In the Villages of the Batwa
We were up early on Monday morning. Scrunching ourselves into two cars, the six of us headed up the long, winding mountain roads with our drivers and Honorable Evariste Ndikumana, a former member of the Burundian Parliament and our guide for this excursion to the villages of the Batwa Indigenous tribe, also known as pygmies. Sitting in the very back of our vehicle, I started to get a bit car sick as we jostled along the mountain roads, but after we arrived at the first village and began to greet the villagers, I felt fine. Meeting the people of the village was good medicine for me!
When we arrived at the first village, many of the villagers were in the field, singing and hoeing along the rows of crops. They greeted us with happy smiles and singing. Some members of our team picked up hoes and joined in with them in the crop rows. After a short time, the villagers led us up the side of the hill to the village where they lived in huts of mud and grass.
Honorable Evariste invited us into one of the huts, so that we could get a better idea of daily life in the Batwa village. The hut was a single room. Cooking, cleaning, eating, sleeping,… every activity was carried out in a single, tiny room in the Batwa home. Four of us barely found room to turn around inside the hut. With a dirt floor, it was impossible to keep pots, pans and plates clean. Everything was covered in unavoidable dust and dirt. The grass mat which served as a bed was laid across a raised platform of sticks to provide some relief from the hard ground. Daylight could be seen through parts of the grass roof, so protection from weather was only partial. In fact, some of the huts that we saw that day were so fragile that there seemed little chance that they would survive strong storms.
I noticed plastic liter jugs on the floor of the hut. These are very common in villages throughout Burundi. Families use these jugs to fetch water from wherever they can find it. In the midst of these living conditions, the Batwa people seemed happy. They gladly welcomed us into their village with warm hospitality, moving closer to interact with us and get a better look at the outsiders who had come to visit them.
Honorable Evariste had arranged for each family to receive one bag of white rice. With all of the villagers gathered around, the village spokesman welcomed us officially into their village, and we presented the rice to the families. As we passed out the single bags of rice, I couldn’t help comparing our food delivery to a comparable trip to the grocery store for a typical American family. How many families in America would be content to leave a grocery store with just a single small bag of rice for their households? And how long would that last? I wondered how long it would last in a Batwa household.
The second village that we visited also greeted us warmly with dancing and celebration. After the presentation of the food, one of our leaders asked if I’d like to pray for the villagers. I raised my hands heavenward, and called out to God, loudly enough for everyone in the village to hear. When I did that, one of the Batwa women came and knelt at my feet. I leaned down and placed my hand on her head and prayed that God would touch her. Several other villagers took their cue from that and also came and knelt alongside her, like a spontaneous altar call. Our whole team got involved in praying for those who knelt in front of us. So many needs! The needs of the Batwa villagers seemed overwhelming. We prayed that God would touch them, be with them, and meet their needs.
It was in this second village that I met a young man named Jean Pierre. The most common languages spoken in Burundi are French and Kirundi, but Jean Pierre spoke to me in very good English. As we talked, he asked if there was any way that I could help him. He wanted to get a computer. This young man expressed possibly the greatest need of the Batwa people — opportunity. It seemed like a computer would be the last thing that you would expect to find in any of the Batwa villages. Where would you even plug it in? If Jean Pierre got his hands on a computer, I wasn’t sure how he would even be able to use it here. There was no electricity in these villages. I wasn’t sure how far Jean Pierre would have to travel to find a place to plug a computer into an electrical outlet, but Jean Pierre realized that a computer could open doors of opportunities in life that were not available to him now.
As we headed back to the city that afternoon, the topic of opportunities came up again. At lunch I asked Honorable Evariste to tell me his story. I specifically wanted to know how he was able to rise from such poverty as what we saw in the Batwa villages to become an honorable member of Parliament. He told me that early in his life, a family with money generously agreed to pay for his education. He had a sponsor. Because of this support outside of his village, He was able to get a good education and rise to become a respected leader of his country’s government.
His sponsor looked at him and saw past his humble beginnings and believed in his potential! He was able to escape from crippling poverty because someone believed in him enough to invest in his life. That single investment into one person’s life has paid off, not only for Evariste, but also for his tribe and his entire country because of what he is able to contribute in order to help provide others with greater opportunities in life. Now, after serving his country in government, Honorable Evariste is the greatest advocate for the Batwa people of Burundi.
Photos with the Governor
We also had an interesting encounter before we left the restaurant. As it turned out, the governor of the province was also having lunch in the restaurant at the same time. Honorable Evariste recognized him and pointed him out to Bill Faught, the leader of our team. Bill asked Evariste if he could get a photo with the governor. Evariste replied, “Not yet.” After lunch, as we prepared to leave the restaurant, Evariste approached the governor, and explained to him that he was there with Bill Faught, who was an acquaintance of the President of Burundi, and showed him a photo of Bill in Dallas, Texas, with President Nkurunziza of Burundi and Reverend T.D. Jakes. When the governor saw that photo, he asked if he could have his picture taken with Bill. So, that is how we all got our picture taken with the governor. Thanks to Evariste’s influence, we didn’t have to ask the governor for a photo. He asked us!
Planning for the Future
It was dark by the time we got back to our rented house in Bujumbura that evening. We spoke with Honorable Evariste about what we had experienced that day, our impressions; and more importantly, how we could help the Batwa people. As Jean Pierre and Honorable Evariste had both expressed, what the Batwa people needed at this time, perhaps more than anything, was something to help provide greater opportunities for them in life. As we discussed this, Evariste explained to us how we could best do this. He already had a plan to build a primary school for the Batwa children.
As part of our ongoing efforts to help the Batwa people, we are partnering with Legacy of Worship International to collect funds that can be used to build and run a primary school for the youngest children of the Batwa villages. What the Batwa people need, perhaps more than anything else, are opportunities to better their living conditions for themselves and future generations. A good education may be the best way to open those doors of opportunities. As Jean Pierre realized, and as Honorable Evariste has experienced, opportunities in life can make all the difference!
We ended the day by praying for Honorable Evariste Ndikumana and Honorable Etienne Ndayishimiye and all they are doing to serve and help the people of Burundi as spiritual and governmental leaders.
