By Bex Morton | Communications Consultant
Burundi needs you today
You may have seen in the news that the political situation in Burundi is particularly volatile at the moment. There are daily protests and barricades on the streets of Bujumbura as protestors try to put pressure on the president not to stand for a third term in office, which they argue is unconstitutional. It is difficult to move about the capital, and hunger and disease are major problems.
During these demonstrations, the police fire tear gas and live bullets to disperse the protesters and sometimes the protesters retaliate by throwing stones or committing other crimes. Most organisations and shops have closed and most workers have been prohibited by demonstrators from going to work.
Near the New Generation Centre, various roadblocks have been placed by the youth from the district. Although many staff have had to leave the country for safety reasons, we are doing our best to look after the children here.
Street Children Program
Although the schools have closed, children supported by New Generation continue to come to our center on a daily basis to take part in activities. Teddy Claude, the project manager of the street children program, is currently living at the New Generation Centre, ensuring the safety of our children.
However, as an organisation that has worked with street children for many years, we know how much this crisis is affecting children in general and street children in particular. When everybody else is running back to their homes for shelter and protection from bullets, street children have no safe place to run to. They get caught up in clashes between the police and the protesters and struggle to find something to eat as most shops are closed and people have no money to give away.
We would like to thank all our partners who continue to support us through this work of providing food and shelter to these children. Let us pray for these little ones not to get involved or harmed during this period. We also ask you to continue supporting them during these hard times.
Promoting active non-violence
Many of the protesters are young people, therefore we have been working with groups such as the Scout movement to exchange ideas on the current situation and to organise strategies to be used during demonstrations in order to promote active non-violence.
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By Bex Morton | Communications Consultant
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