Here you'll find updated pictures and news about my time in Burundi.
Hope you enjoy it!
Eastern DRC, Dec 17 2010
I don't remember the last time I was without a computer, but this gorilla trecking expedition seemed to indicate that I leave dell behind and take the Socrates notebook along instead. The day started in Goma. Goma, to which my gut reaction was: Is this about as wrong as things can get? The darkness is striking there like nowhere else I have seen. The volcanic ashes, the dirt, the poverty. When it's not black it's grey: the metal tole roofs, the run down buildings. One can only hope that the fertility of the soil will change things. It's possible, look on the other side of the border in Gisenyi. The day ended with a night walk to base camp through the Congolese forest lighted up by a volcano in eruption. I do feel I am tempting the gods. The stars here are as stars as they can be. The middle of the day was a...african free massage ride. I miss my people, but am looking forward to meet cousin gorillas tomorrow.
From my little tent, with my motorcycle diary companion.
Dec 18
The view from base camp is as beautiful as Goma was dark. We (and by we I mean the surprise Washington neighboors and I) walked through the jungle to go spend time with a gorilla family (which turned out to be the Humba). They are more human than you would think after watching King Kong. Early bird to Buja tomorrow. But shall keep my eyes open a bit more to mention Mikeno Gorilla sanctuary for orphan gorillas who have lost parents to massacre, poaching, traps. Rangers brought them up, literally. Baby gorillas cannot sleep alone. Mikeno is also an eco lodge in the middle of the jungle, an hour away from chimp and gorilla trecking, volvano climbing, and more. A national park lodge run by an NGO. What a job. Rangers protect gorillas against guerillas. Dogs protect rangers. People protect forest. A very, very special place where all put their lives at risk for good reasons.
http://marieinburundi.shutterfly.com/pictures#n_6 for corresponding images
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Part III: Business Case for 2012 |
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The global situation and outlook, together with strengths and weakness in organisational performance and high levels of volatility and uncertainty point unambiguously towards the direction in which UNDP needs to move during 2012. The themes that have emerged are clear, internally coherent and mutually reinforcing: sustaining the development momentum, managing risks, deepening partnerships and making meaningful progress in raising organisational efficiency and effectiveness. These themes translate into six major areas of work in 2012 (and potentially beyond):
· maintaining and building on the momentum towards achieving the MDGs by 2015 with emphasis on acceleration built around targeted action to overcome critical bottlenecks at country level; · contributing convincingly and influentially to the debate on a post-2015 development agenda that includes the outcomes of Rio+20 and addresses a ‘new generation’ of opportunities and risks that centre upon inclusion and equity, resilience and sustainability – such as ‘greening’ development and helping to build societal institutions, norms and practices that help countries lead and learn from their development processes - as well as taps into the dynamic partnership possibilities that are emerging world-wide, not least due to rapidly expanding South-South cooperation (both public and private); · helping to address critical governance and crisis prevention and recovery-focused issues in sub-regions and countries across the world that are undergoing exceptionally delicate and important transitions and/or are vulnerable to major development setbacks – whilst acknowledging that this depends substantially on the situation in these areas and the interest and willingness of national authorities to seek assistance from the UN System; · ensuring a high degree of preparedness to respond to natural disasters whilst continuing to invest in disaster risk reduction and prevention; · ramping-up systematic efforts to improve the quality of critical relationships with existing and new or emerging partners – with UN System relations figuring prominently - and with an emphasis not just on resource mobilisation, important as that will be, but also on ‘partnerships of ideas’ to advance knowledge, understanding and action on shared concerns; and · following-through successfully on all of the main actions and results of the AOC (as described in Part IB above) together with other steps that are strongly complementary (the new programming arrangements, the Integrated Budget, rollout of IPSAS, and the information disclosure standards in the IATI). These six main areas of work translate into an integrated package consisting of a dozen annual priorities that fit within UNDP’s Medium-Term Strategic Priorities. The details are set out in Part III of the ABP (below). |
Pretty cool New Deal on fragile states, except for the yogurt compas language, and the absence of China on the list.
I am allergic to accounting--at least anything that goes beyond my responsibilities.
The allergy manifests itself through making me look like a punk.
http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/wess/index.shtml
Chapter V on national policy for green dev is worth a read!
...intervene.
Right outside my window:
Kids being beaten in public in the school yard.
Dog tied up to a tree so tight he can't move, screams all day, and has to do his business, well, you can imagine.
Beating stopped and meeting scheduled between African colleague and school master.
