Archive for May, 2008
Thursday, May 29th, 2008
Goats for Widows
Yesterday I traveled up country to the town of Rurengera to observe the delivery of 11 goats to some widows who lost their husbands to violence. Rurengera is about 2 hours outside of Bujumbura towards the center of Burundi, beyond the city of Muramvya.
On the way, we stopped at Kibimba to give a lift to […]
No Comments » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Monday, May 26th, 2008
Ceasefire Signed
The FNL rebels and the government today jointly announced that they had reached an agreement on a ceasefire.
This is obviously good news, but given that a ceasefire was also signed in 2006 and was never implemented, there is reason to be cautious in one’s optimism. As was the case earlier, the trouble lies in […]
No Comments » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
Kamenge Clinic - A first look
Today I traveled to the health clinic run by the Friends Women’s Association that I will be working with to raise funds. The clinic is run by women, and is located in Kamenge, a poor district a few kilometers outside Bujumbura.
The clinic started in 2003 in a house in another location, while the current building […]
No Comments » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
Hutu and Tutsi in a Lonely Planet
Not much news here – the FNL delegation to Bujumbura (see May 9 post) has been delayed until Friday because no earlier flight was available. Instead I want to begin to discuss the topic of how Hutu-Tutsi relations came to be what they are today.
According to the Lonely Planet East Africa:
The tall, warriorlike […]
No Comments » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Saturday, May 10th, 2008
Arrival in Bujumbura
So after a few long plane rides I successfully made it to Bujumbura!
No flight troubles, no baggage trouble, no visa troubles, and Adrien (who I will be working with) was there to greet me at the airport. So I found myself quite relieved to be here, and very relaxed. Things have a definite calm feeling […]
No Comments » - Posted in All Quiet on the Quaker Front by andrewdasein
Friday, May 9th, 2008
Burundi Bound
So tonight I fly out of London on Ethiopian Airlines first to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, then stop briefly in Kigali, Rwanda before arriving in Bujumbura, Burundi tomorrow at 1 p.m. Bujumbura, where I’ll be living, is the capital of Burundi and has about 800,000 residents.
Many people have asked if I am apprehensive about leaving for […]
