Burundi – as I prepare to leave

 

What an incredible few days it has been! My time in Burundi might have been small, but the experience has been huge!

To be able to deliver the 360Life training to such a dedicated, passionate, open-minded, eager-to-learn group of individuals has been a real privilege. And the feedback from them at the end was so humbling to hear. One senior church leader said: ‘I realise I used to just teach from a place of spirit-led, but now I can teach from a place of knowledge. I can help people more because I better understand what are the effects of trauma on how us all’. And one psychotherapist said that she had learnt more practical and useful information in this 3-day training than she had in 3 years of being at university. I’m not sure what that says about the university course that she did, but I’ll take it as very good endorsement of the training materials that I have had the honour to deliver.

As I said in an earlier blog post, in some ways Burundi does feel like it is very much behind the curve on development front, especially in rural areas. And chatting to some of the Burundians, they are the first to admit that the recent wars that have scourged their country have slowed down progress significantly. Even now, although there is peace in the land, still the government (allegedly) is not the most un-corrupt in the world, and that also is leading to challenges for moving forwards.

But, despite that, the desire that I have seen from individuals over the past few days to do their bit to bring about positive change has been so very inspiring. The issues that they face on a daily basis include the very basics like intermittent access to power, rising food costs, and increasing numbers of rural-urban migrants in search of the elusive city streets paved with gold. There are also issues relating to the traditional beliefs in demonic powers and witchcraft. And there are issues that have become much more prevalent in the 21^st century, especially in young people who are engaging with the globalisation of life through social media. So it was that one counsellor yesterday was telling me of the increase in prevalence of young people who are identifying as LGBTQ, and those who are wanting to explore gender reassignment – concepts that the older generation here just can’t understand, and as a result are putting in the ‘witchcraft and demonic’ category.

This is the backdrop to life that the church leaders, prison chaplains, psychotherapists and mental health workers with whom I’ve spent the last few days are engaged with. It’s certainly a challenging life, but having seen the determination, passion and solidarity of the Burundians this week, I am sure that they will do their best to rise to the challenge and not let it defeat them.