Background

Burundi, landlocked and least developed like its neighbor Rwanda to the North, seems only to get negative press. Since its independence in 1962 violent and recurrent conflicts between Bahutu and Batutsi, the two main ethnic groups making up 99% of its population, seem to be the only story heard all over. Yet, both ‘Hutu’ and ‘Tutsi’ shared the same social, economic, political and administrative life centuries before the German colonial era, followed after World War II by a UN trusteeship run by Belgium.

But here let us focus our attention on the main characteristics of Bikanka Zone (township), which lies in Mukike Commune (county) of Burundi’s Bujumbura Rural Province. People in Bikanka are very poor and live primarily from subsistence crops, pretty much at the mercy of each year’s unpredictable wet and dry seasons. Small herds of cows, goats and sheep can be seen grazing in rare spots of green pasture at the foot of dispersed hills, providing some families with dairy products or income to buy additional food and clothing.

Mukike Commune is itself one of the poorest areas in Bujumbura Rural Province. Its inhabitants have insufficient land for the competing needs of food crops and livestock. A compounding factor in recent years has been the influx of people displaced from neighboring communes or even distant provinces where the civil war has been raging. Many of the displaced are former residents, or their descendants, who had emigrated from Mukike decades ago. Others are simply internally displaced persons fearing for their lives.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has not spared Bikanka Zone. The latest HIV/AIDS data confirm an already alarming situation: 9.8% of the population of Bikanka is HIV positive, a percentage almost equal to the 10% observed in semi-urban areas! In Bikanka Zone only, a striking figure of 345 children orphaned by AIDS has already been identified.

Last but not least, drinking water supply per household in Bikanka Zone is currently insignificant; basic hygiene needs are simply not met.

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Muranderera Programs
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Under section 501(c)(3) of the US IRS Code, MURANDERERA Association is a tax-exempt charitable organisation also registered with the State of New York Office of the Attorney General.

Muranderera has no paid staff and low administrative costs, which means that more than 90% of your donation directly benefits the children, the intended beneficiaries under the Muranderera programs.