Scenes from Burundi the Heart of Africa

 The following pictures are some of the beauiful and sometimes unique sites of Burundi

Monkey at Lake

Tanganyika




Lake Tanganyika




Drummer perform at Youth for Chirst Compound Bujumbura

Following Pictures are from our trip from Bujumbura to Source of the Nile

5 people on the motor cycle- 1 man, 2 ladies, and 2 babies. Quite a car pool.



Source of the Nile



Burundi jacuzzi

More Pictures of Burundi English School

Jordan and his new friends

Playgorund at School

Peirrot stealing Dolaste's Juice

Ester and Princia

Erin and Mauva

Erin in class

Putting up the Olympic Banner

Hanna's Class in Burundi




Miss Carol's class in Burundi




Erin stealing Hanna's students

Awards Cermony on Final Day of Summer School



Presenting the Burunid Teachers with their Medals

Hanna and Erin With Miss Ladia a full time teacher at the School

Our final day at the School

Megan and her friend Debra



Final week in Burundi

Thoughts from Erin

Hanna, Mom and I went to the US Embassy on Monday. Hanna started doing a presentation about face book to the English club there, and then mom started to take over and get off topic and they started talking about businesses I don’t know how that happened. There was a bunch of very nice guys there and I gave like four of them my email. I was sure to not give anyone our phone number though because they would probably call at 2 in the morning Edmonton time.

On Tuesday we went to Youth for Christ again for supper. We met Freddy who is the leader of youth for Christ Burundi. He is a very nice man. The African drummers put on a show for us they were as good as I remember. We were not the only muzungoes there because there were two American teams there as well. One was from youth for Christ U.S. and the other was from Builders without Borders. The builders without borders team successfully completed building a school in Gitega. The food we ate that night was to die for!

On Wednesday we met up with Benit and Florian the Burundian couple from Canada. We all had a nice relaxing visit at the beach. Their son is as cute as can be. He is only one year old. Then, later on we all went to Isango, a restaurant not far from our house and we had brochette which is a fancy word for meat on a stick, but it was very good.         

Today Thursday, August 09, 2012 was the Olympics day at school which went okay. All of the kids had a good time but it was very hard to run the events.

Tomorrow (Friday, August 10th) is our last school day. In some ways that is a bad thing and in some ways that is a very, very good thing. It is bad because I’m going to miss every single one of those kids like anything in the world. We have all had a wonderful time together laughing and having fun even Hanna’s class... I think I’ve been fooled by their cuteness. The kids have been a blast to teach.  And it is a good thing because I am soooo home sick it is not even funny. I think when I get home I am going to kiss the floor. There is a really cute kid who is three in Hanna’s class his name is Dolaste. Peierrot is another kid who is Jordan’s age. He and Jordan are best friends. He is a blast. Whenever Hanna can’t control the class Peirrot says “Miss Hanna I go to get a stick! I need to beat the kids!” He is such a funny little guy. Anyways he and Dolaste are inseparable. It is so funny watching them together. Dolaste kisses the ground he walks on. I think I’m going to put Dolaste in my pocket and take him home… but of course not without Peierrot. I’m sure their parents won’t mind.

P.S. I am so sorry you have to read my mom’s boring blog post… just try and stay awake!

Thoughts from Carol

Erin caught you up on most of the news although I have to put my 2 cents in. So as Erin mentioned, we did visit the US Embassy. I beg to differ on the fact that I randomly started talking about business. Hanna did a great job giving an overview of Facebook and how it can be used. What these young men were keen to know is how to start a business and grow it. There are very very few jobs available in Bujumbura, so if they want to earn money they have to start their own business. These guys are eager to work and earn money but frustrated as it is very hard. I did share with them about Kiva, an organization that started in the U.S. that focusses on small private micro loans to people in developing countries. No one I have met here in Burundi has heard about this organization but I think it is ideal for this country since small business is one of the few ways to make a living here. They are affiliated with Turame Community Finance in Bujumbura. If you haven’t heard of Kiva, goggle them; I think it is a great way to give people in developing countries a hand up. I really hope and pray that this may be a productive way for the people of Burundi to get access to capital. Before we left the embassy we received several invitations for visit other English clubs. I left feeling a little overwhelmed because I know there are so many ways one could help here but there is not enough time to do it all. On a positive note, we have seen and heard of a lot of groups that are lending a helping hand here in Burundi. We met people from Food for the Hungry, Homes of Hope, Villages of Hope, Youth for Christ, Builders without Borders, just to name a few. It is really good to see that other organizations acknowledge the needs here in Burundi and are willing to help.

