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Updated: March 2009

Burundi

World Vision’s History in Burundi

World Vision’s involvement in Burundi began in 1963 through the provision of funds for a replacement doctor at a leprosy colony and hospital. Returning in the 1970s, World Vision helped provide a small emergency relief ministry, medicines to area clinics, a childcare project, and assistance in building a small water-powered gristmill.

In the 1980s, World Vision’s work focused on non-sponsorship community development projects beginning with two in 1980 and increasing to 12 in 1984. Three evangelism and Christian leadership projects also were active during this period. Other projects in the 1980s included:
  • The Kibuye Area Child Health Project vaccinated every child in the Bukirosai District to help eradicate common childhood diseases such as whooping cough and malaria. All treatment included teaching in health, hygiene, nutrition, food preparation, and family planning.
  • The Kwibuka Women’s Project trained women in agriculture, nutrition, hygiene, literacy, income generation, and homemaking skills.
  • The Twizigire Imana Development Project provided training in community development, health, agriculture, literacy, vocational skills, nutrition, and family planning. Additional efforts included repairing the water system, equipping a local dispensary for the immunization of all children under age 5, and establishing agricultural and animal farming demonstration units for training purposes.


 
Country Statistics 
Population7.3 million
Land Mass 9,903 sq. miles
Life Expectancy51 years
Infant Mortality Rate114 / 1,000
Literacy Rate59%
School Enrollment47%
Access to Safe Water79%
Average Annual Income (GNI per capita)US$100
 
The Dusome Literacy Project assisted the Free Methodist Church in Burundi in establishing literacy centers to minister to both spiritual and literacy needs. Students were provided with take-home aids and literature for selfdirected study complete with a follow-up program. In addition, the project introduced basic courses in agriculture, health, evangelism, and family planning for graduating students.

In 1994 civil unrest gripped Burundi's capital city of Bujumbura. World Vision responded by providing food and assistance in the reconstruction of homes for 500 impacted families.

In 1995 World Vision opened an office in Bujumbura and launched the Burundi Unrest Project to assist families and individuals victimized by the ethnic violence. Medicine and supplies were distributed throughout the country; orphaned children were provided relief items, social services, and school supplies; and roofing tiles, doors, windows, and building equipment were supplied for the rehabilitation of 500 homes.

Other projects included:
  • The Karuzi Province Food Security Project assisted vulnerable families by improving agricultural yields. Femaleheaded households received seeds, planting materials, and small loans.
  • The Kirundo Emergency Seeds and Planting Materials Project improved food production for 20,000 needy families whose resources were depleted due to ongoing war and drought. Each family received seeds and plant cuttings as well as training in crop management.
World Vision in Burundi Today

World Vision works with communities to help facilitate change through educational, training, and funding assistance. Holistic teaching encourages community members to take control of their futures through their own efforts.

World Vision ensures that all sectors of society are involved in decision-making so the impact of development work is to the ultimate benefit of the communities’ children. Reconciliation activities and food security are among the current projects assisting children and families in Burundi.

These efforts include:
  • The Burundi Reconciliation Project is a collaborative effort of World Vision and other agencies to bring Christcentered healing to the Burundian people. The project seeks to interrupt the cycle of hatred and revenge, and mitigate the impact of violence through promoting repentance and forgiveness and providing a spiritual foundation for understanding and peace. Retreats and training are coupled with the use of drama, testimonies, and music to help facilitate reconciliation.
  • The Burundi HIV/AIDS Project seeks to reduce HIV/AIDS prevalence and to care for those living with the disease in the Muyinga and Karusi provinces. It also mitigates the health and socio-economic impacts of HIV/AIDS at individual, household, and community levels.
  • The Burundi Mobile Health Clinic provides preventive and curative health care to approximately 50,000 people in the Karuzi and Muyinga provinces. Training is offered to 150 community health workers and 150 traditional birth attendants. This project allows all 800,000 people living in both provinces to receive health services.
World Vision has changed many lives by serving children and families throughout Burundi. While much has been accomplished, more can be done to improve the lives of thousands of Burundians today and for generations to come.

Learn More About Burundi

The country of Burundi is situated on the northern shores of Lake Tanganyika and is bordered by Tanzania, Rwanda, and Democratic Republic of Congo. Though one of Africa’s smallest nations, it has the second highest population density on the continent. Approximately 85 percent of the people are Hutu, 14 percent Tutsi, and 1 percent Twa. The proportionally smaller Tutsi tribe, using cultural, economic, and military force, has controlled the numerically larger Hutus since Tutsi immigration into the region some four centuries ago.

