Dear Friends and Family,

 

It’s been nearly 4 weeks since I wrote the last time, and I’m really sorry about that!

Again, a lot of things happened which I had to digest first. And talking about digestion: In between I suffered about a week from diarrhoea, seemingly caused by amoeba…

 

In this way I want to thank you all for your birthday greetings and everything else that arrived for my special day here in Burundi! I had an enjoyable and unforgettable day!

 

Slowly but surely my working life gets going, too, my schedule is about fully drawn up, and I can’t complain about the amount of work during the week.

In addition to my English and computer lessons I’m going to spend twice a week in our Mother and Child Home where we just started to offer the girls a sewing-machine course. We believe that the girls require an apprenticeship with which they can earn their leaving as soon as they quit the Home.

Furthermore the girls can contribute to developing a self-supporting organisation in fabricating school uniforms or souvenirs such as Christmas angels (further information see homepage burundikids.org), handbags, bedspreads, cushion or duvet covers and many more.

This week I visited the centre in order to see whether the instructions are going according to plan, the production of the angels is running, and if there are any materials missing.

I was so happy to learn that the girls are all eager to learn how to sew and therefore set up a schedule together with their teachers in which the groups and dates are fixed.

Initiatives on one’s own and independence are some rare features here in Burundi, especially when white people are involved on which one can rely on. Therefore I’m always twice as happy to see them work independently.

For the beginning the girls are taught by a former street urchin of our home “Centre Birashoboka” named Pascal. Originally, he should have been reintegrated into his family few weeks ago, but he doubted to have promising prospects for the future among his relatives. However, we needed a sewing instructor in the Mother and Child Home and he possesses sufficient sewing skills, so the Fondation offered him a temporary job as a sewing instructor as well as an accommodation close by the home.

In this way Pascal had his first sewing lesson on Monday, and as far as I can tell, it went really well. The girls learned the general stitches, and they all made a big effort in order to sew precisely.

I’m curious to see tomorrow whether they’re keeping up the good work. My job in this home is to overview the sewing course and the production there, providing our future “needlewomen” and the tailors with material I purchased, and also with assignments for the course as well as the ordering of souvenirs.

 

Aisha learning how to sew

 

When I went there the second time this week together with Anne, a student trainee from Luxembourg who studies “education of street urchins”, I was literally disillusioned.

 

Anne had commanded two bedspreads which she wanted to pick up. She gave the tailor a small amount of money as a reward and out of gratitude to share among the group of tailors and assistants. She wanted to pay the full prize for the bedspreads directly to the Fondation Stamm later on, as the used material was paid for by it. Unrest spread among the girls, and then I slowly began to understand, as I heard the word “amahera” (money) repeatedly. The girls, who assisted to fabricate the bedspreads, were expecting to receive more money! That was outrageous!

It had been entirely inappropriate to pay on the one hand the tailors, who of course earn a fixed salary and apart from that were doing their job, and on the other hand pay the girls who live and eat for free in the home, get free clothing for themselves and their babies and in addition to that receive an education. We made clear to the girls that we see their behaviour of taking incessantly as a huge affront, and that they could leave the home straight away if they’re not appreciating the support and opportunities the Fondation offers them.

 

Apart from that my computer course is going well, the boys in the street urchin home all attend it out of great enthusiasm. Last Monday, my second course had only forty minutes of practice as a power failure occurred (which happens quite often here in Burundi), nevertheless, the boys were happy to have had at least several minutes of practice. One can tell that the boys are already making progress, although they have only access to the computers once a week, in our course. At the beginning it was quite difficult to teach something I have never learned consciously, something I learned by doing, by trying out, since I always had unrestricted access to a computer. Each computer lesson reminds me of my privileged life in comparison to the Burundians of the same age.

 

My English lessons are still a lot of fun although I’d wish some of my pupils would take it more seriously. They really want to learn English on the one hand, and on the other they don’t really mind if the lessons are cancelled. I noticed this while I was ill. If I don’t call them expressly, no one shows up…!

 

There’s a terrible commotion concerning discipline, i.e. punctuality, reliability and mutual respect, for each other and the possessions of others, among the children and youngsters in all our homes. Of course we keep trying to impart these values daily, but not always with continuous success.

It’s a process of rethinking. They need to learn that they can’t take everything for granted, their accommodation, nutrition, clothing, and education. It’s a big task to make clear to them that they receive free further education – a huge privilege here in Burundi – and that the effort they invest in their education will pay off in the future.

 

You see, there are highs and lows here in Burundi, too, and I’m trying my best to preserve the memory of the highs and to face the challenge of overcoming the lows.

 

See you soon!

 

Love

 

Claire

The boys with a "telephone" which we made out of milk-powder cans

Ezekiel listening carefully

 

With the street urchins in Kanyosha