Kibuye

The last time I was at Kibuye was in 1978 when I was 16. Our family came out to Burundi for the summer to open up a hospital. I remember a lot of painting and “assisting” Dad in surgery (it was the first time I saw the large intestine in its entirety- how does it all fit?). The house in this picture is the Child Survival Team’s residence and offices, and it’s where we lived “way back when.” Talk about “déjà vu.” Another house that I remember visiting often was replaced after the war in 1993 when 17 people came to hide there and were massacred. There’s a memorial grave near the sight.

Thank God for peace. We live quite safely there now. This picture is of our cook Berchamus, a young chap of 21, who makes us ibitoke (plantains), beans, rice and chai every day…not to mention the hot water he has been boiling for my morning wash. The next guy is “Herman,” which is not his whole name, but I mangle it, so Herman seems to work. He is our guard, groundsman, “go-to” guy, as is Christoph, the last guy in the picture. They are willing to put up with my Engirundi (English mixed with Kirundi) and lots of hand signals to get my point across. Without their assistance, we would be hurting.

However, one thing nobody in Burundi seems to be able to fix is the common door handle. Some company has a monopoly on the thing, and they fall off in my hands literally wherever I go…every home I’ve been in, church, hospital, restaurant, Governor’s office, etc… You get the picture. Someone would get rich, okay maybe not rich, if they could figure out how to make a better door handle!

I had to throw in this picture of Emile playing checkers with bottle tops with a local policeman in our front yard. Emile says he played for hours with his fellow students after exams in university. His prowess was evident! I’m glad we take time for play. I’ll let you know more about how the work part of it is going in my next blog. Counting down the final days with anticipation of seeing many of you soon (especially you, Josiah & Gabrielle), but also with some sadness because I am starting to put down some roots again.