Although I’ve already left, I wanted to post quickly about my last few days in Burundi, which in many ways summed up why I love the country so much. On Thursday, I was able to meet Marie Rose, one of only two female ex-combatants who are Members of Parliament (on which more later), and she told me more about the country’s reconstruction plans and what the government is doing to help women ex-combatants. Positive point one: the country is small, making it easy to access its movers and shakers. Later, Pierre Claver tells me that she donates most of her salary to help women ex-combatants access training or set up mutual assistance schemes, and works very closely to help CEDAC’s women’s programme. Positive point two: people really care about establishing peace and developing the country.

Thursday night, I went to a movie night at the marine house and had some beers, then stayed up late playing drinking poker. Positive point three: good beer, lively ex-pat community. Friday I rushed round like crazy trying to get stuff finished, including a trip to the market with Huy, Morgan and Carol to buy pagne, followed by a cheap lunch in a local eatery near the market. I also met up with Eric, who presented me with a carved wall plaque; it’s fair to say that it’s not something I would have chosen myself, but I said I would treasure it and meant it; I almost bawled when he gave it to me. Positive point four: Burundians are unceasingly welcoming and generous. Then Friday night I had the best party I’ve had in Burundi; started out with beer and brochettes with Pierre Claver, followed by a awesome party at Barbara’s house – very chilled out and met some cool people, including some members of Burundi’s gay community – awesome people who I wish I’d met earlier. Then on to another party at the house next door to the Marine House.

The party was allegedly organised by someone called Pierre, who worked for the EU, but no-one there seemed to know Pierre and no-one seemed to care – the doors were open to all. At the party I ran into several people (muzungu and Burundian) who I knew already – a couple of people from Iriba, where I’ve been working, and my friend Olivier, who works for UNHCR, and who poured me a gin and tonic so strong I literally couldn’t drink it. We danced beside the pool, then, almost inevitably, in the pool. As Isaac pointed out, it was like a particularly debauched scene from Emergency Sex. Positive point five: Burundians are party animals.

Saturday, I had breakfast with Pierre Claver during the travaux communitaire; like Rwanda, Burundi has regular ‘community works’. A lot of ordinary people seem to do them, digging drainage ditches, etc, but literally none of the people I knew ever did. Claver claims that it’s a waste of time because you just listen to political speeches; I’m sceptical about this – there seem to be an awful lot of people on the streets doing stuff – but it leads to positive point six: willingness to criticise the government. As I walked into town I was greeted by Amable, working as a security guard, and Eric Uwimana, who I interviewed on my first day of profiling. They wished me luck, and send me on my way. Positive point seven: a small town where you regularly run into friends.

Having been to say goodbye to Nana and retrieve my sleeping bag, I headed to Bora Bora for a final visit (positive point eight: the beach), before heading back to Pierre Claver’s to collect my stuff. A coke with Huy, a cup of tea with Morgan and a movie at the marine house completed the evening, before I grabbed an hour or two of sleep and headed off to get my bus at 5am.

In the spirit of honesty, I should point out that there were a few negatives as well, that also reflected my time in Burundi; Peace Exchange trying to rip me off so I had to walk to Face a Face, the fact that the buses leave when full, so the only place you can get a bus from the town centre is the bus station, meaning that you have to walk 10 minutes from Aroma, to get a bus that passes right by Aroma again 20 minutes later, having to wait ages for the bus to fill, people having no sense of urgency, not showing up when they say they will, and never returning calls. But although these things drive me crazy, they are more than outweighed by the positives, and on the whole it was a wonderful few days, a wonderful goodbye to some great friends, and to a country that I’ve fallen head over heels in love with, and that I hope I will be able to come back to soon.

I left Burundi at the crack of dawn yesterday morning, and am now writing from Kampala, Uganda. I’m gutted to have left, I miss the country already, with its tiny town centre, its beautiful beaches, its brochettes, and of course my friends, Burundian and Muzungu, who made the country so special.

I feel so privileged to have worked with some great people, Pierre Claver from Survivor Corps and Eric from CEDAC, and I hope that the work I have done with them will prove useful in future – and that they will be able to continue it with blogs, the flip, and profiles. I will look forward to reading about the great work that I’m sure they will be doing, and I hope to come back to Burundi soon and visit them (note to any readers: if you hear of any jobs going from about August next year, let me know!).

