Grass-roots peacebuilding in Burundi

2009-02-18T05:45:00.000-08:00

This weekend I attended the wedding of Solange, HROC facilitator in Rwanda. She’s spent lots of time in Burundi, so my colleagues were excited to attend, and she equally excited to have them present.

The weekend began with the seven-hour bus trip, winding our way up to Kigali, stopping for corn and brochettes along the way. We stayed at Friends Peace House, a verdant compound which was formerly a school, and is now a base of operations for many peace initiatives. After hearing so much about this place, I was glad to see it myself. As colleagues said, it’s widely known in Kigali—all I had to say was “Friends…Kicukiro,” and all the cab drivers knew exactly where to take me. No such luck in Bujumbura.

The dowry ceremony was my favorite part of the wedding. The bride’s family and guests wait at her house for the groom’s party to arrive. When they do, they sat across the courtyard. An uncle from each side was given a microphone, and engaged in a dialogue that went something like this:

Bride’s Uncle: “Beautiful day”
Groom’s Uncle: “Yes, beautiful day”
BU: “We’re so glad you could come to celebrate the completion of the road in front of our house”
GU: “Yes it’s a beautiful road. There was one other small matter we wanted to discuss with you.”
BU: “Oh, no need to rush into things.”
GU: “It’s about a daughter of yours. My nephew would like to marry her.”
BU: “Oh, I’m terribly sorry, but we promised her to another family just a couple of months ago.”
GU: “I’m sure there is some mistake. Solange?”

…Twenty minutes of this sort of evasion on the part of the bride’s family; crowd in stitches…

BU: “OH, Solange, yes, actually it was her twin we promised to another family. We would be happy to have your nephew marry Solange”

Another highlight was when they actually brought the dowry—the cows—into the yard. An old man sang a song about how good the cows were. The church service followed, which drew a whopping 7 pastors (a testament to Solange’s popularity). Next, a reception, with military procession and the groom cutting the cake with his sword. Finally, a ceremony of presenting the bride and groom with food for two weeks, so that they could live comfortably and return to work on Monday. Total Fanta count for the day: three.

Kigali is striking for its order and cleanliness. Spread over hills and valleys, the roads weave their way between neighborhoods. The tourist infrastructure is readily visible here. There’s lots of English, the new official language, and people are eager to engage the muzungus. There’s even a Nakumatt, which is more or less East African WalMart. I bought a Cormac McCarthy book, to give you an idea.

I was grateful for the chance to explore Kigali beyond the bus station, but as usual I felt pretty good rolling back into Buja.

Quaker views on violence in the eastern DRC

2009-02-12T01:09:00.000-08:00

DECLARATION BY CENTRAL AFRICAN QUAKERS REGARDING THE CRITICAL SITUATION IN THE EAST OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)

Bujumbura, Burundi 22 January 2009

We, members of Quaker Peace Network-Central Africa, gathered for a conference in Bujumbura, Burundi from January 19-23, 2009, are deeply concerned by the current situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). After exchanging information with colleagues in the region, we were devastated by their accounts of the conditions currently facing the population of eastern DRC:

- The war continues to rage

- Massacres of innocent populations, especially women and children, are committed day by day

- Rapes of young girls, mothers, and old women are commonplace

- The population continues to pour into Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps and flee the country. Deaths pile up in the IDP camps (5-6 deaths a day in Bulengo)

- Hunger, malnutrition, and lack of shelter affect all

- Villages are burned in their entirety

- Kidnapping and forced enrollment of young, especially children. Torture, including castration, is inflicted on those who refuse to join armed groups

Considering that an agreement signed on January 16 between the Congolese and Rwandan governments to pursue the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and the Interahamwe (armed groups, some of whose members are accused of perpetrating the 1994 genocide in Rwanda) will surely exacerbate the situation and cause more deaths and displacement, there is a major risk of activating conflicts in the countries of the subregion.

Despite this terrifying and alarming situation, the Quakers of the region, especially those in the eastern province of North Kivu, have not ceased providing emotional and material assistance to the victims. An able team of Quakers are undertaking a series of initiatives in Goma, North Kivu:

- Establishing support groups for survivors of rape

- Distributing clothes, food, and soap

- Holding dialogues through Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) and Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities (HROC) workshops

Yet despite the laudable intervention of Quakers in the region, the situation remains far from manageable. Deaths continue to pile up, numbers of displaced grow at an unbelievable rate, such that their needs become even more overwhelming.

