Over the last year, thousands of people have fled the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo and sought refuge in neighboring countries. An estimated 109,000 of those have fled into Burundi. For the last year, we have been partnering with the local church and church leaders in Burundi to welcome these refugees by providing food relief in camps (click here to see a previous post from distribution last year). Over the last year, we have been able to provide around 12tons of food to 750 households. In addition to the food relief we have been able to help establish churches in the camps. These churches have been a gift to these people as they provide community (and in some cases reestablished communities), a place to worship, celebrate and grieve together, and a return to sense of normalcy. These churches are also serve as the food distribution centers.

In March, I was able to travel to Burundi to visit two of these refugee camps in Rutana and Ruyigi and to be a part of the relief distribution. Below is a video that was made by one of our partners, Gladia Nkeshimana, to document the on going work. Our plan is to continue supporting this effort in the future.

While in Burundi, I was also able to travel across the border into the Democratic Republic of Congo to visit the churches and partners in Uvira. This area has been ravaged by the war and there is a lot of rebuilding to do. However, our church leaders and members there see the incredible opportunity to be a place of hope and support for those that have remained in Congo and are rebuilding after the war. People have suffered greatly with so much loss, and the church wants to be a place of refuge for the community. We are considering ways to come alongside them and support these efforts.

I was also able to to visit an IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp in Buganda for members of the Gatumba community that lost their community as a result of the rising of Lake Tanginyika (see previous post for more info). The government has allocated land in Buganda for these people to relocate. It is currently a camp but will grow into a thriving town with time. We have been supporting 100 households in this community for the last 2 years, so it was great to see that they are finally established and can begin building their lives in a new place. We are considering programs that might help in building livelihoods and income generating activities to further help them settle and rebuild.

We are so grateful for Bishop Seth Nkeshimana and the church leaders in Burundi. They are doing incredible work caring for these communities, and we are thankful for the opportunity to partner with them.

Thank you to all of our partners and supporters that make this work possible. If you would like to make a contribution directly towards this effort you can do so here: Ministry Project Support (choose “Dunning Jamie Ministry” in drop down menu.)