Dog has a longer rope, and his guardian, tips on how to educate the pup to prevent the reason he is tied up in the first place. Between us must have been a pretty funny scene in that garden with the goats and the turkeys running around, the dog high on finally being liberated, and the guard translating the negotiations between the dog guardian and I...
Just not going to be a bystander.
On 10 November, the Global Human Development Report 2011 was launched in Benin for Francophone African countries.
Main messages:
• In the future, development will not necessarily replicate the achievements of the past. We must pragmatically find ways to seize new opportunities and tackle new challenges such as climate change, youth employment and technology transfers.
• There is no recipe for development, but the cycles can become virtuous when countries embark on a double transition to inclusive market institutions and participatory political mechanisms.
• Progress is possible if we promote inclusive economic and social policies while facilitating sound environmental management.
• More democratic global institutions will be needed to tackle key challenges, such as the promotion of a more stable and sustainable economic and financial environment; the establishment of fair and effective rules on trade and investment; and initiatives to build resilience and encourage climate change adaptation.
• Financing for social protection and the environment must increase. The report argues for the establishment of new financing mechanisms, including the tax on currency exchange transactions as proposed by the Leading Group on Innovative Financing for Development.
Benin is among the countries that have made significant progress in the area of Human Development, having increased its levels of HDI by 68% from 1980 to 2010, thanks to specific efforts in the areas of education and health. Also check this story from research lead investment in Uganda: https://apps.facebook.com/theguardian/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/nov/10/uganda-electric-car-education
Agricultural development in Benin
Following the launch, the Deputy Director of UNDP Africa, Babacar Cissé, visited the site of a project that aims to develop Benin’s rural economy by diversifying its agriculture and facilitating rural entrepreneurship. Benin still relies overwhelmingly on cotton to generate livelihoods and economic opportunities. The Government of Benin signed a USD 51 million agreement with UNDP to implement the project, which aims to reduce youth unemployment and underemployment through training in organic agriculture, food processing, mechanization, rural energy and natural resource management.
Seems to be doing a good job.
Reading about UNDP involvement in transitional justice.
Going through case studies, wondering how come UNDP is doing so much in certain cases on TJ (has my mind be infiltrated by political mission agents?!). Columbia for example. Then it hits me. Of course there is the positive complementarity aspect, but beyond that:
If I think of the different aspects involved in “peacebuilding justice”, I think:
1. Political
2. Development
3. Technically judicial
In the UN context, I think, with corresponding numbers and not exclusively but briefly:
1. Political mission
2. UNDP
3. OHCHR
Now, think about the people you find in those three categories, what they have been trained to do:
1. And 3. Have often been trained in building arguments
2. Have often been trained in finding solutions
Both kinds are needed for “peacebuilding justice.” And in fact n 2 kind of people are essential.
So complementarity, yes, but necessity, also.
· In a recent editorial, Fareed Zakaria of CNN, called the Arab Human Development Report as “the most influential book to be published since 9/11”. In a previous commentary Zakaria also states that the report is ”most influential piece of writing of the last decade”. These pieces follow last year’s article from the New York Times that promoted the Human Development Report as the “authoritative measure of poverty and deprivation”.
· At the same time, UNDP has been positioned as an expert organization in climate finance and climate response in these media articles by People’s Daily, China; Alertnet/Reuters and the Energy Daily.
· The film Revealed: The Himalayan Meltdown produced by UNDP was aired throughout June and July 2011 on Discovery Channel Asia reaching nearly 100,000 people. In addition, prominent requests for copies of the movie have been received by the office of Vice President Al Gore; the Office of the Under-Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs of the U.S. Department of State for a screening at a South Asia Forum; the National Academies of Sciences for use at its Forum on Himalayan Glaciers; the US Environmental Protection Agency in Boston and Washington, D.C for special staff screenings; Carlton University; the University of Wisconsin; Duke University; The Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, associated with the US National Defense University; DFID; the SAARC Secretariat; the Asia Institute of Technology in Thailand and the Stockholm Environment Institute.
· UNDP as an online “thought leader”. Klout, a social media analysis service, calls the UNDP a “thought leader” as it generates actions and discussions with nearly every message. According to Klout, our followers rely on us to share news and opinions on development issues. According to the ranking service Retweet rank,@UNDP is ranked in the top 1% most influential twitter accountsof the approximately 200 million Twitter accounts world-wide. Helen Clark was ranked as the tenth most interesting person tweeting about global development by The Guardian.
This is what you ask consultants: a strategic and operational product.
This is what you ask consultants NOT to give you: a strategy to write terms of reference to recruit other consultants to do the work they should have done.
Just sayin.
