A Trip to Morambia

Wednesday, my team went on a little trip outside of the capital city of Bujumbura to the district of Morambia. We went with a volunteer, Jake, from a local organization called “Harvest For Christ.” The ministry in Morambia is for the Batwa people, that the reader may know as pygmy people. In Burundhi, one of the 5 poorest countries in the world, the Batwa are the most marginalized people. The Batwa are the poorest of the poor.

HFC’s ministry is, basically, to help the Batwa become a self-sufficient people. The HFC worker in Marambia, Vaneust, has been there for about 2 years. HFC has 4 hectares of property, on which they have built a school and conference centre, and are currently building a clinic. They have given the Batwa plots of land, on which HFC is working to build small houses for them. The Batwa are farming the majority of the property, with some of the property set aside as communal land.

The Batwa have been a nomadic people, but with urbanization and land being bought and developed, they have lost their way of life. They had no land before HFC provided this plot for them, and the children in grades 1 and 2 are the first Batwa ever to be educated. The children are learning all the basics, math, history etc., plus 4 languages: English, French, Swahili, and Qirundhi. The older Batwa are learning to farm, how to plant and rotate crops, as well as how to build a house, forming and laying bricks, building the roof.

To put into context how poor the Batwa are, the houses that they currently have are about 4 feet high, and 4 feet across and the roof and walls are made of banana leaves. The lunch the children receive at school is often the only meal they receive for the day. Most of them have never received pay for work in their life; if they get work it is only in exchange for food.

The school is a community school, and as such it serves the local Hutus and Tutsis as well. This has been amazing progress for the community, because it is the first time the Batwa have been able to interact with the other people in the community. Before this, the Batwa were looked down upon, almost as animals. This school has brought the community together.

Please pray for this project. There is another tribe of Batwa not to far away that have nothing, and HFC is hoping to reproduce this project, buying more land. Pray for the Harvest for Christ workers, and that they will be able to find more people to help with the work.

I was hoping to add some pictures but the connection is reeeeally slow. Hopefully next time!