage with funds and people. Last year they received a gift of US$80,000 to get started. In the end they will need approximately one million to complete the project. Then they hope to build another one. They’ve also bought additional land to be able to grow cattle and produce milk and vegetables in support of the orphanage. It’s exciting!
WEEKEND: April 25-27
Community Service Before Noon, Rebel Attacks Before Midnight
In some ways, it’s been a full week since we arrived a week ago this past Friday. In other ways, not. We hit the ground running, having arrived at noon on Friday and having our first marriage session at 3.00 pm. Here people tend to meet in the late afternoon and finish by 6.00 so as not to be out much after dark. (The roads outside the city are dangerous after dark because that is when the rebels are free to move about. They tend to hold up vehicles at gunpoint. We would not even consider going out then. During the day the main roads in and out of Bujumbura are guarded by national soldiers and local police to ensure the rebels cannot rob.)
So we had our first session and arrived at Freddy’s house for supper around 7.00. We were quite exhausted and fell asleep easily. Strangely enough the Saturday session did not begin until 11.00 due to the fact that the country has an enforced community service until then. If you are found outside your own walls, you will be conscripted to help clean and clear the city streets.
One of the “Blessings” of Foreign Aid
We went from 11.00 to 7.00. Lunch was a dry bread roll and a banana. Sometimes rich visitors will cover the cost of the lunch, which we were not expected to do, and don’t usually do. (The UN and other aid agencies have created a situation where people expect to be fed, kept in nice rooms, and even given a seating stipend, that is, paying them to sit in the meetings. Now people often won’t go to a meeting if these things are not provided.) So we were grateful for the 25-30 couples that came despite the bread roll, banana and Coke.
We were exhausted again, with the heat, working with translation, and communicating with non-English speakers. Sunday we met from 3.00 – 6.00 pm which finished the seminar. Our hosts, Theophile and Clemence seemed very appreciative. They have started a marriage ministry with their own funds and counsel couples in trouble or experiencing domestic violence. They also organize seminars such as ours and speak on a family radio programme done once a week. (That reminds me that one of the unique things of arriving in the Bujumbura airport was to hear James Dobson in English on the radio broadcast in the background – that was a first.)
MONDAY: APRIL 28
Monday morning we breakfasted with a former IFES worker, Emmanuel, whom we had met a few years ago. Since we have also worked with IFES, we have a lot of the same ethos and perspectives on ministry. He started the church where Hank preached this morning. He wants to train university graduates to be able to serve better in the church and also train many of the local pastors who have received no biblical training at all (apparently a very chronic problem). He would like us to come and help teach for as short or long a period as we would wish. (We doubt we will because the heat is really debilitating.)
TUESDAY: APRIL 29
Remnants of the Civil War: Memorials and Orphans
Tuesday we headed “up country” (like Addis Ababa) to Gitega. Because Bujumbura the capital is at lake level, everything outside Buj is “up country.” But Gitega is very high in the mountains of Burundi, about two hours away at the very center of the country. We left in the afternoon and it was decided to stay overnight since it would not be safe to travel back after dark. We saw many soldiers, in groups of three, spaced about a kilometer or two apart along the route, guarding against rebel robbery. We did not feel unsafe. We stopped midway to visit the memorial to the genocide. Before the plane crash that killed both the Burundian and the Rwanda presidents, the previous president of Burundi, a Hutu, was assassinated. Near this memorial was a school where the principal was an extremist Hutu. He told the Tutsi students to run for their lives. They did, and hid in a gas station. Some Hutus chased them, locked them in the gas station, and then burned them alive. The memorial say “plus jamais ca” – never again.
Every year local people hold a memorial service for the slain students, and this is done in various places where such atrocities were committed. We were very moved to visit this spot again. It seems incredible that in a place so beautiful with people so lovely that such a thing could have happened.
Gitega is the site of the orphanage YFC sponsors. We loved the warm greetings that we received from the 20 youngsters – from toddlers to age 8 – and their caregivers. They all regard our friend Freddy as their father. One little girl said, “Our first father was killed by wild animals (what is commonly told to children when a parent is no longer there due to death or abandonment), but now we have a new one.” Two of the small children were smiling but also punching him and speaking in Kirundi. I asked Freddy what they were saying. He replied, “They are asking me, ‘Where have you been?’” (He comes once a week.)
They all sat on mats and were served meals by their caregivers (“the mothers” who themselves were rescued out of destitution and discipled) and some volunteers from a multinational team from YWAM in Northern Ireland. (Crazy – all these people from around the world!) who were there for a week. The directors appreciate any and all the help that comes. A young Kenyan graduate was there for a year to teach the children English. They would come up to us and shake our hands. When we would say, “How are you,” they would parrot, “Fine thank you and how are you?” When we asked their names, they would parrot, “My name is ….. What is your name?” and it gave them such pleasure. I told them I was Catarina, since this is easier for them than Cathy. We really enjoyed seeing all that God is doing there. Remarkable!
a classroom in the school at Gitega, courtesy yfcedmonton.ca
THURSDAY: MAY 1
Different Dinners, Same Arguments
So we returned late from Gitega Wed afternoon and Thursday I (Cathy) joined Theophile and Clemence to drive three hours along Lake Tanganyika (so beautiful) to do a two day marriage seminar for the churches of Makamba. It was a public holiday. Being a country with Catholic influence, Pentecost Thursday was one holiday, and they postponed May 1st Workers Day until the Friday.