Thus, we implore the Quakers of the world to join us without delay in providing immediate relief and:

- In making pleas to the highest possible places, including the United States government, European Union, and the UN, to put active diplomatic pressure on parties to the conflict to stop the despicable crimes and unspeakable violence in eastern DRC, and insist that the UN Mission in DRC, MONUC, takes a more neutral stance in its operations.

- In supporting the Quaker Values in Goma Fund by sending a contribution to the African Great Lakes Initiative (AGLI), using the instructions at the bottom of the page. This money will be used to help meet the needs of the displaced and others, including food, clothing, blankets, and tents to offer temporary shelter to displaced persons.

- In supporting our trauma healing and reconciliation efforts that contribute to the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

Together, we can offer hope to belief in a better future to all the affected populations in the eastern DRC. We thank you in advance for your consideration of our declaration, and assure you of our highest consideration.

For questions regarding this declaration, please contact Adrien Niyongabo, Director, HROC Burundi (adniyo@hotmail.com). For questions regarding Quaker work in the DRC, please contact Pastor Levy Munyemana, Change Agent Peace Program Director in Goma (leviyfcgoma@yahoo.fr), or Anna Crumley-Effinger (anna.crumleyeffinger@gmail.com), who works on Quaker advocacy related to the DRC.

To contribute to the “Quaker Values in Goma” Fund online, please go to the African Great Lakes Initiative website (www.aglionline.org), and click on “Donate”; please put “Quaker Values in Goma” in the “Designate my donation” field.

To contribute by check in the United States, please make the check out to “Friends Peace Teams/AGLI”, write “Quaker Values in Goma” in the memo line, and mail to Friends Peace Teams, 1001 Park Ave, St. Louis, MO 63104. In the United Kingdom, please make the check out to “African Great Lakes Initiative” with “Quaker Values in Goma” in the memo line, and send to Laura Shipler Chico, 33 Caithness Rd, London, W140JA, England.

- Participants of the conference of QPN-Central Africa January 2009

2009-02-06T00:22:00.000-08:00

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:

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.
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.
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.
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.
Listening to Radio France International, the BBC, and Burundian oldies on our newly purchased radio
Applying for jobs for my return…any suggestions?

Quaker Peace Network

2009-01-26T07:21:00.000-08:00

This past week I attended the Quaker Peace Network (QPN) Central Africa gathering, which took place in a conference center here in Bujumbura. This brought together Friends working in Burundi, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to discuss challenges and opportunities in their work and possible areas of collaboration. Among these was election observation in the 2010 Burundian elections. QPN has successfully observed elections in the DRC, Rwanda, Kenya, and Burundi, and is beginning to build a reputation for quality. Successful elections could play a crucial role in helping Burundi consolidate peace, so this work is extremely topical. Overall the gathering was warm, congenial, and each participant brought a unique perspective.

Fascinating discussion took place about the church’s role in politics—why should we even be involved in these initiatives, asked one participant. People ultimately agreed that the church had a role in supporting the wellbeing of the whole person, which meant working for spiritual as well as physical health. We are called to be peacemakers, and we must remember that peace comprises many things. Yet getting to that sense took a long and thoughtful engagement among participants. What also struck me was how similar the tone was to the way American or more liberal Friends would describe their work: These Quakers might invoke the Bible to make a point, but I could easily imagine Quakers back home in my meeting making the same point.

Given the large presence of people working in DRC, the conflict there was a frequent topic of conversation. Ultimately, a statement will be released about the violence there, and Friends’ perspectives on the way to confront it. Yet it wasn’t easy to come to agreement on the emphasis: should the statement emphasize North Kivu? Should it be mostly about Friends work, or mostly about the crisis and their perspectives? Who should it go out to? The outcome was quite interesting, as was the process. When the statement is approved, I’ll share it on this blog.

Hearing these stories of those working for peace in the DRC made me feel unsettled—why was I in Burundi when the needs are so much greater just across the lake? Compared with DRC, Burundi is stable and prospering. But while holding that thought, I recalled the truism that jumping from emergency to emergency mentality is precisely what allows countries like Burundi to fall back into conflict. The “CNN moment” ends, the international community packs its bags, and the country is left with a half-finished job. Burundi is at a crucial and difficult stage right now, and needs resources and support, even as the needs are great in other countries in the region.

As with many gatherings I’ve attended here, there was song, dance, and play. Andrew, the other American, and I were pressured into doing a “traditional dance”, which was comprised of a do-si-do, promenade and much partner swinging, which the Burundians seem to especially enjoy.

