This weekend Eric had a visitor from a partner organisation in Zimbabwe, who he was taking around some of CEDAC’s microprojects in the North of the country, and he asked me to come along to take pictures and write about it. We started out back at the youth centre in Kinaba, where we were able to watch a traditional drumming group practicing; this is one of the activities that CEDAC organises to bring together young people from all sides of Burundi’s divide. You can see in the clip that all the people involved are teenagers or younger; the two very young boys were children born in the bush. The performance was excellent, with even the little ones participating, and it highlighted the way in which Burundians are trying to emphasise their shared language and shared traditions in order to rise above the ethnic divide – an advantage they have over other ethnically divided countries, where the ethnicities are usually divided in both these respects, making it harder to assert a shared history.

CEDAC drummers group

CEDAC drummers group

From Kinaba, we carried on into the interior. On the way, Eric points out some hills, telling me that during the war he fought in this area. It is the first time he has talked to me about the war. But our first stop is to visit one of CEDAC’s groups which received funding from the NGO PRASAB to buy two cows, which have now increased to three with a fourth on the way. I speak to Fides Nibaruta, a teacher and former combatant, who tells me that the group consists of twenty former combatants, so they hope to gradually increase their herd until they each have a cow, and possibly also buy some goats. She also introduces me to some of the other members, including Delphine Sindimwo who, I am told, was a renowned fighter with the FDD-CNDD. She tells me that the project has been helpful in combating poverty in the area, as well as promoting reconciliation as it has forced all sides to work together. Depressingly, although I, and Eric, have made clear that I am not a donor, all this is interspersed with requests for more cows.

Fides Nibaruta

Delphine Sindimwo

From there, we continue to a small town in Kiganda where a group of former combatants and women associate with rebel forces have joined together in a mutual aid society under the auspices of CEDAC. Here I am not able to talk to an individual, but talking through Eric, the members tell me there are fifty people in the group, and that they began by helping each other in times of difficulty and sickness, but that they were then able to save small sums each month, and, using local banking systems, build up enough savings to rent a building and buy stock, intending to run a small shop. It is clear that there is widespread poverty in the town, and indeed among the group members, and I am impressed at the initiative they have taken – and cannot help contrasting it with the previous project’s constant requests to be given more cows. They also tell me that each member of the group has voluntarily disarmed, and that they are working to promote disarmament in the community.

The next project we visit have planted Cedar seedlings and sweet potatoes. Interestingly, there is a government rally in town that day, and a man working on the patch asks me not to take photographs – Eric says that this has something to do with the rally, although I am not able to work out the connection. I also speak to Saruatar Ntegeye, who tells me that as well as the agricultural project, they have opened a small shop and bought a bicycle to help transport goods. Again, this was achieved through a mutual aid society, with no outside help except the organisational help provided by CEDAC. The group also works on disarmament; Eric takes us to see the local police chief, and asks if we can see the weapons that have been handed in; he brings us a box of grenades, cartridges and ‘chargeurs’ (no idea what the English for this is, but it means the cases full of rounds that you plug in to a Kalashnikov). I get another glimpse into Eric’s past when he picks up one of the ‘chargeurs’, examines it, and says that it has been buried, pointing out soil, bits of rust, and where it is bent at one of the edges. ‘You could use it, but it hasn’t been very well looked after’, he says, with a shake of his head, as he replaces it.

Finally, we head to Eric’s home colline, in Kiganda. Along the way, he points out houses that were destroyed in the war, some belonging to Tutsis and some Hutus; he tells us that the former residents now live in Bujumbura, but I suspect that many of them were killed. When we arrive, he introduces me to Ezechiel Bancirimisi, the founding secretary general of CEDAC, who tells me about a tile making project in the area. The group has 30 members, and they have several workshops and several kilns, with each kiln able to fire 3,000 tiles at once – enough for an average-sized house. The cost of each tile is 65 Francs, and they usually make enough tiles for six houses a year, giving the group an annual income of 1.17 million Francs (about $950); their work is limited as people do not build in the rainy season. The project is, however, not without problems; they need large amounts of wood for the kiln, and are struggling to secure supplies. I ask if they have considered planting trees for the future; he says that they are trying but it is difficult, as Burundi is heavily populated and the land is crowded. Looking at the hillside across the valley it is clear where the group has cut the trees, and equally clear that unless they can solve this problem the project will be doomed – and the cost may be deforestation and soil erosion. But Ezechiel is smart and dynamic, and I can’t not believe that he’ll find a solution.

