More than I can ask or imagine

I have arrived in Bujumbura, Burundi where I am staying with Bridget and her husband Zachee and son Tim. Yesterday we went to the beach on Lake Tanganyika. I felt like I had a bit of a holiday after the busy first week. I sat on the beach alone for awhile, soaking in the mountains and water. Buju is stunningly gorgeous and incredibly humid. We had supper at the hotel on the beach and then listened to some music. I also had the opportunity to meet some folks from Mennonite Central Committee. It was a lovely evening.

This morning we have met as a team to brief me on my time here. It now looks like I will indeed be here until mid-February. I have a good idea of what is expected of me. I will be assisting in many different ways with the workings of CAPI as well as giving sessions on grieving.

While I have a few minutes I do want to share my experience of going to Bulengo Camp while I was in Goma. The road to the camp is winding and full of potholes. We had already passed three other IDP camps en route. Some of CAPI's partners are involved with this particular one. As we made our way through the forested area near the camp, someone mentioned that the mounds of dirts were graves for people who had died in the camp. They pay a modest amount and then can bury their dead in this wooded area. From there we entered the camp and were greeted by children and adults. We made our way to a tent where we sat and were briefed on how the programs that the partners were assisting with were going. The programs were having some success but when people do not eat for days, it is difficult to keep focus. One woman was in charge of the rape trauma centre within the camp. She spoke of how the woman and girls were raped as they went in search of firewood. It is a story I am familiar with because of the paper that I had done on Darfur last year but now I was hearing it firsthand. Another man spoke of a carpentry program; a woman of a sewing program. Small successes in the context of huge hurdles.

I could not help but think of my work with the St. Ignatius refugee committee and how this experience has made it all the more real. To see miles of tents and shacks, a myriad of NGOs set up to assist the suffering people, and to hear the stories touched my heart. I can only now comprehend more fully what the families shared with our committee. The images will definitely remain with me and I believe there is a plan for me to return later this month or early February, perhaps to talk to the rape victims and see the other programs more.

This afternoon I go to Gitega with Elizabeth and then onto South Kivu. I had not expected to see so much of the countryside and the programs that CAPI is involved with but feedback from previous interns has allowed for some changes and I can see that this experience will be more than I have asked or imagined.

peace,

Suzanne