The road was treacherous, full of holes and people and goats walking on the side. Our driver, as my dad would say, drove like Jehu, and it made me glad that people pray for our safety. A number of times he would brake very suddenly due to a pothole or speed bump, and Clemence and I would look at each other and say, “Good brakes.” She doesn’t know much English, so that was our little joke.
The chaos of Burundi roads: these men are hitching a ride to Rwanda
We arrived at 1.20 pm for a meeting scheduled to start at 1.00. But thanks to “African time” (we start when everyone arrives) we were able to eat before heading over to the church. I had two hours to teach the Conflict section of Song of Solomon which Hank and I usually do together. But Clemence and Theo had requested this since many African Christian couples do not know how to handle this (just like North Americans!). Afterwards Clemence had a question and answer period. Since Clemence speaks on national radio, they were very excited to see the face behind the voice and interacted very well with her. A man asked, “When I’ve been away for three days, I ask my wife how everything is, and all she will say is “fine.” What do I do? What is amazing is that often the spouse is sitting right there when his/her partner blurts out this problem. What Clemence did the second day was have a panel of five women come out and give the woman’s perspective and then the same with the men.
So by late afternoon everyone hurried to get home before dark and our host, a pastor and his family had us for a meal. We ate lingalinga – a green vegetable like spinach, cassava leaves, similar but more bitter, fried matoke (green bananas), rice, fried potatoes, avocado and tomato. The spread was incredible, and since I had not put much food on my plate at lunch, the host-pastor filled my plate for me. (I had a hard time sleeping after that.) I think I remember my sister Jeanne talking about all the food she was served when she was back in Burkina Faso. I almost think that not to have an appetite is a sin.
One of the issues Clemence and her husband address is nutrition, since Burundians put oil in everything and fry most things in palm oil, which is their local oil source. She’s been trying to get them to use less oil and margarine and eat more vegetables.
My room was very interesting. They gave me the ensuite – the front room was empty except for a TV which was brought in with two straight back chairs. The back room had no window and smelled moldy. The bathroom was typical of the region with a step into shower area next to a western style toilet, no shower curtain and running cold water. Not every place has such a luxury by any means and I was being treated very well.
Maybe we’ll get to upload photos some time of this room. I left the bedroom door open so that I had some air flowing through. This room, unlike some of the others, did not have a mosquito net, so some mosquitoes came through the bathroom vents near the ceiling. I was grateful that I was taking my malaria pills!
FRIDAY: MAY 2
Breakfast was back at the pastor’s home. I felt honoured that he himself served us, along with his wife and family. (At one point we could see all the children involved in cooking over the open fires to make the fried bananas and fried potatoes [French fries].) Many pastors would consider this beneath them, so we were very touched. We had weak tea from a flask with powdered milk (very expensive) and lots of sugar plus dry bread with margarine if you wanted it. The second day we also had fried matoke for breakfast, a first for me, but it did mean I didn’t get hungry for the four hour trip home.
Yum, matoke! Made from green bananas and
potatoes cooked with onions and tomatoes
The second day Clemence asked if I would address sexual, money and inlaw issues as well as communication. Thankfully, Genesis 2.18-25 covers the issues so well, and Song of Solomon the communication issues, so it was a delight to be able just to teach what God says about these things. My translator, Domitien, did a wonderful job and I am told that people really appreciated what they heard. Apparently Clemence was almost in tears talking about what a blessing it was to hear what the Bible has to say. Well, if that was so, then my work there was finished! I do truly believe that God’s word has the power to transform us once we understand what is required. Then we just need to act!! So that is my prayer for these people, and that they understood what they heard well enough to teach others. Because Africans are often such an “oral culture” it is quite possible that they have the talks nearly memorized in their heads. Many pastors and wives were there so we really hope they took it in well.
We are talking with the translator we had about the possibility of his translating our book into French. He has such a love for Scripture and so enjoyed teaching with us that he might just be the right person, and we might be able to afford his fees. He himself runs another training centre for pastors.
SATURDAY: MAY 3
We came home Saturday morning via an inland route with better roads and passed through a rice growing area where the people are said to be able to fly. It does seem that it might be so, done by witchcraft. We also stopped to see a source of the Nile, the furthest from the mouth of the Nile.
(photo courtesy of http://www.bridgecity.org/Africa/AfricaBlogPage.php) 
We were exhausted again, with the heat, working with translation, and communicating with non-English speakers. Sunday we met from 3.00 – 6.00 pm which finished the seminar. Our hosts, Theophile and Clemence seemed very appreciative. They have started a marriage ministry with their own funds and counsel couples in trouble or experiencing domestic violence. They also organize seminars such as ours and speak on a family radio programme done once a week. (That reminds me that one of the unique things of arriving in the 
Every year local people hold a memorial service for the slain students, and this is done in various places where such atrocities were committed. We were very moved to visit this spot again. It seems incredible that in a place so beautiful with people so lovely that such a thing could have happened.
