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In a couple of hours, we will be heading to the airport for our trip home. Leah and I have had a wonderful time doing development photography in Rwanda and Burundi. And besides the hundreds of photos, we will be writing several articles for ABS to use in their publications.
We’ll arrive back in Philly on Monday evening.
First of all, Burundi is a beautiful country. At 11,000 square miles, it is about 1/4 the size of the state of Pennsylvania. But the population is about the same. Twelve million in PA, and about nine or ten million in Burundi.
Like Rwanda (its neighbor to the north), Burundi has a long history of tensions between the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority. These two groups lived in relative peace until the first colonialists arrived and began to treat the Tutsi with favor. Although the violence in Burundi did not match the scale of violence seen in the Rwandan genocide, fighting has continued here until as recently as last week.
In fact, the day before we arrived in Burundi, the rebel group that hides in the beautiful Burundian forests signed a peace treaty with the government! A man staying at our hotel commented on our great timing, and said that he heard shelling quite near our hotel just a few days before we arrived. But things have been very calm since we got here.
We made it back from a two-day trip out into the mountains where we visited a prison, a hospital, and a high-school HIV/AIDS program. The people of Burundi (much like the people of Rwanda) have been very hospitable. Leah and I have been inspired by the work that they are doing to bring peace, health, education, and spiritual renewal to all people here.
Leah and I feel quite lucky to be able to listen to their stories. Our hope is that, through writing and photography, we can share those stories and somehow narrow the perceived gap between people.
Today is our last full day in Africa, and we are looking forward to being home! We will post one final entry tomorrow, then it’s back on a plane for thirty more hours of waiting and sitting and flying and (every once in a while) napping.
We are now enjoying the beautiful and very fascinating country of Burundi! This is a small country just south of Rwanda (see the map on our “Rwanda tomorrow” entry).
The photos in this post are from Rwanda, because I have not had time to organize our first batch of photos from Burundi.
We don’t have long to write because we are going out into the countryside today. We will stay in a village overnight and return to the capital, Bujumbura, tomorrow evening. So we won’t have internet access for the next day or two.
But so far, we have really enjoyed Burundi. The food is spectacular, and our hosts are very nice and
accommodating. We will post photos from our first day here when we return from our excursion. We visited a school yesterday, and met some wonderful students who are leading an HIV/AIDS awareness group in their high school. Check back soon for some photos.
We hope you are doing well, and we will write more soon!
Today (Monday) is our last full day in Rwanda. We leave tomorrow afternoon for Burundi — a full half-hour plane ride from here.
Yesterday, we visited a church, and got to see a Sunday School program in action. We were really touched by the creative and generous spirit of this congregation. The children were so eager to learn, and many shared stories about how their lives have changed since the program began.
We’re not sure what we’re going to see (or do) in Burundi, but we’re looking forward to this next week of our trip! Leah and I have enjoyed getting to know Allen, the videographer with whom we’re travelling, and have really enjoyed working with him here.
Our internet connection has been somewhat unreliable, but check back when you can, and we will post updates whenever we have a good connection.
Today began like most days: with a cup of coffee. But after that, Leah and I climbed into an SUV and set out for our first-ever visit to a Rwandan prison.
Along the way, we saw a cool (but apparently quite poisonous) snake.
And also, the engine overheated. But thanks to the passerby with a water container, we were back on the road in no time.
Eventually, we made it to the prison, where we heard some fascinating stories about what’s happening in the wake of the Rwandan genocide. Most of the over 7,000 people in the prison were there because of some atrocity they committed during the genocide.
But in an effort to stop the cycle of violence and retribution, a prisoner can be released if he or she admits the crime, apologizes to the family, and participates in a program of healing, reconciliation and forgiveness.
We will be visiting another prison tomorrow, as well as an HIV/AIDS program. We will continue to post updates of our activities when we have time. For now, it’s time for us to go eat dinner, relax, and get plenty of sleep for tomorrow!