Having said all of this, I’m utterly exhausted and in need of a break, which I hope I can get in Uganda. I finished my school work at about 3am on the day I was flying out to Burundi, then hit the ground running, and I’ve only had a couple of days off since. Once I get back to the UK it’ll be a bit hectic sorting out the move to Boston – so I plan to take the opportunity to chill out and catch up on sleep while I’m here, as well as curling up with a book from the lovely Aristoc – the one thing I’ve been craving while in Burundi!

If you’ve been enjoying reading the blog, then fear not! I will be continuing to post with accounts of my travels to and around Uganda, and thoughts on Burundi vis-a-vis the rest of East Africa.

Better late than never, here are a couple of videos that I shot at the disarmament ceremony I visited - you can read my description of the ceremony here.

This one shows the scene just before the ceremony started - you can see the townspeople there in Sunday Best, the women’s dance group and traditional musicians waiting to perform, the drummers performing, and a group of former combatants waiting for the ceremony - as well as the weapons ready to be handed in:

And, because I haven’t found anything like this before, here is a clip of the Burundian women’s dance, performed by one of the best groups in the country. The musicians are in pink shirts on the right of the screen, although the women are (slightly incongruously) blowing the whistles.

In the two months I have been in Burundi, I’ve got to know Eric pretty well. Perhaps the most important point to make, is that speaking to Eric, you wouldn’t ever guess that he had ever been a former combatant. Well dressed, eloquent in French and able to communicate effectively in English, he is conspicuously intelligent. You don’t need to know him well, to see that he is highly motivated, having put himself through university at the same time as founding and running an organisation that represents 25,000 former combatants (and counting).

Survivor Corps put me under significant pressure to profile Eric as the first thing I did. But I’m glad I didn’t, because at the time I hadn’t had the opportunity to get to know him, and there are questions - about the war, his motivations for joining - that I can’t ask a friend. But through watching and listening, I’ve started to see the other side to Eric. When we went to the interior and he pointed out the hills in which he fought as a rebel; when we meet General Joseph Nkrunziza, the head of the Army’s former combatants unit, he refers to him as ‘my general’; when we look at a box of grenades and magazines ready to be handed in and he picks one up and criticises the rust before replacing it. These throwaway lines and gestures give a window into Eric’s past, and a key to understanding who he is.

Eric was only with the rebels for a short time but, he says, he saw a lot. He left early and voluntarily, returned to school and then university. The idea to found CEDAC came to him gradually, as he watched the first steps towards peace; talking with former combatants, he had a vision of harnessing the energy used to destroy the country to rebuild it. Since then, the organisation has grown to become the largest former combatants’ umbrella organisation in the country, organising peer support groups for former combatants and victims of war, micro-projects (some funded by donors, some funded as mutual support and self-help projects). They support training for their members, including supporting a training centre for young people in Bujumbura - Eric is considering starting similar centres elsewhere in the country, if funding can be found. And they have started a programme to use their members to sensitise their communities about the importance of peaceful elections.

Eric is working very closely with Pierre Claver in setting up Survivor Corps’ programme in the country. Here is a clip of him talking about what is has meant for him and for CEDAC:

If you want to read more about CEDAC, you can visit my description of their work here, their website here, and Eric’s blog here - he’s promised to post news and updates at least once a week, so check back to see what he has to say!

UPDATE: You can now see two videos of the ceremony here.

Last week I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a disarmament ceremony in Muramvya Commune, Rutegama Province, in the middle of the country. Getting there was pretty stressful – found out I needed to be at the Gare du Nord while still in bed and about half an hour before I had to be there, so got a taxi there, and found Amable, CEDAC’s youth coordinator, waiting for me. We got a share-taxi up to Muramvya, where we arrived half an hour before the ceremony was due to start, and an hour before it actually started; Burundian time. Amable was very apologetic but I didn’t mind at all – it gave me time to take pictures of the weapons being handed in, watch the performance of traditional dancers (as well as the ubiquitous drumming group, they also had a women’s dance group, who were very good, even if the dance did involve a slightly-incongruous blowing of whistles).

Dance Group

Women's Dance Group

Drumming Celebrations

I was impressed by the number of people at the ceremony – the whole town had turned out, dressed in Sunday best and patiently waiting for the ceremony to begin. When it finally began, we had speeches from Amable, a local dignatory, and a man from the Disarmament Commission. All the speeches talked of peace – I could pick out the word amahoro – and were greeted with cheers and dancing by the drummers at dramatic moments in the speeches. The speech by the representative of the Disarmament Commission went on for some time – he name-checked the President a few times and, although the crowd started enthusiastic (the CNDD-FDD are strong in this area), they were waning a bit by the end. But on the whole it was an occasion filled with celebration and hope.

