U.S Immigration Officer: Burundi? Are you sure you're not from Burma?

The Village Health Works founder, Deo Niyizonkiza, tells this story of arriving at a US airport and getting through the long line at immigration, only to have the immigration officer ask him if he's sure he's not from Burma.  The man behind the desk had not heard of Burundi, nor could he find it on a country list.  Deo politely indicated that he was sure of the name of his home country, but the immigration officer remained unconvinced.  So don't feel bad - you're not alone.  Most people have not heard of this tiny east african nation.

The Kingdom of Burundi, in central east africa on the shores of the expansive Lake Taganyika, had been in existence since at least the 16th century.  After World War I, Ruanda-urundi, encompassing both modern-day Rwanda and Burundi, was colonized under Belgian rule.  Independence was not regained until well after World War II, in 1962.

Burundi has roughly the land area of Massachusetts, and its population of just under 8 million (less than NYC) is similar to that of Rwanda - Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa, and like Rwanda, Burundi suffered a crippling civil war in the early 1990's, just 20 years after a devastating genocide in the early 1970's that wiped out close to 300,000 of its people.  Unlike Rwanda, however, the ethnic conflict in Burundi that began in the early 1990's lasted much longer - over a decade, in fact.  The final rebel group to agree to peace did not do so until 2006.  The first post-transitional president, Pierre Nkurunziza, elected in 2005, is still in power today.

When I meet these lovely people, they have such gentle kind spirits, it's hard to imagine what they've endured.  Someone was sharing a story about a local driver who was shot and killed some years back along one of the roadways; one of my colleagues gently mentioned that he had been in the truck when it happened, as though he was saying that he had just finished an errand or something equally mundane.  I suppose years of the type of tragedy that Burundians have known desensitizes one to such horrors.  I look into the kind eyes of my colleagues here and can't help but wonder what atrocities they have known, and how it has changed each of them.  But one does not ask about such things.

The effects of war on the country were of course massive; Burundi is currently the world's fourth poorest country.  Hundreds of thousands of Burundian refugees fled to neighboring countries such as Tanzania and the DRC where many still live. These refugees are now starting to return to their home country, many to peace villages that have been created by the government in partnership with the UN - groups of two-room concrete homes with tin roofs.  

While shadows of the ethnic conflict remain, people are living together in peace, across ethnic backgrounds.  The greater concern for returning refugees is the lack of food.  The peace villages provide only enough space to live, not to harvest crops or keep livestock.  Medical care is also a concern as the state-run hospitals incarcerate anyone unable to pay for treatment so people often only go to the hospital once their ailment can no longer be endured, which often means something that may have been initially easily treatable has progressed into a major medical issue.

Village Health Works is a vision that began with the desire to provide superior health care to anyone in need, regardless of ability to pay, and has since expanded to include community programs, education, and food security.  I will write more about these exciting projects in the coming days.

So where in the world am I?  Kigutu is the name of our mountain-top village, though if you search Kigutu on google maps, you will be misled.  The VHW site is south of the capital, Bujumbura, just along the lake, while there is apparently another Kigutu east of the capital, halfway to Tanzania; I am not there.  Rather I am here, overlooking this beautiful body of water out my office window, listening to the rolling thunder, feeling the breeze blow as the rain begins to teem once again, feeling blessed.