Hi, I’m Staney from Burundi. HUMAN IN LOVE delivered school uniforms, tuition fees and class materials to children and teenagers while providing farming equipment to the members of the cooperative association in Kigereka village on April 26. I’d like to sincerely thank HIL on behalf of “Banguka Cooperative Association” and the Kigereka village.
”Whether to send our kids to school or not…”
Every time when a new semester begins, the parents in this village have to think whether to send their kids to school or not. This is because it’s quite much for them to prepare for tuition, school uniforms and class materials. This is why school dropout rates of children and teenagers in Burundi are still high.
Especially, more than 40% of our cooperative association members are Twa tribe, and they usually don’t send their kids to school. However, thanks to the support of HIL this year, all the kids in the village including those who had dropped out of school or those who are Twa tribe could go to school.
< Child and teenagers who received a school uniform >
[ Twa tribe ]
Twa is a tribe of Pygmy groups, living near Lake Kivu which is located around Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are mostly hunters and gatherers and the population is estimated to be around 80,000 (as of 2000). Their average height is below 150cm and they have a relatively lighter skin compared to other Africans and also have slim arms and legs. Their personality is very optimistic and humble and they believe in folk religion. Their society is based on patriarchy and when they have an issue, they solve it by gathering ideas on a solution and working on it together in a democratic way without having a leader. [Quote: Naver Encyclopedia]
When HIL gathered people to delivers school uniforms, they got so excited and happy and started a dance festival. I was encouraging them to work harder and save more since they would have less worries about buying uniforms and stationery.
Also, HIL gave us shovels that our people use the most. Since we use shovels a lot and they are broken many of the times, people were so happy to get a new one.
< Those who got a new uniform and shovel >
People in Burundi have been suffering from political instability and severe poverty for a long time. Since Burundi decided to isolate itself from the international community, I’ve realized the importance of empowering our community and giving people a change to work so that they can stand on their own feet when there is no more support from outside..
So I helped the launch of Banguka Cooperative Association and Kigereka Smart Farm six years ago.
< School uniform and shovels that HIL provided >
The members of Banguka Cooperative Association work not only in Kigereka farm but also in other farms. Banguka means “fast”, and we gave this name to our association to deliver our ambitious message that “if you need to do somthing, call us. We can get it done quickly!”. We have around 120 members in the association including male, female, teenagers and even grandmothers. In Burundi, the daily wage on average is 2,000 francss (1,200 won), and association members are making an average of 1,800 to 2,500 francs (1,100 won to 1,600 won) a day and they save 500 francs (around 310 won) every week. When they do a group work, they save money in a joint account.
This year celebrates the 6th anniversary of the launch of our association and farm. We could have managed to keep our association and farm thanks to HIL which provided unwavering support whenever we had an issue like droughts or difficulty of building a chicken farm. Thanks to HIL this year, especially our children and teenagers could have a chance to learn, which gave our association members a strong sense of pride. I sincerely thank all the HIL supporters.
The world is still having a difficult time due to the covid-19 outbreak. I wish your wellbeing. Thanks.