I was glad to get other perspectives on peacebuilding work going on in the region. Our colleagues were facing quite different challenges, but in sharing and being in solidarity with one another, we said goodbye feeling fortified and ready to jump back in.

Kamenge

2009-01-18T05:28:00.000-08:00

I’ve had several opportunities in the past two weeks to travel to and explore a new neighborhood of Bujumbura: Kamenge. I’ve been to a meeting of our little youth group, visited the HIV/AIDS clinic of the Friends Women’s Association (FWA), and been to a wedding.

Kamenge is poor and mostly Hutu, about a 15-minute (sweaty) bus ride from city center. It’s a completely different world from Rohero, where I spend most of my time; there are few cars on the dirt streets. Instead, it’s pedestrians of all ages, bikes, motorcycles, and a stream of the telltale white, logo-stickered SUVs of NGOs. The bus stops at the market, which was destroyed during the Crisis. The hollowed-out and roofless building is now surrounded by wooden stalls, where people sell food, bikes, shoes, cloth, etc. etc. Much fighting took place in Kamenge, and people recall destroyed houses and tanks on deserted streets. Partly as a result of the fighting, the neighborhood is struggling to get back on its feet, and its residents face difficult living conditions. Kamenge is also the neighborhood where a large body of Friends live.

Just a hundred yards down from the market is the Friends Church, soil-red with seafoam trim, and bordered on one side by wooden scaffolding for the Church’s planned expansion to accommodate 2,000 people. Three of my four coworkers go to church there.

A little ways into the Friends’ compound is our garden, where a group of Tutsi and Hutu youth gathers every Friday afternoon. In addition to getting scholarships, these youths, mixed Hutu and Tutsi, have taken part in reconciliation workshops and other team- and leadership-building activities. They’ve experienced trauma as much as any other demographic, and are in need of healing. In the garden, we’re growing cabbage, onions, eggplants, and greens. I won’t be here to taste any of it, but I did admire the progress the group has made, turning the trashy and scrappy lot into neat beds of rich soil. I tried my hand at hoeing, but the teens just made fun of me and did my sections over. They garble their French as badly as any American 15-year old does their English.

Undertaking this reconciliation work with such a young group is an interesting idea and an area of exploration for the Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities (HROC) Program, which has so far mostly worked with adults. People talk some about how critical it is to avoid passing on the old divisions to their children, and seem to see their children as ready and able to transcend. So HROC getting this group together holds a lot of promise for future activities.

I also had the opportunity to visit the Friends Women’s Association’s clinic, which seeks to improve health conditions in Kamenge by providing HIV/AIDS testing and counseling. They strive to see the patient holistically, addressing nutrition and opportunistic infections for HIV positive patients. I also got to see how the HIV tests are done, and was impressed at how quick and easy the technology seems. The clinic is working to get anti-retrovirals and, once two more rooms are completed, will be a fully-fledged clinic licensed by the Burundian government. It was a real privilege to see such an inspiring project, and given the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Burundi seems an important initiative.

Finally, I got to attend the wedding of Maurice and Esther, members of the Friends Church in Kamenge. I was surprised overall at how similar it was to an American wedding, only far simpler and lower-key. The bride and groom were married legally in a government building before coming to the church, where they were greeted with choral singing, and two trains of dancing 10-year-olds who processed them down the aisle. There was a small sermon, which contained a fair amount of language about the wife submitting to her husband, which, naturally, set me on edge a little bit. After the signing of a marriage certificate, the whole party piled into cars to travel to different locations in Bujumbura, including the “Tree of Love” (a favorite spot, where it’s not unusual to see two or three wedding parties lined up for their turn to take pictures) and the beach. One couldn’t help but feel jubilant in the midst of this gathering.

I’ve been glad to be seeing this different side of the city, and will be working to find opportunities to come back.

Bujumbura-Kigali-Kampala-Nairobi-Kampala-Kigali-Bujumbura

2009-01-05T07:08:00.000-08:00

I'm writing from Kampala, where I'm spending the day on the way back to Bujumbura. It's pretty low-key here; I think people are still out of the city for holiday. Still, I'm enjoying the architecture and being somewhere a little more manageable than traffic-choked and sprawling Nairobi.

The bus ride was long and character building, but it was fascinating to watch the changes in development from Burundi to Rwanda, whose capital has an actual traffic light, to Uganda, where there are greenhouses and commercial agriculture, through to Nairobi, which is bright lights and big city. Crossing the Rift Valley in Kenya was a definite highlight: the landscape changes almost instantly as the bus plunges down from the dusty brown and flat to the lush and hilly.

