Burundi.... Isn't that in India?

When I first started telling people that I got a job in Burundi I was met with a lot of confusion. Most people  had very little idea where Burundi actually was. While at least four people thought it was in India, most people knew it was somewhere in Africa but had no idea where.  So, I thought I would use this opportunity to educate you all about this tiny, beautiful country.

Burundi is a small country located in East Africa. It is bordered by Rwanda to the North, Tanzania to the East and South and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the West. The tiny country has a population of somewhere around 8 million people, most of whom live in the rural hills as subsistence farmers. The capital city is called Bujumbura and is located right on the north eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. This lake is large enough to have a small tide and lots of sandy gorgeous beaches. It is also home to hippos and crocodiles.

Burundi has just emerged from a 13 year long civil war and has had several conflicts, wars, coups and assassinations since its independence in 1961. The peace is still unstable and the country has a lot of obstacle still to face. A staggering 56% *of the population is aged 18 or below and one in every five people are children under 5 years of age. This means there is a huge burden on the under equipped education system and that the majority of the population is not being ‘productive’ in the economy. However, it also means that there is an overwhelming amount of potential for such a young country filled with so much promise.

The average life expectancy at birth of a Burundian born in the early 1970s was 44 years. By 1992, the average Burundian could expect to live almost ten years longer to the age of 54. But by 1999, average life expectancy had dropped to a new low of 43 years. In 2004, this had barely moved with an average life expectancy of 46.6 years. Maternal mortality rates have risen more than 82% since 1992 with an estimated 800 maternal deaths to every 100,000 live births, and infant mortality rate is as high as 106/1000. Mortality rates in children who are less than five years old is a whooping 385/1000 – this is more than twice the global average. In development these statistics are important indicators for the overall health of a population and of the health care system.  I know my friends who are doulas, midwives and who work in maternal health will find these statistics especially striking, and heartbreaking.

Burundi has two, and in some places three growing seasons and there is rain about 60% of the year. It is hard to believe that such a lush, green country can struggle to feed itself but only about 28% of the population is ‘food secure.’ That means that a full 75% of the population faces times throughout the year where they don’t have enough food. There are high levels of chronic malnutrition, especially in children, all over the country. When children don’t have enough to eat, or are missing basic nutrition, they are more susceptible to disease, they don’t develop properly and they have trouble concentrating and learning in school. People were displaced during the war, leaving their land untended. Infrastructure such as roads was destroyed making buying new seeds and equipment difficult and taking product to market challenging. The rain patterns are changing here because of climate change. All of this adds up to serious challenges in meeting this densely populated country’s food needs.

Burundi faces a lot of challenges. But it holds a great deal of promise as well. The people are resilient, friendly and creative. Burundians are multilingual with people in Bujumbura speaking Kirundi, Swahili, French and now more and more, English. There is a lot of potential for growth. This country is a tourists dream. But there is a lot of work to be done.

I am spending my days reading reports about my organizations work here in Burundi and it is encouraging. But I am also spending my days reading about, and meeting about, all the needs there are. There are so many things we want to do, that we are trying to do, but as much as WV is a huge organization world wide, we are very small in Burundi and we have a very small budget. There are limits to what we can do with it. So I am spending my days trying to figure out how we can better partner with other organizations here, and how we can win grants from donors to improve and expand our work. I spend my days reading these heartbreaking statistics while I am cocooned in the relative wealth in the capital city. I struggle with opening my heart to the poverty, suffering and challenges of the people here while at the same time guarding it so that I am not overwhelmed. It is an ongoing struggle, but one I welcome.

*the statistics I have used in this post come from internal organizational documents but are based on figures from various annual reports from the UNDP, as well as from the World Bank and the Government of Burundi. If you have questions about the exact sources please let me know and I will give you proper citations.