The consultants then asked the Country Director to comment on how UNDP Burundi was able to advance and innovate to turn things around for the better when in a difficult context and while being a pilot country. In terms of engaging the peacebuilding architecture, how did the process go? Were the results the consequence of inside and/or outside leadership?
1.
The CD, based upon his experience in different countries where UNDP was at work to position itself, shared the following contextual innovation stories. He advised the consultants to get a hold of the UMBO Report. The place of UNDP within UN integration started with that report. UMBO visited Burundi to plan UN integration with Resident Rep Yussef M. UNDP was quite interested in playing a strong role in integration at that time, following a negative audit in 2007 resulting from, among other things, the context (other agencies were facing the same problems, heads of agencies targeted and killed, staff moral low.) The beginning of UNDP positioning started with the UMBO Report. The instruction the DP received was as follow: UNDP needed to make the most of this new experience, new structure of integration, and start building credibility. The DP heard and requested TRAC resources x3 to start investing, reinforce the UN center. The idea was long term vision. The DP also needed highly qualified staff, which he also got. The DP’s proposal was to position UNDP at the forefront of the peacebuilding agenda. With increased TRAC, reinforced procurement, and highly qualified staff, the DP felt it was possible to manage DDR, reintegration, transitional justice and elections. For all these domains he had a specialist on his team.
Innovation can be summarized as follow:
*Getting the above 4 dossiers working at the same time
*The concept of adult associate that allowed to unlock Pretoria negotiations. On a related note, UNDP Burundi just received $10 M in PBF for reintegration purposes, an award closely related to the concept of adult associates.
*1 million ID cards were delivered in 1 month. Success of this operation was essential towards peaceful/democratic elections and also further down the line, to ensure poor people would have access to essential social benefits. The operation conveyed the fact that the election had started, and also made the role of ministry of interior and CENI clearly essential. The operation was a success thanks to CISNU.
*Going beyond the electoral cycle: UNDP identified factors that can put at risk the electoral cycle: unemployed adult associates without enough subsidy, so a massive public work program was launched to employ them. To undermine the risk of violence and maximize effectiveness at best, the design of this program was studied down to the relevance of particular days and the name of the project. At the same time, an ad-hoc disarmament campaign based upon violence maps, took place. There was a strong decision made on the part of UNDP here: to avoid violence during the election, it needed to manage key players.
*Private Sector and reintegration: For the first time, reintegration focused on the private sector. UNDP Burundi tried to avoid the humanitarian approach and instead provide employment opportunities. There was born the 3x6 approach, an innovation that BCPR is now trying to operationalize. It is important to point out that the 3x6 approach was integrated in the national strategy for reintegration, a document prepared by the government with the help of UNDP.
*Taking the risk to help the transitional justice dossier when asked. In terms of transitional justice, the tripartite national consultation was an innovation in itself which avoided a top-down process.
These key innovations had a catalytic effect which was also possible thanks to BCPR who provided funds for key activities including staff. This changed the way UNDP does business, and for the better. The CD’s staff also noted the value of the big picture thinking that took place.
"This is what we are like: our dreams seem more plausible than our lives. But if they didn't, all those revolutions, those wars, those religions and ideologies, could never have been dreamed up..."
A Thousand rooms of dreams and fears
In my inbox this morning:
"Chers Amis Partenaires,
C- jointe la Déclaration de l'ACPDH sur les massacres du 18/09/2011 à Gatumba.
Nous vous souhaitons bonne Fête de Paix 2011 CHEZ VOUS
SAKE Mathieu
Re^présentant Légal"
Alright, a lil list of my favorite UNDP Burundi accomplishments this year:
10 after 10, story of 10 years of transformaitonal change by UNDP in Burundi. See attached.
Vision Burundi 2025, prepared and launched by the government with the help of UNDP, a true conflict prevention tool. See UNDP Burundi web down right below and Yunus video.
http://www.bi.undp.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=158&Itemid=163
Construction Gatumba of Youth Regional Center, a Region Seeds of Peace in the making!
Yesterday was the launch of the National Strategy of Sustainable Tourism Development. Burundi, the heart of Africa, thinks right on this. It will be interesting to follow how far they take it.
I'll be short today; one of those days where the emotions of the job, combined with the heat,
kinda break you down, at which point you need, if at all possible, to find a way to "escape", for one thing, away from a screen. Aside from the ovbiously difficult but nonetheless affecting conditions of the people you serve, the coming and going, affectation and reaffectation of colleagues who can be so awesome that they become family, is rather draining.
On that note, here I go on a mission to rehydrate myself.