Attendees

The weapons being handed in

After the ceremony, I had the opportunity to talk to the representative from the Disarmament Commission. Speaking in excellent English, he told me that they had up to 4 of these ceremonies a week, but that they are concentrated at the end of the month, so that there are 6 or 7 a month. He also told me that this will be one of the last ceremonies, as at the end of next month a new law will come into force making possession of a firearm illegal, meaning that the country will effectively move to a system of forcible disarmament.

This is something that in many ways makes sense – there has been a transition period, and it seems like a good idea to minimise the number and legitimacy of weapons before the election – but I also have serious misgivings. If people are holding on to their guns, they often do so for a reason; this is particularly the case in Burundi, where the army has often been a participant in intercommunal violence and, despite the peace agreement and integration of the army, many people still feel that they’d be wise to be cautious. Even more worryingly, there are risks of selective disarmament; the government can only check up on areas that politically oppose them, thus giving their supporters a monopoly of violence by the election. Finally, and less concretely, I have a knee-jerk reaction against anything that seems authoritarian; what I like about this country is precisely that it has not gone down the authoritarian route in the way that some of its neighbours have, and it would worry me if this changed. I have yet to discuss this with any Burundians (I know that Adrien and Claver are reading, so I’d be interested to know what you think!) but hope to do so later in the week, and will update with any insights they are able to give me.

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Cadette Nshimirimana is shy and softly-spoken, but speaks passionately about her work with CEDAC and Burundi’s future. She is a student who has just finished studying humanities, and is now training as a car mechanic. Unlike many of the other people I have spoken to, who, once asked a question, lingered over their experiences, she talks only briefly about the war. She tells me that members of her family were killed, which shocked her, and she thought about participating – but felt she had nothing to contribute. She still feels terrible grief for her family, and even now if she sees a person with a gun her immediate reaction is to think of them as a killer. But there are millions of killers, and the problems touch everyone.

CEDAC has been vital in helping her adjust to this reaction, and she is now determined to spread their message to everyone in her community. She tells me about how she goes to talk to others in the area, giving them information and training – on AIDS, conflict resolution, human rights, their own legal rights, the election, and everything. The information is generally well received – it is relevant and useful, and she sees CEDAC as a huge influence in promoting the rule of law and working against violence against women in the quartiers. She sees CEDAC’s work as vital to bring young people together, helping them get over the terrible things they have experienced and avoid violence in future.

Talking about the future, she admits that there are dangers; she is worried that the elections will bring problems. But, she says, that shouldn’t prevent CEDAC’s work – they can work to solve these problems, and she believes that, in the end, the elections will go well. She tells me that her ambition is to work with others, explaining CEDAC’s vision and promoting development in the country – something that she is already doing, but hopes to build on.

Cadette est timide et parle doucement, mais elle parle passionnément sur son travail avec CEDAC, et l’avenir du Burundi. Elle est étudiante qui vient de finir ses études des humanités, et qui s’entrainent maintenant comme mécanique. En comparaison avec la plupart des gens avec qui j’ai parlé, qui ont décrit, parfois en détail, leurs expériences, elle parle peu de la guerre. Elle me dit que les membres de sa famille ont été tués, qui l’a choqué, et qu’elle a considéré de participer – mais elle s’est sentie qu’elle n’avait rien à contribuer. Elle se sent encore un deuil terrible, et si elle voit quelqu’un avec un fusil sa réaction est d’en considérer comme tueur. Mais il y a des millions des tueurs, et les problèmes touchent tout le monde.

CEDAC a été important en l’aider d’adapter a ce réaction, et elle est maintenant déterminée de disséminer sa message a tout le monde dans son commune. Elle me dit qu’elle va parler avec les autres dans le quartier pour les donner les informations et les entrainements – sur le SIDA, la résolution des conflits, les droits humaines, leurs droits légales, l’élection, et tous. L’information est normalement bienvenue ; elle est relèvent et utile, et elle croit que CEDAC a un grand influence en consolider le règle du droit et en opposant la violence contre les femmes dans les quartiers. Elle le trouve aussi vitale pour faciliter les contacts entre les jeunes, les aident de récupérer de leurs expériences terribles et éviter la violence dans l’avenir.