While Burundi gained independence in July 1962 and became a republic in November 1966, the situation in Burundi deteriorated following the October 1993 coup in which President Melchior Ndadaye was killed along with other senior government officials. By the end of October a series of revenge killings claimed the lives of more than 50,000 people from within both ethnic groups. Consequently, more than 700,000 refugees, primarily Hutus, fled to neighboring countries and as many as 25,000 were internally displaced.

The increased tension and ethnic violence that followed was further exacerbated by the political-ethnic situation also happening in neighboring Rwanda, reinforcing the already existent fears and hatred between Hutus and Tutsis. The 1993 violence in Rwanda created an outpouring of refugees seeking safety in other countries of the region. Of the 2 million Rwandan Hutus who fled the country, nearly 200,000 crossed into Burundi. In addition, the 200,000 Burundian Hutus who fled to Rwanda after the 1993 coup returned to Burundi, causing further strain on resources to meet significant needs.

A transition government was instituted in November 2001, and a power-sharing agreement was signed with the largest rebel faction in December 2003. Negotiations for stability and peace were disrupted in August 2004 when 160 Congolese Tutsis in a Burundian refugee camp were massacred by Hutus. A provisional constitution was constructed in October 2004, but implementation of the agreement has been problematic.

Today approximately 68 percent of Burundian people are living under the poverty line. The economy of Burundi is based overwhelmingly on agricultural activities, and while more than 90 percent of the population is involved in agriculture, most farmers have less than 3.7 acres of land. Unfortunately, the soil is deteriorating due to over-cultivation, causing greater food insecurity in the country. Key subsistence crops are cassava, sweet potatoes, corn, beans, peas, sorghum, and bananas. Burundi’s leading cash crops include arabica coffee (accounting for more than 80 percent of all exports), cotton, hides and skins, tea, and minerals. The principal minerals produced are cassiterite (from which tin is obtained), bastnaesite, gold, tungsten, and tantalum. However, Burundi has almost no manufacturing, and many industrial and consumer products are imported.

Much of Burundi’s population, especially among Hutus, is illiterate. Kirundi is the language taught in primary schools, and French is spoken in secondary schools. Although primary education is free, less than 30 percent of children under the age of 15 attend school. Health care remains problematic in the country as well, and with 250,000 people currently living with HIV/AIDS, nearly one in every ten adults is infected.

Overview | World Vision's history in Burundi | World Vision in Burundi today

Overview

One of the smallest countries in Africa, the Republic of Burundi is located in east-central Africa along the northern shores of Lake Tanganyika. It is bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west. The whole of Burundi lies on a hilly plateau, with an average elevation of 5,600 feet. The far western region of the country along Lake Tanganyika and the Ruzizi River is a part of eastern Africa’s fertile Great Rift Valley. Despite being situated just south of the equator, Burundi’s temperatures are more moderate due to its higher elevation. Natural resources include nickel, uranium, cobalt, copper, platinum, gold, tin, limestone, arable land, and hydropower.

Approximately 85 percent of Burundians are of Hutu ethnicity, while 15 percent are Tutsi and 1 percent is Twa (or Pygmy). There are also a few thousand Europeans and South Asians interspersed throughout the country. Kirundi is the common language spoken by nearly everyone and is designated as Burundi’s official language. French is also prominent and is used mostly in the business sector. Swahili is spoken primarily near Lake Tanganyika and in Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura.

The Hutus and Tutsis settled in the areas that are now Burundi and Rwanda in the 14th and 15th centuries. Known as Urundi under German and then Belgian rule, Burundi gained independence in 1962 and became a republic four years later. In 1993, Melchior Ndadaye was elected president and set up a pro-Hutu government. Just four months later, Tutsi soldiers assassinated Ndadaye, sparking a rash of revenge killings by the Hutu.

When the plane carrying Ndadaye’s successor, along with the president of Rwanda, was shot down in April 1994, it ignited what would be 12 years of ethnic fighting in Burundi between the two groups.


 

Country statistics 
Population8.2 million
Land mass10,745 square miles
People per square mile761
Life expectancy51.7 years
Under age 5 mortality rate190/1,000
Literacy rate59%
Access to safe water79%
Average annual income (GNI per capita)USUS$100
Religion
Christian67%
Indigenous beliefs 23%
Muslim10%
Three separate cease-fire agreements were ignored until 2006, when the last active rebel group and the government agreed to bring an end to hostilities. More than 300,000 were killed during the war, and nearly 1 million were displaced. Renewed fighting in April 2008 has threatened the peace agreement.