As we head home, we are stopped by another communal CEDAC leader, who gives Eric a list of weapons handed in in the last two months; two guns, more than a hundred grenades, and hundreds of bullets. So far it looks like people are handing in bullets and grenades, but may be hanging on to the guns. But Eric is delighted; this is only the beginning. Then home – and out to the opening of Havana Club, Bujumbura’s premier nightclub, which just happens to be managed by Brian, who I live with. An interesting day out, and the opening was a great success, but an exhausting day!

There’s a bit of a hiatus in blog posts and profiles at the moment as I’m mostly working on the CEDAC website and translating stuff into French to go on the website, but should have something interesting to say by the end of the week, and in the mean time here are some news stories I found interesting…

This is just about the coolest thing ever – people making bicycles out of bamboo as a rural livelihoods scheme. Does anyone who knows stuff about bicycles (Jenni, Jude) know if these are likely to be any good? Where can I get one!

Cote d’Ivoire is climbing in the world football rankings – people here see Cote d’Ivoire as the best chance of an African team lifting the world cup in Africa, so go them!

There’s an election going on in Guinea Bissau; I try to be optimistic about African countries where it’s at all possible, but with Guinea-Bissau and indeed Guinea Conakry, I really struggle. But apparently Guinea-Bissau is a leading exporter of cashew nuts, so if you’re wanting to help the Guinea-Bissau economy then your options are cocaine and cashew nuts.

A South African rapist apologises to his victim; I found this story interesting – like many survivor stories, full of ambiguity, but it does show that both former-victims and former-perpetrators have a role to play in preventing further abuse, and it reminds me of CEDAC’s vision of those who destroyed the country helping rebuild it.

And lastly… African Americans tracing their African roots. Although I’m a little sceptical that after all these years a person can be said to come from a particular place – surely most African Americans have mixed heritage? Having said that, I think if the countries played it right it could have a really positive impact, not only in terms of tourism (I can just imagine the ‘rediscover your traditional culture’ bus tours!), but also in terms of personal involvement with local charities – e.g. they could raise funds for local development by asking people to support a local microfinance programme or raise funds to build a school/clinic/irrigation system in the area where their ancestors lived. I’d be interested to know what people thought on this one.

Meeting Fabiola Nshimirimana, I can barely believe her past. Beautiful, smiling, and very pregnant indeed, she welcomes me into the room where her microproject is based, renting out glasses and chairs for events and making baskets and gourds. Her demeanour changes only slightly when I ask her about the war, telling me that she was a member of the FDD (Hutu rebels, at first led by a former Minister of the Interior angered at the Army’s attempt to sabotage the democratic government, then led by current President Pierre Nkurunziza). She tells me that in 1997, when she was 17 and in secondary school, she was taken by force by the rebels, and from then on did what the others did to survive. Although she thought of deserting, she feared that she would face problems if she returned home and risked being abducted again; later, however, Eric tells me that she was highly ranked in the rebels and was one of their most fierce fighters.

Talking about the war, she grows more sober, with fewer nervous laughs. Speaking through Eric as she is uncomfortable in French (I have heard some reports that among the rebels those speaking French or English risked being killed) She tells us that the conditions through the whole period were horrible, and that she found it hard to live, and that as a woman – one of about 200 in her brigade – she found it especially hard to adapt. There were many things they needed in combat that were not available. Later, as I am about to leave, she shows me her legs, covered with scars from her time in the bush.

Fabiola Nshimirimana

In this position, the support she gained from CEDAC was vital. She was able to meet with other former combatants, including women, who could share experiences and ideas. Exchanging experiences and problems that they had faced allowed them to find solutions together. Through this organisation, she has had contact with many women, and now has a number of close friends from other forces, something that has changed her attitude as she now feels more able to relate to them and relax with them. CEDAC also helped her in establishing her microproject with other women, using the money that came with their demobilisation packages. Although the other women were later forced to leave the project, Fabiola is continuing to work and hopes to make it a success. Again, the support she has received from Eric and her peer network at CEDAC has been vital, and she hopes that by participating in these meetings she will be able to help other women in Burundi who are struggling to adjust to peace.