There are two Cibitokes in Burundi. One is a neighborhood in
Bujumbura, which is about 10 minute walk from Hope Africa University. Then
there is the Cibitoke province, which is like a state within Burundi. It
happens to be a 2 hour drive from Bujumbura. The visitors I was with found out
the difference between the two yesterday.
I was invited to travel with some short termers to an
orphanage that was “not far” yesterday which was good because I had things to
do in the afternoon. But once we past the airport and headed on the road out of
town I started asking questions.
We traveled along the well paved road, wide and freshly
lined seeing the country side. This is the first time I’ve been to the west
side of the country. There were parts that reminded me of my time in Kenya; dry
with scattered trees and bushes. Other parts were dense with foliage. We drove
to the top of a hill and entered a walled compound. Inside were 5 houses and a
large gathering room. There were also 15 beautiful little children to greet us.
The children, who are orphans, live in family groups of 6 children per house
with one mother, most were widows themselves.
The team that invited me to come was a group of doctors. So
I turned into a doctor for the day. I helped with the eye exams. I gave the “What
letter is this?” exam to all the children while others were checking their
hearing, health and also the adults.
At the end of the day I was thinking about the time and I
was pleased by my language skills. Most of the day I was able to communicate
not only what I wanted to say but also translate for the doctors what they were
trying to say. God is good to me. With no formal Kirundi training He has
granted me vocabulary and a heart to learn this language. Thanks God.