Quand nous parlons de l’avenir, elle avoue qu’il y a les dangers ; elle s’inquiète que l’élection peut créer les problèmes. Mais elle dit que ça ne peut pas empêcher le travail du CEDAC  – ils peuvent travailler pour surmonter ces problèmes, et elle croit que, quand tout est fini, les élections vont aller bien. Elle me dit que sa ambition est de travailler avec les autres, pour expliquer la vision de CEDAC et aider le développement dans le pays – quelque chose qu’elle fait déjà, mais qu’elle espère de le continuer, et connecter avec plus de gens.

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Willy is reticent about his time associated with the rebel Frolina movement. He tells me that his decision to join them came from the loss of many members of his family in the early years of the crisis, who he determined to avenge. In 1994 he approached Frolina; although the rebels told him he was too young, like many traumatised young people, he continued to live a ‘crazy life’. Eventually they allowed him to act as a ‘traitor’ feeding them information wherever possible, a role that he continued for two years before being sent home, despite his wish to continue in the movement.  He wanted to continue with the rebels, but was sent home. Here, his life continued to be ‘crazy’; he longed for revenge, and continued to hate.

Finding CEDAC made the difference; he found a reason to life, and started to reconstruct his life, going back to school – he is now finishing his secondary school. Through CEDAC group meetings, he met others of similar ages who had had similar experiences, and was able to share what had happened to him. Through their support, he was able to pardon those who had killed his mother and brother. Although he still sees them every day, he says he has forgiven them.

Although Willy still has flashbacks of the war, he is glad to be alive and says that his old enemies are now his friends. Rather than hating and plotting revenge, he now sees his role as helping others to find the same forgiveness and peace that he has found – again, working through CEDAC, he promotes CEDAC’s work to others and participates in groups meetings to help those – such as Hassam – who are still struggling to deal with what has happened to them. As we talk about the future, he hopes that others will be able to forgive, as he has. Describing Burundi as a land of milk and honey (this is a bit out of the blue so he has to repeat it a few times before I’m sure it’s really what he’s saying!), where anything can grow and anything is possible, he hopes for economic growth to lift his generation out of poverty, and hopes to be a part of providing that growth.

Willy ne me dit pas trop du temps qu’il a passé avec le mouvement rebelle Frolina. Il me dit qu’il a pris la décision de les joindre parce que plusieurs membres de sa famille ont étés tués dans les premières années de la crise. Il a déterminé de les venger, et en 1994 il a approché Frolina. Les rebelles lui ont dit qu’il était trop jeune mais, comme beaucoup des jeunes traumatisés, il a continué de vivre « un vie fou ». Finalement ils l’ont demandé d’être « traitre » pour les donner de l’information quand c’était possible, un rôle qui a continué pour deux ans. Après ce période il a rentré à la maison, mais sa vie a continué d’être « fou » ; il avait envie de se venger, et il était plein de la haine.

Trouver CEDAC a fait une grande différence; il a trouvé une raison de vivre, et il a commencé de reconstruire sa vie. Il a retourné a l’école – il est maintenant en train de finir son école secondaire. Avec les réunions de sa groupe CEDAC, il est rencontré les autres des âges similaires qui ont eu les expériences similaires, et il a pu partager ce qui l’en a passé. Avec le soutien de sa groupe, il a pu pardonner ceux qui ont tué sa mère et son frère. Il me dit qu’il les voit tous les jours, mais il les a pardonnés.

Willy a encore les images et les rêves de la guerre, mais il est heureux d’être vivant et il dit que ses anciens ennemis sont maintenant ses amis. En place de la haine et les pensées de la vengeance, il croit maintenant que son devoir est de trouver la même capacité de pardonner et la même paix qu’il a trouvé. Il travail avec CEDAC en parlant aux autres du travail de CEDAC et il participe dans les réunions du soutien pour aider ceux – comme Hassam – qui lutte encore d’accepter leurs expériences. Quand nous parlons de l’avenir, il dit qu’il espère que les autres peuvent pardonner, comme il a fait. It décrit Burundi comme « une terre de lait et miel », où tout peut pousser et tout est possible ; il espère pour la croissance économique pour aider sa génération à échapper la pauvreté, et il veut être partie de cette croissance.

