HROC just had some great news.  The Advanced workshop we held in Rurengera in December (see below) has spawned a follow-up initiative among some of the participants.  Inspired by the workshop, they’ll be forming their own group, which will meet regularly to continue discussion trauma recovery and reconciliation, and to share the lessons they’ve learned with other residents of Rurengera.  This is exactly what HROC strives for: to empower people to work for the kinds of communities that they want to live in.

Yesterday was a welcome day off for the Day of National Unity.  Most people use it as a day to rest and don’t particularly celebrate, and it’s easy to understand why they’re jaded: it was instituted in 1992, one year before the beginning of the bloody twelve-year-long civil war.  I was graciously invited to the home of Adrien, HROC coordinator.  We had lunch and took a walk around his neighborhood, Gasenyi.  Located at the outskirts of Bujumbura, near the hills that were a bastion of one of the main rebel groups, it was a major battleground in the conflict.  Though the abandoned and crumbling houses testify to this, it is still hard to picture soldiers on the sunny and green meadows.  Also striking was the number of new and half-finished homes.  Much like American exurbs, the land is being snatched up and prices are skyrocketing.  Because the cost of construction materials is high right now, there are many building projects on hold while people save up for more materials.  According to Adrien, as soon as people get the door on, they move in, and indeed, most of the Burundians I’ve met say their houses aren’t finished.  I had a great afternoon, and don’t regret forgoing a trip up to the Monument to National Unity.

Finally, a little taste of how I’ve been spending my free time these past few weeks:

1. Learning to cook with the imbabura: charcoal stove.  I’ve been making beans, fried imikeke (fish unique to Lac Tanganyika, which I learned how to gut), fried green bananas, fried sweet potatoes.  I am getting better at managing the coals, too.
2. Reading.  Moby Dick and Hundred Years of Solitude have been the most recent installments.  Also, I’ve been puzzling through the Burundian newspapers, dictionary in hand.
3. Volleyball and swimming on the beach at the Hotel Club du Lac Tanganyika.  There’s a sizeable collection of internationals that have made this a regular Saturday and Sunday affair.
4. Capoeira at the Belgian School.  The headmaster teaches a twice-weekly class…in French.  Lots of breathless stuttering about whether or not I’m doing the kick correctly.
5. Listening to Radio France International, the BBC, and Burundian oldies on our newly purchased radio
6. Applying for jobs for my return…any suggestions?