It’s Back-to-School time once again! Just like where this letter might find you, children in Burundi spent the last few weeks excitedly getting ready to return to their studies. In this beautiful country we love, the return to school demands much of the students and their families in an area where food is a scarce commodity: Copy books, pens, hair cuts, uniforms… as you can imagine, the majority of families in Nyarumanga, one of the most economically challenging areas in Burundi, struggle to cope with these requirements. These setbacks, which might seem small to others, often mean many students are not able to attend school.
There are many NGOs working in “the dump” area of Bujumbura, where our community is located, and it is not uncommon for all of these well-intending NGOs to donate copy books and pens to the multitudes of students struggling to survive in this economically challenged area of the country. These handouts, when they are given without any strategy of long-term development, often cause families to be stuck in cycles of perpetual poverty.
This is why YADA offers so much more to our community in Nyarumanga than school materials alone. For the last 10 years, we have partnered with the families in this area to create healthy and sustainable solutions to the challenges of life in this area. Our Back-to-School week for 41 children includes copy books, pens, hair-cuts, shoes, uniforms, backpacks, and more! But these materials are not simple handouts.
Our amazing staff in Nyarumanga work with the students of our community all week to make sure they are completing their homework and understanding their studies – and especially that they receive a nutritious meal each day! Each week a Yada team member goes to school with our students and meet with their teachers to ensure they are keeping up with the their lessons and not falling behind. We meet regularly with our students’ parents to empower them to take ownership over their children’s education.
Our kids came home from school the first week saying that they were struggling to find and be admitted into their classrooms and connect with their teachers. So this week alone, Emelyne has gone into the schools every single day to help students settle into the school year. We work closely with our community-elected committee who help lead our community into transformation.
We do all these things because we know that mere copy books and pens do not keep kids in school or curate healthy, happy lives. Incredibly, our 41 students and their diligent commitment to their education, we have a pass rate of 75% – which is significantly higher than the standard pass rate.
For the nursery aged children, we are excited to have 30 more children join our Ituta program (“little seedlings”) this year, and a waitlist of almost 100! It’s very important that this program continues as we provide a safe place for the little children to come, play, learn, and eat, otherwise they would be out roaming the dump and be extremely vulnerable to physical and sexual violence, as well as abduction. I was reminded of the stark contrast of the lives our Ituta children lead verses other children on the dump when I walked out of our building where our kids were enjoying their morning porridge to find a girl of the same age eating styrofoam in the dirt. We pray we can continue to take in more kids in the future as we grow!
As with all important development work, there is still a cost to all we do in this community. We’re praying for a few more people or groups to be on Team Nyarumanga by praying for our students and team, as well as giving financially! If you’re interested in partnering with us in this endeavor, email us at: helloyadaburundi@gmail.com or head to our Donate page and follow the prompts.
We want to give a huge thank you to all our partners who have made our Back-to-School week possible, but also for your ongoing support so we can offer more than materials to our amazing community in Nyarumanga.