I had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's, visiting with Anna, my former coworker at the Quaker UN Office, who's now working for the American Friends Service Committee in Nairobi. We were joined by an all-star cast which included an AFSC Burundi employee, an Earlham grad from Kenya who just finished a stint with the Quaker UN Office in Geneva, a friend-of-a-friend who's working at a home for street kids north of Nairobi, and an International Labor Organization who made his way to Nairobi from Pretoria. A brainy and peaceful collection.

We took full advantage of her pool, and spent most of Christmas day lounging, though we did manage some carol singing. I spent the rest of the two weeks nursing my sunburn, cooking good food (appreciating the fact that one can get good cheese), and meandering around the city. We spent New Year's eve with Yvette's family and then the beautiful people at Carnivore, a notorious Nairobi club. All was well there until Bon Jovi and System of a Down made unwelcome intrusions into the playlist.

We spent January 1st in Hell's Gate natural park, looking at zebras, giraffes, warthogs, impalas, and baboons. Often all at the same time. After that we hiked down to a hot spring where you can literally boil an egg.

I also got to go to unprogrammed meeting at Friends Center in Nairobi, which was a nice change of pace after the celebratory and programmed meetings I've been attending in Bujumbura. Afterwards, there was a nice coffee with some expatriate meeting attenders.

Nairobi was a wonderful mix of exploration and relaxation, and I definitely appreciated all the amenities. But as I plod my way back to Bujumbura, I also feel excited about digging deeper into the work and getting grounded there again.

Discussion after dinner and a graduation

2008-12-21T10:50:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, I attended a dinner at the home of one of the pastors of the Friends Church. After dinner, a visiting representative of the Canadian Friends Service Committee facilitated a dialogue session. Each person spoke briefly in response to a prompt, then passed to the left. We went around twice, which allowed ideas to develop and people to respond to others’ comments. The prompt was “What needs to be done to consolidate peace in Burundi?” Given that more than half of the participants are working at the grassroots level to just that end, there was some real wisdom exchanged.

The contributions ranged widely. Some responses were material, including building social cohesion, stimulating development and reducing poverty and inequality— “They say there’s peace because there aren’t two sides fighting each other. But for me, I don’t have peace in my heart because of the poverty we are facing,” said one participant. Others were cultural, including fighting corruption, and confronting violence against women. Underlying all of these concerns was the difficult issue of how to prioritize. The needs here are enormous, yet what comes first, second, etc. is not clear. While the UN could undertake such prioritization and sequencing initiatives, it’s failing so far. Friends also spoke of the lack of coordination among different peace initiatives.

Yet despite these problems, there were also some uplifting messages too. One local church leader recounted positive changes he’d seen since the end of the war: Hutus now have a voice and stake in the governance of the country and there’s no longer a curfew in Bujumbura. Others spoke about the pride that they should rightfully take in their work; they might not have degrees or big budgets, but they’re doing good work, and should actively be showcasing it for the government, NGOs and the UN.

Listening to the voices of these peacemakers was quite a privilege, and the combination of their conviction and willingness to work for change moved me.

On Friday I attended the graduation of Odette, who is married to Adrien, Coordinator of the Healing and Rebuilding our Communities Program. Odette just finished her bachelor’s degree at Hope Africa University in Bible study. Seeing her family and friends brimming with pride was a real pleasure, as was seeing one of Burundi’s renowned drum teams. The drummers manage to balance a 3-foot-tall drum on their heads, walk, play it, and even kick the drum head from time to time. They get a little bit carried away too—at one point the aggravated MC had to yell over them on the microphone over them that “I asked the drummers to play us just a little morsel!”

I’m headed to Nairobi for Christmas and New Years, but have been enjoying starting to settle into Bujumbura life and will look forward to my return.

Other items of interest:
- The lemons are green
- It rains two or three times every afternoon
- I’ve had more Fanta in these two weeks than in the entire rest of my life

Finally, a quick plug: my roommate Andrew’s blog is a great read: quakerfront.com. He’s been here since May 2008, so there’s quite a bit of good reflections and analysis.

Initial impressions

2008-12-15T02:12:00.000-08:00

Here’s a nuts-and-bolts account of my experience so far. More in-depth and substantive reflections to come. I've been so busy in my first few days I haven't had much time to put pen to paper.

