AMU: Projects in Burundi and Cameroon

Burundi. “This area experienced dramatic events in 1994 – the AMU workers tell us -: The population was caught up in killings, reprisals, robberies, wholesale destruction of homes and goods. Living and hygiene conditions are still deplorable, and the worst effected are women and children. The vulnerable families of these towns are very numerous and many of the children don’t go to school; often they are brought up by single women with children, weakened by years of war and hardships, and they don’t have resources of any kind, without any hope of improvement.”

In 2014 a new project was set up in the metropolitan area of Bujumbura together with a partner association CASOBU , in collaboration with the Associazione Uomo Mondo of Treviso (Italy) and with co-funding from the Veneto Regional Council in Italy.

In the working through of the project, in dialogue with the beneficiaries, the institutions and the staff of CASOBU, certain needs were identified as priorities. An attempt to address these needs will be made through a series of activities aimed to help 250 vulnerable families, totalling 1,500 people altogether.

Camerun.  The construction of the water well at Nega (Cameroon) has been completed, and it has become a place of meeting and sharing. “We can say that everyone – adults, children and the elderly – have helped build the well – (AMU Notizie n. 4/2013) – through physical labour and the transport of stones and sand. A small annual fee for maintenance is also asked of each family according to the possibilities of each, thanks to the sale of cocoa and other produce grown. This direct involvement makes everyone feel the well as his or her own: an asset to protect. ”

Prior to the construction, the villagers had been informed and trained, through community meetings, on how to take care of the well and use water responsibly. The well, also, was built at a transit point, so travellers can use it too.

Fr Simon Pierre, a priest of the parish, writes: “Without exaggeration, we can say that the construction of the well has brought visible benefits to the village.

Everyone now has drinking water so there is an improvement in terms of health; for example, there are fewer people with abdominal pains. The well has become a place of meeting and sharing between people and this helps to unite the community.”

Source: AMU Notizie n. 2/2014