I was glad to finally meet Freddy from Youth for Christ. I saw a video on You Tube of Freddy when we were wrestling with taking our family to Burundi. I watched Freddy address some visitors from Britain and something he said really stuck with me. He said “I don’t want your money for Burundi I want your hearts”. Freddy is truly a gift from God for the people of Burundi. He inspires people to visit and help in Burundi. He sincerely wants to help his country and has set up many ministries to address the needs here from sharing the love of God with youth, to setting up English schools, and I was really happy to hear he is also planning on setting up job training courses for young men and women. After our meal together, Freddy thanked everyone there for coming to Burundi and expressed his sincere gratitude. I really enjoyed talking with some of the folks from Builders without Borders. It is amazing to hear their stories, as unlike us this is not their first trip to Africa. They sent 7 containers of supplies to Burundi and then came and built the school in Gitega in a few weeks. The school will begin this fall if all goes well.

This week we are wrapping up summer school. We had to give the students an exam which was tough because some students have attended the entire 5 weeks and others have only been at the school for a week or two. I am happy to report that most students received a grade of 70 % or higher, so I guess they learned something.  We had the Olympic games today at school. We had Team Burundi, Team Canada, Team Kenya, Team Tanzania, Team Egypt, and Team Rwanda. The kids colored the flags for each of these countries. We had events like relay races, archery, shot-put, and football to name a few. The kids seemed to enjoy it, although it was mass chaos. Tomorrow we will hand out certificates and the medals for the Olympics. Team Canada won Gold!

Tonight Jordan and Megan entertained our cook and guard with the small drum we bought from the Drummers on Tuesday. Megan talks to them all the time even though they don’t speak of word of English; they seem to be able to communicate. Hilaire brought the twins some drum sticks so they could enhance their drumming. All the African’s seem to have a great affinity for Miss Megan and she loves all the attention. She is planning to visit Burundi again for 2 years and live at the Hotel Club du Lac.    

Poor Hanna has a fever and is not feeling well. We took her for a Malaria test but thank God it came back negative. Keep her in your prayers.

The board members wanted us to have a ceremony on the last day and hand out certificates to the children. When I heard about this I thought it was kind of silly, but alas I was wrong, it happens from time to time J.  They want to celebrate achievements and these kids sat through 5 weeks of summer school to improve their English and that is an achievement to celebrate. The students brought music and the school brought in pop and doughnuts. It was quite festive actually. I even danced a little which made my kids cringe but the Burundian students had a good laugh. Greg did an excellent job running the ceremony. They had the press at this event as well, to help promote the Burundi English School for the fall.  The board would like to grow the school to 100 students which, is more than double of what it was last year. I really hope they are successful. There are only two English schools in Bujumbura that I am aware of: the Kings School and the Burundi English School. I think both are excellent schools and the Kings school is Christian which is great. We had an opportunity to Skype with their new principal Jeremy, who is moving his family from England to Burundi as we speak. We did have a good discussion with Jeremy about the fact that tuition is too high for many of the families here. Not sure what the solution is other than to have a sponsorship program perhaps.   

Although there were times when we were wondering what we were doing here, there were other times we felt truly inspired. I hope in some small way these students will benefit from the summer school at the Burundi English School, because I know our family did. It was a privilege to visit the Heart of Africa as the Burundians put it and meet these wonderful people.

 I want to thank everyone who helped us with our journey to Burundi and prayed for us, including the TanBur African Aid Society, Ellerslie Road Baptist Church, and our friends and family, including our missionary mentors Curtis and Lisa.

We came to this country knowing very little about Burundi or its people, and we come away richer from this experience. We read many warnings about coming to Burundi but at no time did we feel unsafe. They are a country trying to recover and heal from a terrible war and they are making progress. Keep Burundi in your prayers and if you have an opportunity to come here, I would take it.   

This is the Lessmeisters signing off from Africa…………..

We will post more pictures when we return to Canada and have access to high speed internet!

   

Pictures of Burundi

It takes a very very long time to load pictures here and patience is not my strong suit but I will give it a try.

Above is a picture of David. He is one of the teachers at the Burundi English School and he has stolen our heart. He has one of the kindest hearts. As you can see as he is being tortured by Thing 1 and Thing 2. We spend almost every weekend up country sharing the gospel and he has been a great influence on our children.

I mentioned the bikes in one of my previous bloggs, but seeing is believing. This fellow has a load of potatoes. I am consistently amazed at what cargo and the amount of cargo people carry on bikes. It is truly amazing!!

This is my class when they spotted the monkey. They were so excited. If you look closley you can see the monkey. Pretty cool to look our your class window and see a monkey.

Many, including myself, have complained about our kitchens being too small or not set up right at one time or another. Well I would like you to meet Hilaire our cook. He puts out delicious meals every day cooking outside in this narrow corridor using only charcoal for heat. The food has been really quite good and we have wonderful fresh fruit with every meal. The kids have been drinking plenty of pop here, or as the Burundians call it, Fanta. Yes, I know we are bad parents but pop is one of the few drinks you can get cold here and sometimes you just need a cold drink.