What is the difference, in the context of the UN family, between a political unit and a sustainable development unit in a subcontext of collaboration
The first is asked what the partner does and answers what the partner doesn t do, the second is asked what it does not do and answers what it does
Some detours you are glad you take. This adventure really started at Nairobi airport. I had “Work for Purpose” in my bag and decided to go through it right there and then.
What moments from your childhood shaped what you think is important?
When in your life have you felt out of whack?
In those out of whack periods, what was out of balance? Where you following your heart? Your head?
What would you do if you were not afraid of failing?
What can you do that draws on both your heart and your head?
Why do you do what you do?
When have you felt “in the zone,” like you were doing exactly what you should be doing?
The book prompted me to ask myself the above questions, some of the best questions I have ever been asked, and I wanted to share them with you.
For the fun, my “work for purpose” word cloud is:
International dialogue, healthy competition, dream, fulfillment, guidance, ‘right people’, network, big picture.
I was just in Uganda for a conference looking at the intersections between transitional justice, forced migration and good governance, learning in prevision of the transitional justice process in Burundi.
I have my doubts on the ethics of the place where the conference was held (still investigating) but let’s just say the property is on an enormous piece of land on the shores of Lake Victoria, can feel like luxury military barracks with all its soldiers and policemen around who don’t seem on duty, taxes everything like you wouldn’t believe (35pc!) and has a huge statue of the president in the center of the huge reception hall, the same person whose electoral adds stood, alone, on the walls of Kampala airport. (Sorry I can’t take a picture it would very likely bring me significant problems that would compromise my upcoming time with floppy ears, which would just not work for me.)
I have had a bit of time to learn about Uganda’s history, and it’s quite particular. Beyond the fact that many will tell you it is the country of the three madmen (Obote, Amin, and Kony), colonialism took a different form here. British were invited and certainly influenced the place, but never owned it to the extent other colonies were owned. It made me pose when, just like in Burundi, Ugandans asserted they would have had relative peace all along if only monarchies would not have been interrupted by madmen of all kinds. In any case, at present, the country is more than less secure.
On Sunday night I was fortunate to spend time with family and friend. We met for dinner with the incredible Victor Ochen. Since I met him in Lisbon at the NATO summit, this son of Uganda has created a local social enterprise that produces and donates parts of its production to a local clinic which de-facto became a key children hospital in Northern Uganda. Look out for Victor’s story in a next book by Paul Farmer and/or Tracy Kidder. Victor’s charisma and efficacy in community building in Northern Uganda also recently brought him recognition by Desmond Tutu.
When Victor and I meet and talk, there are often sparks of unreasonable ideas emerging. Un-reasonable but possible—at least we think so. So let me announce our next possible goal. We are planning a youth GA summit that will parallel the UN General Assembly meeting in 2012. (Deepa and Jessica, mark your calendars.) Concept note will be out by the end of the summer. New-Yorkers don’t worry, the youth will be moving around by foot and other non-traffic blocking means. This is one way we will distinguish ourselves from our senior leaders, but if the NATO youth summit in Lisbon was any indication, it won’t be the only one. We will run our own meeting, with our own speeches, our own negotiations, and our own on record hard questions to the senior leaders. Participants will be selected through a TBA process, but I can already tell you one thing: they will be selected on merit and not on family affiliation.
But back to the conference. Here are the ideas I’ll take back with me, for UNDP Burundi, and for you of course:
· Globalization creates problems for refugees but also strong opportunities for all of us to benefit from exceptional global citizens.
· There are instances where contradictory laws, in terms of common sense anyway, have been overcome when good judgment prevailed. Australia’s judiciary has examples to offer, one being the story of a Malaysian family being refused asylum, yet not sent back because of the recognition they would be hurt back home, given special status that later did not fit the requirements needed for them to stay on and get citizenship after years of being in Australia…but at the end of the day, good judgment bypassed and resolved the lawful contradictions.
· All IDPs and refugees are victims of crimes against humanity (population transfer, persecution, forced migration etc), their cause thus have access to international criminal law even if IDP and refugee law are, well, years behind. Cases in Kenya, Sudan, and Bolivia have started to understand that…Latin America features the most progressive relevant laws to date, but implementation remains an issue.
· Along the same lines and according to legal principles such as inter-generational equitable chances, humanity survival, and more, climate change cases are pushing their cause in international criminal law (Cancun for ex). So, with a bit of imagination climate change refugees can also have a go with international criminal law.