Hassam Ciza

Hassam Ciza, one of Burundi’s small Muslim community, did not join the rebels voluntarily. In 2006 the FNL came to his house, started beating people, and gave them a choice between joining and being killed; he accepted. He was with the rebels for several months, where he says he was treated “like an animal”. He and the other abductees were used like slaves, acting as porters and carrying out heavy work in the camp, and they were regularly beaten. Finally, after being asked to go and get charcoal, he ran away. He had a gun, which he gave to a friend, then ran and gradually made his way home.

Like many people, however, Hassam did not find an easy homecoming. His mother had been killed, and his family now consisted of him and his elder brother. He felt guilt for what he had done, even though, he says, he did nothing that he was not forced to do. He felt that he had ‘the spirit of a soldier’ and could not relate to others; he even considered returning to the bush, but in the end did not. Now twenty, he is clearly still traumatised by his experience, refusing to meet my eye and shifting uncomfortably as he talks. He is also struggling to support himself; although he received training as a mechanic he has not been able to find work. He is, however, adamant about one thing: he does not want to be a soldier. Even talking about CEDAC, a subject on which most members will talk enthusiastically, he limits his words. But he says he likes being with people, and that it has helped him adapt to life. And, after a year with CEDAC, he is optimistic about the future.

Although it would be stretching a point to see Hassam as a survivor able to help others, his story illustrates the importance of the peer support model in other ways; he struggled to relate to those who had not shared his experiences, but through CEDAC support groups he is beginning to address his trauma. Talking to the other young people in the group, most of whose ordeals took place before Hassam’s did, I believe they have the strength to help him develop through this and find his own path to his future.

Hassam Ciza, un membre du petit communité musulman du Burundi, n’a pas choisi d’être rebelle. En 2006 les rebelles du FNL sont venus à son quartier, ont commencé de battre les gens, et les ont donnés un choix : nous joins, ou on te tue. Il a accepté de joindre, et a resté avec les rebelles pour plusieurs mois, ou il dit qu’il était traité « comme les animaux » Lui et lest autres qui ont été enlevés étaient utilisés comme les esclaves ; ils ont travaillé comme les porteurs et fait tout le travail manuel dans le camp. De plus, ils étaient régulièrement battus. Finalement, il a décidé de s’en fuir. Un jour, quand ils lui ont demandé de chercher le charbon, il a donné son fusil à un ami, et il a couru, avant de, graduellement, faire le voyage pour retourner chez lui.

Pourtant, comme beaucoup des gens, Hassam ne l’a pas trouvé facile de retourner chez lui. Sa mère a été tué, et sa famille maintenant consiste seulement de lui et son frère ainé. Il s’est senti coupable pour ce qu’il a fait, même comme, il dit, il n’a fait rien sans être forcé. Il s’est senti qu’il avait « l’esprit du soldat » et il a pensé de retourner à la forêt. Il a maintenant vingt ans, et c’est clair qu’il est encore traumatisé par son expérience ; il refuse de me regarder dans les yeux et il s’agite dans la chaise pendent la conversation. Il a aussi les problèmes pratique ; parce qu’il n’était pas avec les rebelles à la fin de la guerre, il n’a pas été démobilisé, donc il n’a rien reçu du gouvernement. Il a reçu les entrainements de mécanique avec CEDAC, mais il n’a pas pu trouver la travaille. Néanmoins, il est certain d’une chose ; il ne veut jamais être soldat. Même quand nous parlons du CEDAC, un sujet sur que la majorité des membres parlent avec enthousiasme, il est taciturne. Mais il dit qu’il aime bien être avec les autres jeunes, et que pouvoir parler avec eux lui a aidé d’adapter. Après un an d’être membre de CEDAC, il commence d’être plus optimiste.

Il serait un peu optimiste de décrire Hassam comme survivant qui peut aider les autres, mais son histoire montre quand même l’importance du “peer support”. Il a lutté de trouver un rapport avec ceux qui n’ont pas eu ses expériences, mas, avec son groupe de soutien avec CEDAC, il commence d’adresser son traumatisme. Quand je parle avec les autres jeunes dans la groupe, qui ont en général fini leurs épreuves plus tôt que Hassam, je crois qu’ils ont la force et le confiance de l’aider de dépasser ce période et trouver son propre chemin à l’avenir.

Over the weekend I had two experiences that got me down a bit about this country. The first was pretty standard – some guy trying to pickpocket me, ineptly as it turned out. But it was a bit scary just because the distraction attempt consisted of another guy grabbing both my arms and shaking me.

