The last few days in Bujumbura have been nice. There is a business in down town Buja called Roshanali Internet Café that has given me free access to the internet while here. Gotta love it! Thanks Abbas! (dial-up connection split between 6 computers)

I’ve been fending for myself mostly food-wise with fried eggs and buttered hashed potatoes and Burundi tea, etc. Not bad at all. Most days, I’ve gotten to share some traditional Burundi food with people. Especially the infamous Ubugali! A few nights ago, I went to the house of long time missionary friends, Ken and Mellie Johnson and family for dinner – sombe and spaghetti. They have adopted 6 Burundi children. They are amazing people. Mellie runs the HIV orphanage here in town and has created a huge respect in the community for her and Ken’s work. Ken claims not to do too much but tells me a few things like schools for the deaf and blind and a clinic that cares for maternity needs. They both are HUGE, AMAZING people and are my heroes. Besides them, I haven’t spent any time with bazungu (white folk).
There are some photo pages coming soon to share more about what Aloys is up to at Kibimba and what Modeste is creating for peace education here in a most troubled part of Africa.

See ya soon!
eric

Dec 30. 2003

It is early morning in Gitega, Burundi. I made it to my main destination and had a wonderfully powerful conversation with Modeste and Aloys last evening. Gitega is so quintessentially African. The smells of smoke, traditional cooking, and eucalyptus - the crisp air, sounds of Kirundi and laughing and music. Other than that, the air is still from the business of industry and noisy transportation. The ride up here was a packed little taxi. But I’ve never made it up country Burundi in faster time though.

Yesterday, after I arrived, I went with Modeste to see the site of the peace secondary school. They are starting to build as they have funds to do so. Basically, a government land mandate forced them to start some kind of building to retain the land for educational use. They’ve done what they can and now they are waiting again for money. The watchmen of the property have not been paid for two months. The watchman that was there yesterday just had a child die of malaria last Friday and his pregnant wife also is sick with malaria. I asked how much money he was owed and Modeste told me that the watchmen get paid the equivalent of eight dollars per month. So for $32, two watchmen were paid two months salary. A third of the year’s salary for one person and I would make more than that in one day in America at minimum wage and have worked on computers for people for three times that amount in one hour or make ten times that in one DJ event. The level of poverty here is staggering!