· Encourage return without justice? Think about the linkage between truth telling and durable solutions. How do you deal with the politicized (or at least perceived as such) nature of transitional justice? Where does UNHCR, pushed by HQ to do more in TJ, fit in the transitional justice process? In Burundi, where will (if) the “commission sur les terres” fit in the transitional justice process? How inclusive is the discourse on reparations? Can the harms of displacements be repaired? Note that in the AU convention, states are responsible for reparation if they are responsible for displacement.
· Transitional justice reparation could/should include negotiations with states to deliver papers to refugees who don’t want to come back.
· Refugees often have terrible illusion about resettlement, and that can impede them from going on with their lives.
· Alternatives to resettlement?
· Don’t forget urban IDPs.
· Governing migration is a global governance exercise that requires economic policies that can solve historical and present injustices (vs. national governance).
· Local integration is only possible if all stakeholders are of one mind.
· Think retribution, reparation, reconciliation. How far do you go with those if larger social context is not taken into account? Risk of creating political numbness. How to go beyond technicalities?
· Property restitution and gender in post-conflict situations.
o Kenya shows that dealing with different land systems means dealing with legal loopholes, but functional courts available can help the process.
o In South Africa and other places inspired by it, guarantee of rights does not depend on land anymore.
o Recommendation for lawyers working on this is to use a human rights framework.
o The Arusha Accords provide for restitution, yet very difficult for government to sponsor that. Here lays the role of civil society.
· Study stats shows that the more people feel threaten, the more they want peace; the more people feel government can protect them, the more they want a stop to impunity.
· Acronymization dehumanizes words which then become easily manipulated into ambiguity-technicization. i.e, IDP and TJ are seen as ideological. When applied to concrete situations, these acronyms can lead to blindness. [Fill the acronym] toolkits easily forget the different possible interpretations of what [fill the acronym] means. [This is of course particularly relevant to the UN culture. It’s a reflection that would be good for us to have.] The argument here is that our research and program categories need to be politically meaningful categories as opposed to being ideological.
· Ugandans are REALLY funny with words
On another note, traversing Uganda gets your eyes glued to the passing sceneries and their inhabitants. As I fell asleep at night after a magic run in the bush, those images http://marieinburundi.shutterfly.com/pictures/191 went crazy in my mind in an imaginative photographic extravaganza.
Cheers,
Oh, and here are a couple ivdeos: http://marieinburundi.shutterfly.com/pictures/6
Marie
Lessons learned from capacity development cases:
UNDP having a say in peacemaking/peacekeeping planning is essential to ensure a continued progression in terms of renforcement des capacites.
·Political and economic systems shape the development of capacity
· No amount or institutional reshaping can overcome issues of weak /dysfunctional state-society relationship
·Change is not liner nor rational but emerges from the dynamics of the system and it needs constant adaptation, communication and consensus building
·Large, multisector, cross cutting and central strategies are not the drivers of CD.
·Need for more bottom up and less emphasis on control but on facilitating, protecting, using leadership and knowledge, safe spaces and places, greater inclusion, informal networks and multi-stake holder coalitions
·Importance of identifying the right champions – e.g. capitalizing on leaders that build trust and are effective in driving change.
·Need for setting priorities – e.g. Listening to what ideas are emerging from the ground-up instead of approaching the situation with a technical recipe in mind and challenging decision-makers to select a manageable scope of priorities.
·Need to determine a sensible and strategic sequencing approach– e.g. perhaps accountability structures would be fruitful investments (such as Audit Boards, Anti-Corruption Commissions, etc.) and focus on key economic/job creations/infrastructure areas.
·Importance of ensuring that capacity development efforts complement the country’s efforts to define a shared vision.
·Need to focus on the core functions of the state, including Citizen security; Justice, Supporting job creation, prioritizing institutional support in these areas, as they yield the greatest peace and development dividends to the people.
·Pre-determined activities for pre-designed objectives-context as potential barriers (e.g. social and cultural barriers that impede modernization)
·Rational organizational reform leads transformative change
·Focus on best practices/ good fits, sometimes imported models– mostly adapted and based on local conditions , accountability and efficiency, effectiveness, impersonal rules and institutions as opposed to outcomes of personal influence and power
·Emerging approach is finding a pattern of opportunities for CD in the structure and behavior of the country's political, social, cultural and economic behavior;
·Flexibility is key to rapidly changing conditions on the ground and take advantage of windows of opportunity
No choice ? Choice ? Habit? Way things are? Submission? Pragmatic strategy? Lack of vision? Lack of will? Guts? Frustration
The world according to boss Gustavo. Do yourself a favor, read below.