The second made me think more. I was waiting for someone in a Bujumbura hotel, and the receptionist was asking what I was doing, so I explained about Survivor Corps and the work I’ve been doing with CEDAC. His reaction was so violent that had it not been 9am in a Protestant hostel I would have assumed that he was drunk. Grabbing me by the arm and spitting as he spoke, he shouted that CEDAC only helped the rebels, and that all the rebels were criminals who should be thrown out of Burundi and tried by the ICC, and that he was angered that people like me came to the country to help criminals rather than helping ordinary Burundians (presumably meaning him). Trying to strike a reasonable note, I pointed out that I am working with a number of people who were children when they committed these crimes, and that under Burundian law they therefore couldn’t be held liable. Even angrier, he reiterated that the country would never be peaceful until it had been cleansed of these rebel criminals. Given the way he referred repeatedly to ‘rebel crimes’ and not crimes committed by the army, I suspect that there was an ethnic element, and that he was really talking about Hutu criminals.

This incident really shocked me; it was the first time that any Burundian had said anything other than we need to reconcile, we need peace, and let’s have peaceful elections. They are often critical of the government and express concern about the elections – especially as there are fears that the government will attempt to rig it. But so far no-one has expressed ethnic hate in the present tense, or a desire for violence. At some level he may have a point – it does seem unfair to focus on helping former soldiers rather than the civilians who suffered so much – but through my work with CEDAC I have come into contact with several people who would probably meet this man’s definition of ‘victims’ who have benefitted from their programmes and, in any case, the narratives of people like Arcade show that dividing people into ‘victims’ and ‘evil perpetrators who should be tried in the Hague’ just doesn’t work. Plus, in my opinion, the best way to help the population of Burundi as a whole is to prevent the conflict from restarting – which means preventing the rebels going back to war, which means giving them options – however much it may stick in the throat I hope that this man is an exception – but I can’t help wondering if, under the surface, many other people feel the same way. I think of the young people in Kinaba, who turned away from hate to help rebuild their country, and I realise that what this incident shows more than anything else is the need to continue working for reconciliation.

Pendent le weekend, j’ai eu deux expériences qui m’ont déprimé un peu. Le premier était normale – quelqu’un a essayé de me voler à la tire – mais il a besoin de plus pratiquer, parce qu’il l’a fait très mal ! Mais il m’a fait un peu peur juste parce que la stratégie de distraction était de me prendre par les bras et me toper.

Le deuxième m’a fait penser. J’étais en train d’attendre quelqu’un à un hôtel à Bujumbura, et le réceptionniste m’a demandé qu’est-ce que je fais en Burundi. Je l’ai expliqué le travail de Survivor Corps et le travail que j’ai fait avec CEDAC – et sa réaction était si violent que, sans le fait que nous étions dans une auberge Protestante à 9h du matin, je l’aurais pris pour être sou. Il m’a pris par le bras, et crié que CEDAC aide seulement les rebelles, et tous les rebelles sont les criminelles qui doivent être jetés du Burundi et jugé au CPI – et qu’il était fâché que les gens comme moi viennent au Burundi pour aider les criminelles, en place d’aider les Burundais ordinaires (traduction : comme lui !). J’essayais d’être calme et raisonnable, donc j’ai noté que je travaille avec beaucoup des gens qui ont joint les rebelles comme enfants et, selon la loi Burundais, ils ne sont pas passible. Pas de chance ; encore plus fâché, il a répété que le pays ne saurait jamais la paix avant d’être nettoyé de ces criminelles. Comme il a parlé du ‘crimes rebelles’ – et pas les crimes des forces armées Burundais – je suspecte qu’il y a un message ethnique – pas les criminelles rebelles, mais les criminelles Hutus.

