Burundi is country filled with a rich history that is, nonetheless, spotted with turmoil and unrest. Nearly 5 centuries old, the tiny country, surrounded by well-known news-worthy nations such as the DRC, Rwanda, and Tanzania, has seen its share of crises over the last hundreds of years. Not unlike many other African countries, Burundi’s story involves a familiar time line of Western colonization and withdrawal that leaves the country with a mess of international and tribal borders that don’t often align.
Tonight Des, Matt, and I headed over to Columbia University to hear a lecture from Deogratias Niyizonkiza, the founder of Village Health Works. Deo has been working in Burundi (his homeland) to build a hospital and bring health care to a place that desperately needs it. It was pretty inspiring to hear Deo’s story (though Des and I came in late… dang New York taxis). To see a man come from a starving nation to the States, living as a homeless man in Central Park, and then studying at Columbia University and returning to his homeland to open a clinic, was no just inspiring… it was motivating.
You can check out Deo’s organziation, Village Health Works, here. They are in need of funding, and I can tell you from having been to this lecture that it is a worthy cause to give your money toward. They are making a tangible difference in the community there. Not only are they bringing health care and clean water to a starving nation, but they’re building bridges between the Hutu’s and the Tutsi’s (who you’ve probably heard of in the news)– bridges that desperately need to be build to restore peace to nations throughout Africa that are not only ravaged by AIDS and disease, but by infighting, warring, and displacement.
I took a portrait of Deo, but in my fumbling, rushed state, it wasn’t post-worthy. But afterwards, Des, Matt and I went out for drinks and I took a few pictures there.