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New comment added to Forum topic: Addressing the Peace-Security-Development Nexus: UN Perspectives by Gustavo Gonzalez. Dear Marta, Babacar and colleagues, Definitely, the progress towards sustained peace in the world has been tremendous over the past 60 years. And the simple recognition of the fruitful interaction between peace and development –as largely explained by the various contributors- gives us already some hints on how to prevent conflict. I have just looked at some reports describing the progression towards peace and they are astonishing. In the 1950s there were on average between six and seven international conflicts being fought around the world each year. In the new millennium the average has been less than one. The decline in international conflicts became evident before we began to see a decline in civil wars and this decline has been greater than that of civil wars. It seems that the latter did not start to decline worldwide until after the end of the Cold War. In this sense, the number of international conflicts–including wars of colonial liberation–have been dropping since the late 1960s. It also seems that international conflicts are not only fewer in number, but they have also become less and less deadly. In the 1950s, a decade driven by the hugely destructive Korean War and its high death toll, the average international conflict killed more than 21,000 people a year. In the 1990s the average annual death toll was approximately 5,000. In the new millennium, it was less than 3,000. In any case –and beyond the figures- we should also recognize that armed violence has adopted new sophisticated and unpredictable forms. Terrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking and illegal exploitation of natural resources make the new insecurity landscape more complicated and – even worse- more difficult in terms of how to prevent armed violence. But there is another global trend which has evolved alongside peace: the dramatic increase of democracy around the world. In 1946, 28 percent of government’s around the world were democratic. By 2008 that share had more than doubled. Although the direct implications between increase in peace and wide-spread of democracy still remains an hypothesis for some experts, it is quite evident that the civilian and democratic oversight of military power constitutes a valuable platform to assess the unrecoverable costs of war. Some caustic analysts even say that liberal democracies almost never fight each other and claim that this tolerance derives primarily from their democratic nature. However, it is also true that democratic countries declare war on undemocratic countries. But along with these trends, statistics show that economic interdependence between national economies is, on balance, a positive force for peace. In this sense, this interdependence could be seen as complementing the effect of democratic institutions in promoting peace between liberal democracies. As the economies of countries become more and more enmeshed with each other as a result of wealth-enhancing cross-investment, the cost of fighting a war will often outweigh any conceivable economic benefit that might follow from starting one. Indeed, if one state goes to war against another under such circumstances, it is effectively attacking itself. In addition to this, economies in the developing world have experienced a dramatic acceleration of foreign direct investment over the last two decades. In simple words, economic development could represent a form of long-term conflict prevention. Just combining the three mentioned global trends [and I am sure there would be others!] as well as their internal dynamic, we have sufficient critical mass of evidence to look at the role of an organization which is at the fore front of crisis prevention, good governance and economic inclusiveness. The key point is to know how an organization can adapt - including our knowledge capital – to capture the fluidity of a process that requires more than a simple division of labor amongst departments, programs and funds in a conflict- or post-conflict context. Certainly, this requires more than a simple “thematic- area- response”. In fact, the mentioned “interdependence” should not simply be seen as a new chance for joint-programming, while keeping the rigidity of thematic silos [or even “mandates” as it happens in peace keeping / peace building settings], but a privileged opportunity to profoundly revise the way in which knowledge and its related decision making process are generated, framed, managed and applied. There are still a number of factors impeding this systemic approach. The “case-load” addiction that attempts to classify the conflict affected population in ambiguous categories of ‘ex combatants”, “IDPs”, “unarmed combatants”, group at risks”, “adults associated with armed groups” etc. is a very concrete example that undermines an integrated response. This degree of specialization - which sometimes has even an impact in the organizational chart of the Country Office- undermines our ability to capture a reality where at the end of the day, the different “caseloads” co-exist in a community, all affected by poverty without exception. The “ad hoc budget line” support is another example of fragmented aid coming from specific donor’s budget lines covering “relief”, but not “rehabilitation”, or “DDR” but not “civilian disarmament” in a context where the so called combatants split half of their time as farmers and the other half as bandits. However, there are some encouraging changes in supporting post-conflict transitions. The Peace Building Fund initiative, particularly in the case of Burundi, is a good example of addressing national priorities in terms of peace, democracy and economic recovery from a multidisciplinary approach and in an integrated manner. PBF has allowed national counterparts to look at the synergies between peace and development and then address the key drivers of conflict, namely: “political deficit”, “social exclusion”, “legal impunity” and “ economic imbalance”. Within this broad approach, it was not strange to include the promotion of domestic private sector as a security sector reform initiative, under the assumption that, some times, a community engaged in local trade is best to secure the free circulation of goods and people. This worked extraordinary well. PBF also contributed to the enhancement of UN integration (BINUB), stimulating a new organizational architecture, where the so called “integrated programmatic sections”, composed of DPKO, DPA and UNCT staff worked beyond their institutional boundaries. UN leadership, ensured by a “E”RSG –although wearing five hats at a time- largely facilitated organizational cohesion during political volatility. Still more important, “knowledge management” as a key function to ensure a multidisciplinary approach to peace and development was a powerful tool to ensure program cohesiveness. In any case, a profound change in the way we deal with peace and development has arrived. As it’s said, the challenge can be stepping stones or stumbling blocks. It is just a matter of how you view them. Gustavo
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http://www.iwacu-burundi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3184
"Serions nous de ceux qui résistent
Ou bien les moutons d'un troupeau
S'il fallait plus que des mots "- Jean Jacques Goldman
Weekend of rest, French Open, and UN cowboy stories with colleagues at boss'. Cudos to boss for growing and catching his own food, making his living room one of the best places to eat out in Bujumbura. Cudos to all colleagues for making that evening such a fun, relaxing one. Again...Awesome. Colleagues.