Where am I living: In the capital, Bujumbura, in the neighborhood my roommate Andrew describes as “Manhattan.” The building used to be a seminary and is literally next to the Friends Church. I have running water, an internet connection and can hear choir practice out of my window. Bujumbura is pretty tiny, and I’m beginning to recognize landmarks and figure out what’s north and south.

What I’ve been doing: As soon as I arrived, I traveled upcountry with the Healing and Rebuilding our Communities (HROC) team to Rurengera, a small village in the north. The beautiful drive on the country roads took us through the mountains past green fields, brick houses and eucalyptus trees. In Rurengera, I took part in a HROC Advanced workshop held in a tiny, and old, Friends church there. Twenty people from the village and the nearby Internally Displaced Persons’ camp came together to tell their stories and discuss ways to overcome cycles of violence. I’ve spent the past couple of days exploring Bujumbura.

The food: good, on the simple side, lots of beans and lots of bananas—of which there are several kinds. Naturally, a lot of the produce is organic, local, and delicious.

The music: Has been breathtaking. The HROC workshops use songs to bring the group together and close the days. So, I’ve been treated to beautiful hymns with four-part harmony. I understand many of them are originally western hymns, but they’ve been thoroughly Burundi-ized. I heard La Bamba and Akon on the street the other day.

The language: All of the Burundians I’ve met speak Kirundi with each other, and many have better English than my French; I haven’t practiced as much as I’d like. The Burundian accent tests my French comprehension skills.

On adjusting: My hosts have done a wonderful job of helping me figure out what to do and what not to do and explaining what happens when, where, and why, so I feel I’ve had a head start. I expect progress to slow down soon, though.

All-in-all it's been wonderful and has already surpassed expectations. I look forward to a growthful and eye-opening few months.

Seeking your support...

2008-11-16T18:36:00.000-08:00

In December, I'll be traveling to the small central African nation of Burundi to volunteer for three months with the African Great Lakes Initiative (AGLI), a Quaker organization doing community reconciliation work there. I'm writing to tell you a little bit about my interest, the organization, and to ask for your support in this endeavor.

I've spent the past year at the Quaker United Nations Office, an organization dedicated to helping the UN live up to its mandate to reduce conflict. Burundi, with its large Quaker population, has been an important focus of our work. I have been moved by the incredible efforts of Burundi's people to overcome patterns of violence and seek reconciliation, and I'm thrilled to be working with, and learning from, the facilitators of these programs.

Burundi experienced similar ethnic conflict to that which occurred in its twin to the north, Rwanda and is occuring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Pre-colonial and colonial legacies created a society bitterly divided between Hutu and Tutsi, and those divisions have flared several times into brutal violent conflict. Whereas Rwanda's genocide took place over the course of a few months, violence in Burundi stretched over more than a decade, and has claimed more than 300,000 lives. Through the efforts of Burundians, regional powers and the international community, a fragile peace now exists in the country. But there is much more to be done to support Burundians in their efforts to consolidate that peace.

The African Great Lakes Initiative (AGLI) is a Quaker organization that is working for community reconciliation in Burundi and other countries in the region, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo. To this end, AGLI holds workshops involving Burundian victims and perpetrators, helping them come together to heal from the trauma inflicted by ethnic conflict and think about ways to promote reconciliation more broadly. With limited resources and tremendous and inspiring efforts of the AGLI facilitators, the program is contributing to a transformation of the conflict in Burundi. For more information on the African Great Lakes Initiative in Burundi, please see http://www.aglionline.org/publications/peaceways.htm.

I have been working hard to save money over the past few months, and will be covering all my living and travel expenses for my time in Burundi—a total of $3,000. AGLI also asks that volunteers contribute directly to its programs, so I am asking friends and family members for help meeting my fundraising goal of $1,200. Would you consider making a donation of $20, $50 or even $100 or more to this inspiring program? It would mean a lot to me and would go directly support truly cutting-edge reconciliation work.

If you are willing to give, donations can also be made on the AGLI website (www.aglionline.org; kindly include "AGLI/Gabriel Morden-Snipper/Burundi" in the "Designate my donation" field so that I can keep track of how much I raise). Because the online donation system carries transaction costs, AGLI prefers checks for donations over $100. If you would like to donate with a check, please make it out to "Friends Peace Teams/AGLI," with "Gabriel Morden-Snipper/Burundi" in the memo line to:
Friends Peace Teams/AGLI
1001 Park Ave
St. Louis, MO 63104-3720

While AGLI will continue to accept donations after I go, I would like to have the bulk of them by November 21st if possible.

I thank you very much for your consideration, and I would be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Peace, Gabe