Cet incident m’a beaucoup surpris ; c’était la première fois qu’un Burundais a divergé du narrative nationale de « nous devons nous réconcilier, avoir la paix, et avoir les élections paisibles » Ils critiquent souvent le gouvernement, et sont inquiétés des élections – surtout parce qu’ils ont peur que le gouvernement va essayer de tricher. Mais cet homme est le premier d’exprimer la haine ethnique dans le présent, ou de dire que le pays a besoin de plus de violence. A un niveau il a peut-être raison – ce n’est pas juste de concentrer sur les anciens combattants en place des civiles qui ont souffert dans la guerre. Mais mon travaille avec CEDAC et les autres partenaires du Survivor Corps en Burundi j’ai eu contacte avec plusieurs gens qui peut être considéré comme les ‘victimes’, qui participent dans leurs programmes – et, de plus, les histoires des survivants comme Arcade montre qu’il n’existe pas une vrai distinction entre les ‘victimes’ et les ‘criminelles malignes qui doivent être comparu devant le CPI’. Et, de plus, je crois que le meilleur moyen d’aider tous les Burundais est d’empêcher un retour au conflit – et si on veut faire ça, on doit donner les options aux anciens combattants. J’espère que cet homme est une exception – mais je dois me demander si, sous le surface, il y a plusieurs gens qui pensent dans la même manière. Je pense des jeunes avec qui j’ai parlé a Kinaba – qui ont rejeté la haine pour reconstruire leur pays, et je réalise l’importance de continuer de travailler pour le réconciliation.

Conseil : ce poste n’a pas été corrigé, et probablement il est plein des erreurs ! Si vous en trouvez, veuillez me dire et je les corrigerai !

Jeanvierre Nibafasha

Jeanvierre Nibafasha ne ressemble pas du tout le stéréotype d’une ancienne rebelle. Elle est très bien éduqué, et de moyen âge, un avocat qui travaille à Bujumbura. Mais elle peut me donner une perspective différente sur la guerre ; elle n’a pas combattu dans le forêt, mais entre 1994 et 2004 elle a aidé les rebelles avec l’informations, qu’elle a pu obtenir à cause de sa position privilégiée comme étudiante et, plus tard, avocat, à Bujumbura. Elle ne parle pas beaucoup de comment elle a obtenu cette information – elle l’attribue à ‘la conversation intelligente’ – mais elle me dit que cette travaille était dangereuse ; si elle avait été identifié, elle aurait été traité comme une des rebelles, qui pourrait été emprisonné, torturé, ou tué. Mais elle l’a fait parce qu’elle a vu que le but de la campagne était juste.

Après la guerre, les réactions de ce qu’elle a fait ont été mélangé; quelques gens l’ont appelé un tuer, et les autres les ont félicité de ses actions. Mais elle n’a pas eu les grands problèmes, surtout parce qu’elle a protégé les gens – elle insiste que l’information qu’elle a passé s’agissait seulement des attaques proposés qui avait les cibles civiles. Mais elle se sent comme ancienne combattante, et elle a cru que son métier pourrait être utile pour la mission de CEDAC de construire un meilleure Burundi, donc elle a joint l’organisation, et elle est maintenant le Secrétaire Exécutif de son programme femmes. Elle utilise cette position d’aider les autres femmes ex-combattants, qui ont souvent beaucoup souffert sur le terrain, et qui sont souvent dans les positions vulnérables ; ils ont peut-être été rejeté par leurs maris, ou ses maris ont été tués dans la guerre. De plus, leurs enfants sont souvent dans une position difficile ; surtout pour ceux qui sont nés dans la forêt, qui n’ont pas toujours la possibilité d’identifier leurs pères. Ses problèmes sont encore exacerbés par un grand taux de l’analphabétisme féminin, qui les empêche d’accéder et comprendre leurs droits.

CEDAC peut aider ces femmes en en donnant les conseils, légale et autrefois, et l’assistance dans l’effort de réclamer leurs droits. Ils assistent les membres de se soutenir dans la vie sans les maris, et forment les groups de soutien pour les femmes. Dans ce moyen, ils aident les femmes de se soutenir sans le besoin de se prostituer, quelque chose qui s’est beaucoup trouvé dans les femmes ex-combattants, et qui est lié avec une croissance dans le taux d’infection de SIDA, surtout dans les villes*. Elle dit qu’elle aime ce travaille pour deux raisons ; comme avocat, elle aime promouvoir la justice, et comme femme, elle aime soutenir les autres femmes. Quand je la demande ses espoirs pour l’avenir, elle dit qu’elle espère que les femmes ex-combattants peuvent vivre comme les autres, avec l’esprit d’ancien-combattant étendu. Elle croit que CEDAC peut faire une grande contribution à la paix, et qu’ils montent que c’est possible de faire une grande différence avec ni l’argent, ni le pouvoir ; rien sauf une vision de la paix.

* La femme d’un ami travaille sur le programme de SIDA à la Banque Mondiale, et elle me dit que le taux d’infection actuelle est un peu près 2.5% dans la campagne, et 9% à Bujumbura, mais il se croit vite, surtout dans les villes.