Buja says hi. She is very happy in her new home. She likes the food, the garden, everything cushoned, the ping-pong balls from the Chinese store, and sleeping on the outside edge of my mousquito net.
Yesterday, I flew to Arusha to be part of a historical event. Alma Matter Drake University played, today, the first American football game on African soil, against an all star Mexican team. The players are here not only for football, but also to do service and to climb Kili together with other Drake awesomes such as President David Maxwell and Athletic Director Sandy Hatfield.
The players are well aware of why they really are here.Their presence is not only making the job of the American Ambassador here easier, it also shows what US/Mexico neighborhood can be.
For the record, Drake won the cup after a fourth quarter that kept me at the edge of my seat. But again, the results go well beyond football, in the same way it took big picture thinking from the organizer Patrick, the coaches, the players, and the administrations involved to make this all happen.
I am as proud of my Alma Matter as ever--scratch that, even more than that. On a personal note, Drake brought me to China, India, the UN, DC, Burundi, Chicago. It has opened the world to me, but most importantly, it is opening the world the way it should, no, needs to, be--one of imagination, vision, and quite simply, one of humanity requiring *necessary* risks and efforts not many are willing to sign up for.
Thank you bulldogs. You rock. See you tomorrow in Moshi. Hopefully my luggage will be here to tag along.
PS: Enjoy the pics and video from today on this site!
Past few days--highlights:
*Met with different departments at work to strategize on next steps for helping Burundi's capacity building, integrated reintegration, environmental protection, youth and green jobs. Learned a lot from boss and colleagues.This work is awesome.
*Showed domestic worker it's possible to get a contract and a loan at the bank to fix family house. That was pretty awesome too.
*Screwed up on something but let's forget about that since nobody died (not that kind of screw up) and bad feelings being repaired.
*Picked up African novels and independent movies at CCF
*Swahili learning has officially started!
*Beach is still there.
Next few days--highlights:
*Kitten Buja is coming home!
*Drake football playing first American football game ever on the African continent!
*Playing Bujumbura tennis tournament.
*Need to write to crown prince of Norway for Gustavo--sorry people, it's not William, Kate, Maria, Antonio, Ronaldo, may be another time.
Back in Buja! Just in time for film festival Festicab:http://www.festicab.org/, courtesy of, among others, UNDP.
Go UND Burundi.
I had lunch with Chinese friends a couple days ago before they went back home.
I felt back at home in China; they really do care about peace.
Yesterday, Aissata took me along to a meeting with the structure of the government that is responsible for aid coordination.
Because of a misunderstanding the meeting could have been the battle of “we don’t want audits” vs. “we have to do audits.” But it did not happen that way, not with the way Aissata totally scored in her argumentation. This was a perfect example of how you get people to do what you want (in this case, what you want and must anyway) for their own reasons.
It’s getting close to my first break/visit to Belgium and DC.
A bon entendeur, salut!
Today's themes are youth unemployment and the unlikely feasibility of a zero tolerance anti-corruption policy in a particular context.
We have a new colleague assisting the government on youth employment generation. One thing that strikes her is the lack of long-term vision by some ministries (but that's not different from some of our very own, is it?). In Burundi, 70 pc of the population is youth. The vast majority of that youth in age of working and making a living is either NOT employed, unemployed, or underemployed. This is not a desirable situation in a post-conflict setting, obviously.
