We were in Burundi on a mission trip instigated by a woman from Burundi in our church....and invited by the churches that her nephew is involved with. One of their ministries supporting the local community that we were involved with during our visit was with a community about 2 hours from Bujumburra of the Twa tribe.
In Burundi they are called the pygmies....when we met them we found them to be about the same height as most of us! So it turned out they are called pygmies in Burundi because the main people groups ie the Hutus and the Tutsis tend to be rather tall.
Usually our hosts from Bujumburra visit this community every couple of months or so bringing clothes, medical and school supplies and spend time such as a few hours with them.
When we arrived about 150-200 women, men and many children gathered around singing and clapping and smiling....filling the hall we moved into and all its windows and doorways.
After an hour or so with them we were shown around the village around the hall....around the gardens growing tobacco and yams....and shown their homes - mudbrick homes and then explained the dire living conditons they are in.
They had been moved onto this 'estate' owned by a foreign/European company growing tobacco and provided only these mudbrick homes with one bedroom and one living room where they were to look after their children and do their cooking. The water supply for the village was the nearby river and they had I was told only two communal toilets!! I had thought I needed to go but I was told by the men in our group who had ventured not to.
Ive often been told I could easily go back to Burundi and be taken up to the Twa and do even some clinic type medical sessions....there is plenty of room for anyone or organisations who would like to donate their time and skills or medical and educational materials, and clothing of course.
English language is now being made a priority in the school syllabus in Burundi rather than French so any educational books in English would be accepted and appreciated and I have contacts that any donations could be forwarded to.
Updated Nov 23, 2011
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