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Burundi is a small country nestled in the heart of Africa, sitting along Lake Tanganyika near its neighbors, Congo and Rwanda. The United Nations often ranks Burundi among the poorest nations of the world, usually it is noted as the third poorest country on the globe. Burundi has three tribes that reside in on its many hills and in its few cities; the Hutu, Tusti and the Batwa. The later are the indigenous people who have inhabited the forests and roamed the land of Burundi for generations as hunter-gathers.
In recent generations the Batwa have been displaced from their lands by the civil war between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes, leaving them to live a precarious existence on the edges of society without any land, protection or means of a viable livelihood. This tribe (also known as ‘pygmies’ throughout the Great Lakes region) suffers marginalization by the majority of the population, treated as dispensable, laughable and most often invisible. The Batwa people are certainly ‘the least of these’ in the Burundian context.
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A myriad of challenges face the Batwa communities scattered across the Burundian landscape. The Batwa people were traditionally hunter-gathers, but forced out of the forest they have lost their ancestral livelihood and home. Lack of land ownership is the most vivid indicator of the dire poverty of these people. No land means no means to generate income from a crop, no ability to grow food to feed your family, no permanent address to secure government assisted health care, no place for a stable home that can withstand the rainy season or monsoons. No land means no hope, in the most basic sense. The other trade they inherited was that of pottery, they craft clay pots with such symmetry and beauty that once were the vessels used only for cooking. Now cheap imports from China flood the local streets, eroding the market for the Batwa pottery. Thus, another source of income is washed away, leaving them as vulnerable and invisible as ever. They live with no homeland, no viable income, insufficient food and water, little representation or protection… and the added challenge of education for their children.
In Batwa villages you will find many children, but few students. It is a reminder that education is still one of the largest hurdles on the horizon for the Batwa. Too often families cannot afford school fees; let alone uniforms, books and supplies that are required for each student. Most of the Batwa villages don’t have access to local schools because they are more than a reasonable walking distance away, and thus prohibit the Batwa children from any realistic participation in the school system. When families do manage to enroll their children in classes, they are so ridiculed by others (including teachers) that the trauma often overcomes their best educational efforts. The final result is that few make it to primary school, fewer graduate to the next level and precious few can endure to complete secondary school. Education remains a present day obstacle course for the Batwa people.
When speaking with the few students among the Batwa, the stories break your heart. One student tells of how she and her two sisters shared one school uniform. This meant that she could only attend class every third day, when it was her turn to wear the uniform. “It was hard to keep up with the class and my other classmates when I was missing so many days of instruction each month,” she lamented. Another young man told us that his family was blessed enough to live close to a school, and he was able to even get schoolbooks. But when the monsoons season came, there was no dry place to put his books and papers because they lived in a grass hut, so the rains ruined them all. Many students told us that going to school remains hard because they are often hungry, some families eating only two meals in an entire week. One young girl said, “it was hard for me to concentrate on letters and numbers when my stomach was empty.” These are the concrete challenges to education for Batwa children. Food, shelter and finances all play into the hardships that beset this minority indigenous tribe in Burundi.
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But the tide is turning for one small community of 30 Batwa families in Matara. Sponsored by Children’s Hunger Relief Fund, families in this village are getting a chance at a better life, and that includes education for their children. Matara is the site for a holistic community development project that is providing the opportunity for landless families to acquire land, plant crops, raise livestock and build permanent (and weather-proof) homes with access to a fresh water source just meters from the village. Just a short walk down the road is a local primary school, and so now even education for their children is within reach! The 71 children of Matara have been enrolled in the school and are set to begin in September. A social worker for the community has agreed to advocate for the students, ensuring they are treated well by schoolteachers, administrators and fellow students. The children will be able to walk to school, have enough food to sustain them, and even a dry place for their books. This time they will have a real chance at success in school.
However, there are still needs to be met in order for these children to be ready for class in September. All 71 Batwa children in Matara need uniforms, shoes as well as school supplies and books. You can help these children transform into students with a Back to School gift! $30.00 will outfit and equip one student for the full year school, giving them the final things necessary to be ready to succeed in their education. Your gift can send these children to school dressed for success, with a backpack of supplies to ensure they are ready to learn! They will be the children who break the cycle of poverty in one Batwa community!
Claude Nikondeha
Country Director
Community For (Burundi) |