We are happy to be done week four of school. Although it has been fun we will miss the kids. Erin suggested we try a game of Red Rover with the kids this week so we gave it a try. It was a hit except for a few injuries. Hanna scolded us when we told her and gave us a lecture that is was not safe game and banned from many schools. I in turn told her so is having kids kneel in front of the class and tweaking their ears. J

Megan has moved on to Greg’s class, as our class is too boring. She has fun chatting up the teenagers as Greg is trying to teach his class. Megan thinks she is above approach and just does whatever she wants and most time we don’t have the energy to control her. Jordan has started to join in on our class activities. Every Friday we divide the kids into 2 teams which they call Team Canada and Team Burundi and we ask them each 20 questions. Jordan was on team Canada this week and he would make his team give him a high five every time they got a question right. It is nice to see him come out of his shell. 

Thoughts from Megan

The kids are absolutely crazy because they talk a lot, some are very loud, and some are funny. The teachers are very nice. I like visiting with Kenny and David and Lionel. I like playing outside with Jordan and also hangman with the kids at recess time. I like the cook Hilaire and the guard Riviere. I often talk to them even though they don’t understand me. I told Hilaire that I liked his hair cut and he laughed so maybe he knew what I was talking about. When I am in dad’s class, I like to play on the kids cell phones.; I listen to music and take pictures on them. They think I am cute and Jamalia lets me sit on her lap.  
I like the beds that we sleep in because they are comfortable. I met the couple that live upstairs. The guy is named Levi and I can’t remember what the girls name is they are very nice. I like to play with their niece.

From Megan

Week 4 Burundi

We finally had an opportunity to go to the Youth for Christ Compound. Greg had met Freddy, the local Burundi leader, in Edmonton in January and we were anxious to see their operation here in Burundi. The folks at Youth for Christ invited us for lunch. It was quite a walk from our school to the compound but on our way we saw a plumeria tree; the flowers used to make leis in Hawaii. They smell beautiful. When we arrived at the Youth for Christ compound, they welcomed us and served us lunch. It was delicious and we ate some of the best cassava we’ve had so far. After we finished our meal, everyone made a formal introduction of themselves. Many of the workers there are expats, from the United States. They have a project to start an English School in Gitega, a small city located in the middle of Burundi. It will be a Christian boarding school and they hope to draw students from all over Burundi. They mentioned that many times parents in Burundi will send their children to neighboring countries to be educated and often they do not return to Burundi. Their hope is that if they have a quality school in Burundi, they can educate and also encourage the students to stay and make a difference in Burundi. The school is to start in September. It was nice to talk to some of the teachers and they were interested in what we do at the Burundi English School. The folks at Youth for Christ arranged a ride for us when we were done our visit. We then went to an orphanage. The orphanage we visited was owned by a lady who said that she felt it was her calling to take in the children that had nowhere else to go. She has about 20 children living with her and she does not receive any assistance, other than the periodic donations from their church. The lady, Sarah, who runs the orphanage, told us a story about one family of 4 that she took in. The children’s father had died and then they lost their mother. During the funeral Sarah asked what would happen to the children and was told that they would be on their own. Sarah took in the children as she could not let them be on their own. She is really struggling as she had her own business but had to close it as the taxes were too high. They don’t have enough beds or food for the children yet they still have a very strong faith and are happy. They sang a gospel song for us and then they asked us to sing. I am sorry to say we did not put on a great concert but we did try. While we were visiting with Sarah, the children in the orphanage called our kids over to visit with them. They cannot speak any English and our kids speak little French yet they were laughing and communicating somehow. It was pretty amazing to watch. We will visit again and see what we can do to help.

Last week at school we had some visitors. The kids were all gathered by the window, while I was trying to teach I might add, and they saw some monkeys. They looked at me pleading to go and see them so how could I say no. There were about 6 monkeys and some were carrying little babies. It was pretty cool, but little did I know when we returned to class, the kids would be crazy and it was very hard to get them back to work.  I had to resort to screaming and banging on a desk. I got that technique from my mother J, who taught ESL for years but would not come on the trip with us.

Poor Hanna is often left alone with her class as the Burundian teacher she works with often leaves to do admin work. When the Burundi teacher leaves there is mass chaos. I went to help her and it took all my might to settle the class down. We told Hanna to come and get one of our assistants when that happens again.

She has since adopted the Burundian Teachers disipline techniqes of making the children kneel in front of the class and tweeking their ears. I didn't know she had it in her!