Several economic and educational reforms have been instituted in the past two years. Primary education has been free in Burundi since 2006, and nearly three-quarters of children have enrolled in school. Despite the increased government spending on education, the majority of primary schools lack drinkable water and adequate sanitation facilities. While primary school is heavily attended, only 7 percent of boys and girls attend secondary school. Reasons for the low matriculation rate vary, but the main reason is that most children are removed from school during harvest season by their parents to help in the field. Economic activity has increased since the 2006 cease-fire, but underlying weaknesses—a high degree of poverty, poor education rates, an inadequate legal system, and the threat of renewed fighting—risk undermining this growth. Burundi ranks 167th out of 177 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index. The average annual income in Burundi is $100, the lowest in the world. Approximately half of the population lives below the poverty line, and nearly 88 percent lives on less than $2 per day.

Food security in Burundi is poor due to plant diseases, poverty, and adverse ecological conditions. It is estimated that 70 percent of people are undernourished, and 1.6 million are dependent on food aid. Lack of food among children often causes stunted growth, which afflicts 53 percent of Burundian children. Infant and under-age-5 mortality rates—11 percent and 19 percent, respectively—are among the highest in the world, due in large part to the prevalence of malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia, and HIV and AIDS.

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World Vision's history in Burundi

World Vision’s involvement in Burundi began in 1963 through the provision of funds for a replacement doctor at a leprosy hospital. Returning in the 1970s, World Vision helped provide a small emergency relief ministry, medicines to area clinics, a child-care project, and assistance in building a small water-powered gristmill.

In the 1980s, World Vision’s operations in Burundi were being managed out of the Africa Regional Office in Nairobi, Kenya. Work during this time focused on non-sponsorship community development projects beginning with two in 1980 and increasing to 12 in 1984. Three evangelism and Christian leadership projects also were active during this period. Other projects in the 1980s included:
  • The Kibuye Area Child Health Project vaccinated every child in the Bukirosai District to help eradicate common childhood diseases such as whooping cough and malaria. Treatment included teaching in health, hygiene, nutrition, food preparation, and family planning.
  • The Dusome Literacy Project established educational centers to minister to both spiritual and literacy needs. Students were provided with materials for self-directed study complete with a follow-up program. In addition, the project introduced basic courses in agriculture, health, and family planning for graduating students.
World Vision responded to the civil unrest in Bujumbura in 1994 by providing food and assistance in the reconstruction of homes for 500 impacted families. A year later, World Vision opened an office in Bujumbura and launched the Burundi Unrest Project to assist families and individuals affected by the ethnic violence. Medicine and supplies were distributed throughout the country; orphaned children were provided relief items, social services, and school supplies; and roofing tiles, doors, windows, and building equipment were supplied for the rehabilitation of 500 homes. Other projects included:
  • The Karuzi Province Food Security Project assisted vulnerable families by improving agricultural yields. Female-headed households received seeds, planting materials, and small loans.
  • The Kirundo Emergency Seeds and Planting Materials Project improved food production for 20,000 needy families whose resources were depleted due to ongoing war and drought. Each family received seeds and plant cuttings as well as training in crop management.
In 2006, World Vision launched a project to address the escalating HIV and AIDS prevalence rates in Burundi. Working in the most vulnerable communities in the Muyinga and Karusi provinces, World Vision began caring for those living with the disease. The project continues to successfully mitigate the health and socio-economic impact of HIV and AIDS at the individual, household, and community levels.

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World Vision in Burundi today

World Vision is committed to partnering with the people of Burundi to enhance their lives today and to help enact sustainable solutions for the future of their communities, families, and children. Currently, 500 children are registered in the World Vision sponsorship program, all of whom are sponsored through an office outside of the United States. Several times this number of children and other family members benefit from World Vision activities. In addition, World Vision operates several projects throughout the country. Highlights of these efforts include the following:
  • The Burundi Health Project, located in the Cankuzo and Muyinga provinces, seeks to provide preventive health care to vulnerable people and to promote health programs in local schools. Activities include: promoting safe health practices to 30,000 students in 35 schools, distributing emergency medicines and first-aid kits, organizing immunization campaigns, and conducting basic health training for teachers. The population of the two provinces (615,150) will benefit from this project’s efforts.
  • Established in 2005, the Peace and Reconciliation Project aims to ensure effective, ongoing peace efforts in Burundi by targeting church leaders, parliament members, local associations, and the general population. Thousands of community members have attended seminars on civil rights, conflict management, and ways to resolve post-election conflict. Instructors have held classes and workshops in advocacy and awareness and have trained church leaders to identify existing conflicts and prevent future ones. The 781,000 people who live in the Kuruzi and Muyinga provinces will gain from these activities.
For more information on World Vision’s programs in Burundi, please contact the United States office.

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