Burundi Workcamp

I participated in a workcamp in Kibimba, Burundi, organized by the African Great Lakes Initiative of Friends Peace Teams. This gave me good experience in that I was exposed to interaction, working together, environment and landscapes of Burundi. We welcomed, accepted and embraced each other by shaking hands, laughing, telling each other experiences and pledged to commit ourselves in respecting and supporting each other throughout the workcamp and after the workcamp. The welcome by Burundian locals was exceptional so that I felt at home. I realized how easy it was to interact in a diverse situation if one is free to express and to share and willing to learn from other people's experiences. I learnt more about Quakerism from the American friends. It was touching and moving to see two local ethnic groups such as Hutus and Tutsis working together. There was also the third minority group called the Twas who were also very friendly and willing to work with us. One should remember the war between the Hutus and Tutsis in which thousands of people were killed (including women and children), yet the workcamp served as an enabler to enhance and facilitate reconciliation between the two ethnic groups by encouraging the three groups to work together, interact and reconcile. We built five houses, which showed our loyalty in pledging to respect and support each other throughout the workcamp. We assisted each other during the work.

Weekends we attended Quaker meetings and that brought us as participants so close to the community in that we held hands and talked to each other. I learnt more about surviving on the land. The food we ate there, for example sweet potatoes, potatoes, peas, beans, cassava and cassava leaves, were not bought from supermarkets but harvested from their own gardens. It was a sustainable livelihood. There was community involvement in that the chief of Kibimba village organized some community members to help us in transporting trees to our workplace. There is a need for community involvement as assistance brings the community closer to participants. The volunteers and community members contributed to peace in the community because community participants were part of an Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) workshop. The skill of finding non-violent solutions to conflict will benefit the community as it encourages the transformation of conflict. I have learned to be able to communicate in other East and West African languages. I also learnt more about the Quaker way of worshipping. I learnt that there can be reconciliation after violence (Hutus, Tutsis and minority Twas) and that human potential is limitless. The workcamp helped me feel like a part of the global village, in that the workcamp was international. I had experiences from Africans, for example learning new languages and tasting their traditional food. I learnt more from Americans, for example about Quakerism and how to work together as people from different backgrounds.

Nokuthula Mbete