  

Greg’s Part

After monopolizing the blog Carol has finally given me the opportunity to say somethingJ.  My class is going okay. I have had between 30 and 35 students ranging from grade 4 to grade 12. This has been a challenge (as we were told the highest level of student we would have was grade 5) but we are able to get though classes with most of the students learning English. The first few weeks we have been working on grammar. Verb tenses mostly. I did not really come prepared to teach present perfect tense etc. but I have some resources that have made it manageable. The students are fun to work with. They are all very polite but love to talk excessively. It has been a challenge to keep them focused and on task but they are getting the hang of it.

On Sunday evening Hanna, Erin and I went with our friend David to a youth service at a house not far from where we are staying. This was a very lively service with many songs and a very good sermon delivered by one of the young adults. These services last 2.5 to 3 hours and this is in addition to the 2.5 to 3 hours church service they attended Sunday morning! Burundi has been going through a big revival and many people are on fire for God. It is great to see hundreds to young people committed to following Christ like the youth we have seen in Burundi.

Back to Carol

On Saturday we decided to take the kids to a nice pool at Club du Lac, a nice hotel here in Bujumbura. It was good to just have some family time and relax. They were quite a few expats there and we spoke with a Canadian from Toronto who was in Burundi to train soldiers. He seems to really enjoy his work and had been doing it for quite some time. We went to a Burundi wedding that evening and it was interesting. The wedding was all in Kirundi so we did not understand much but there was some cultural dancing that was fun to watch.

On Sunday we went to the BICC church, (Bujumbura International Community Church), with Martin, Charles’s cousin. The service was in French and English. They even had Sunday school for the kids, although I had to drag Megan and Jordan to it. They had a fellow Canadian teaching the Sunday school and the twins were happy to know the class was going to be in English.  The Sermon was about reconciliation and the need for healing in Burundi. How it was important to ask forgiveness and also to forgive. There have been so many atrocities that have happened here in Burundi and they need to forgive as Christ had forgiven them.  I can’t imagine what a difficult journey that is ahead of them. The little that I have heard is pretty heart breaking.

Martin took us to his place for lunch after church. Martin showed us some DVD’s of the work he is doing across the border in the Congo. He has a ministry to help the youth of the Congo and has also started a school there. The tuition is 2 dollars a month and some of the families can’t even afford that. Things are very difficult in the Congo but Martin really has a heart for people of the Congo and is really trying to make a difference. He works full time with a telecommunication company, started a Christian radio station and runs this ministry as well. We had a great visit with Martin and his family.

I had to stay home from School today as I have a bad sinus cold. I gave Erin the instructions so I hope she made out ok. Many of the kids in our class are her age or older yet it is interesting to see how they listen to her. I think Erin may have found her calling. According to Erin it went very well, and there is really no need for me to return. I think I will go anyway as it is my prerogative.

Tomorrow we plan to meet up with a couple we met in Edmonton at the travel clinic. We were the only ones at the clinic so we started to chat and sure enough they were a couple from Burundi who now live and teach in Canada. They are in Burundi to visit their parent this summer. 

Erin’s part

Erin and Carol’s class compared to Hanna’s class

Sitting and watching a peaceful and beautiful sunset.

Hanna’s class compared to Erin and Carol’s class

Sitting and watching a day of Burundi traffic!!!

Hanna has the Beginner class which is code for screaming, sweaty little kids who can’t sit for more than 5 minutes!  So luckily for mom and me we sort of get it easy.  Last week my mom was sick with a cold and I got to teach the class alone!  It went really well and if I do say so myself I handled the class perfectly. Don’t tell my mom but maybe even better than her.  On July 28^th (Friday) Hanna stayed home and I had to teach the beginner class with the help of Kenny. Think of the worst day of your life, and then multiply it by 10! It was horrible! In the morning we did reviews with them and that went surprisingly okay. However as soon as they leave the classroom for recess it’s like this witch puts a spell on them that forces them to misbehave all afternoon! Kenny taught for the afternoon because I made him. The afternoon held in store kids who were screaming and crying. I had to keep telling myself an hour and a half for the afternoon, an hour and a half for the afternoon but sometimes that didn’t help. I swear after that Friday I’ll have nightmares every time I enter that class!  Okay enough about school. Kenny, David and a friend of theirs named Lionel came over for a nice, little visit the other night. When they came I was knitting and Kenny and Lionel wanted to learn, so I taught Lionel first and he did it on his first try, Kenny on the other hand got it on his 5^th try, (he is not a fast learner). Yesterday we went to this little café in town called Tropicana. We visited with Benit, Florien and their cute little son Ian, a Burundian family we met  at the travel clinic in Edmonton. They happened to be visiting family in Bujumbura the same time we were here, so we got the number of Benit’s mom. We managed to get a hold of them with our not so great cell phone.  Today (Wednesday August 1^st ) we have nothing on really,(other than school) just hanging around the house. Over all we are having a wonderful trip and great adventures. I know already that I’m going to miss this place when we leave.

From Erin