LVIA’s Presence in Burundi

LVIA has been present in Burundi since 1968, and in collaboration with the Diocese of Bururi it has supported the creation of the Centre Professionnel Agricole, d'élevage et de Coopération (Agricultural Business Centre for Livestock and Cooperation). Initially formed in 1973 for vocational training in farming and animal husbandry, the Centre has evolved into a complex to serve Burundi’s young people by promoting economic initiatives for marketing products through cooperatives, sales and purchasing centres, and stores for stocking goods.

In the second half of the 1970s, LVIA launched social initiatives (home economics) to aid youth and mothers with the objectives of teaching the most basic rules of hygiene and disease prevention (dishes, clothing, personal hygiene), making clothes, and correct meal preparation. In the 1980s, the program expanded and a new division for rural housing and infrastructure was established. Somewhat later, the areas of training, promotion of production and sales cooperatives, and initiatives in socio-healthand nutrition were strengthened.  In the second half of the 1980s, management of the Centre C.F.R de Ruvumvu (Rumeza) was gradually taken over by locals, and we launched a comprehensive project to develop rural housing by forming a credit union to aid in low cost construction. Therefore, LVIA’s policy in Burundi was first created to support the local population in agriculture and socio-domestic activities, and then it evolved to include additional programs of greater scope.

 

In 1985, LVIA inaugurated a multi-sectoral development program near Butara in Cibitoke province where the level of poverty is among the highest in Burundi. It progressively provided support to small groups for farming production and zootechnics, and set up community infrastructure and water supply operations (aqueducts, source capture). We also supported an agricultural services centre, a centre for educating women, and a centre for arts and crafts training. Since July 1994, LVIA had extended its activities to the northern part of the country with rehabilitation programs to facilitate the return of refugees who left after the 1993 crisis. Unfortunately, in late 1995, weighed down by insecurity in the province of Cibitoke that hindered the movements of volunteers, LVIA suspended its activities and presence in Burundi.

 

1998 marked LVIA’s return to the country alongside the Franciscan Fathers in Kayongozi in the province of Ruyigi.T he multi-sectoral project in housing, health, food, farming, and crafts, is developing according to three guidelines: training and support for farmers; social action to promote women’s work in revenue-generating activities; and support for rural clinics. In 2000, LVIA returned to the province of Cibitoke, joining with the Italian NGOs CISV and CCM, on a water and sanitation initiative with emergency funding from MAAEE (Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs). In 2002, LVIA began its cooperation withEU-ECHO to establish emergency response operations for the immediate needs of refugees and repatriates from the province of Rutana and from Ruyigi for water and basic hygiene projects (source capture, site remediation of aqueducts, toilet construction), food supply (by recovering marginal farming space in marshes), and food distribution.

 

Still in an emergency context, LVIA has collaborated with UNICEF since 2004 in the National Basic Education Program, with additional activity in the areas of health (construction of a maternity hospital) and farming (distribution of supplies to evacuees) thanks to private and institutional donors. Since 2005, we have carried out major water infrastructure projects to increase the quantity and improve the quality of water for use by ordinary families, and we built training and health facilities. In 2006, LVIA decided to bet on the peace process by directing its efforts toward a long-term development policy, and reducing emergency operations. To this end, we developed projects to support and stimulate agricultural production and processing, and a training program for hospital medical staff in Ruyigi province was completed. Another important initiative since 2006 is the care and prevention of AIDS in rural areas.