The ministry of youth wants to focus on sports (the country has *very* high level officials playing sports 3 hours/day...). My point is, sport is important, but it can’t do it all. The ministry of labor is willing to start working on employment generation. It is hard to get ministries to work on *youth employment.*
One of the culprits:
Government officials who manage 6 million dollars budgets are paid 150 dollars a month.
And one question:
How is a zero tolerance toward corruption supposed to work in this context?
“To the American and Chinese friends:
It was a pleasure to talk with you yesterday.
I hope you had a good field visit and I am sorry I wasn’t able to come (Jean was right, it was too late to get the security clearance.)
Please don’t hesitate to be in touch, and if you have a chance, I would very much like to see your upcoming writings on this trip.
Also, just wanted to share a thought that occurred to me this morning.
Sports seem to be a priority of the GoBurundi, in my opinion perhaps sometimes to the detriment of other priorities.
Don’t get me wrong, sport can have a tremendous impact on the unity and spirit of a nation—think
South Africa/Invictus, for example.
Chinese are REALLY good at sports, especially in terms of infrastructure, training, and results—although,
and in my opinion again, at times a bit too demanding of the kids.
Perhaps a way for China to get involved in peacebuilding in Burundi would be through “sport assistance,” to be better defined by Burundi.
Done in parallel with employment generation as discussed, this could be a great formula.
Just a thought.
MM
Special Assistant to the Country Director
Bujumbura, Republic of Burundi
Office: +257 22 301100"
***
[Innovations from Marie’s and Gustavo’s desk:]
Real Time Give and Track Announcing: Social Change Agents vs. Instability Agents
Venue: Burundi, your computer, your phone
When: NOW
Social change agents vs. Instabilité agent
[See attachment for more]
PS in Bold:
So as long as I have you IN my mailbox...Obama 2012. I am IN. Are you? http://www.barackobama.com/get-involved
PNUD / UNDP Burundi
Green Building
Chaussée de Peuple Murundi 4470
http://www.bi.undp.org
Cell: +257 79 409020
Very interesting meeting with a delegation of Chinese scholars yesterday. They are in Burundi and DRC on an exploratory peacebuilding trip. As you know, China has become quite good at peacekeeping, they are proud of it, and apparently they are starting to explore peacebuilding.
They had questions about our programs and peacebuilding in general. Gustavo (country director) being on mission, Aissata (deputy country director) being sick with food poisoning (poor Aissata), the special assistant to the DP (little me) and Jean Kabhazi (the veterant of the office who knows about everything especially when it comes to strategies) were asked to step in. The real cool thing about that is that I got to ask the following question to the scholars: In your opinions, what are the whys of China's possible interest in peacebuilding?
Answer:
1. China is a peace lover
2. Our defensive military benefited from the openmindedness acquired while working in the context of peacekeeping missions, and thus we think further involvment by China through peacebuilding might further benefit China in a similar way.
3. We are good at creating jobs (not as good on civil society matters for ex, bit good at creating jobs), jobs are extremely needed in Burundi for ex, so why not do something that can benefit both Chinese entrepreneurs and Burundians?
4. China seems to be transitioning towards more multinational action taking (vs. mostly bilateral).
They recognized China has its problems (civil society etc), but insisted they are good at creating jobs. In a typical careful Chinese manner, it was emphasized that all of the above is at a careful exploratory stage.
I topped off the day with a meal at the best, by far, Chinese restaurant I have experienced since living in China and passing by 5 other continents. That gem is right here in Bujumbura, 5 minutes from where I live, imagine!
AK 47 gunshots were heard at night last Sunday. Somewhat limited political violence, apparently. As I said last week, Burundi is walking a thin peace line, even though the results of the peace dividend are visible, even though poverty remains disturbingly high.
We had a work retreat at the end of last week. Among 40 people or so, I was the only white person there. I noticed it, kinda hard not to, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable noticing. Best colleagues. Ever. That’s why. I feel among my kind of people; it’s a feeling I wish to you all in your professional lives.
We stayed at Bluebaie which I swear is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Built by a talented, eco-friendly Burundian small entrepreneur, it’s very comfortable in the midst of lake, beach, mountain, and village life. Comfortable on a reasonable, human scale. All foods made from scratch. Fish right out of the water. Beach volleyball lighted up by evening thunder on other side of the lake. Beach tennis lighted up but sunrise.
Field visit at the end of the retreat—nothing like a field visit and talking to clients and listening to what works and what doesn’t, and see their imaginativeness at work. On example. This young guy, 15 perhaps, returnee who was given a small studio, transformed half of it into the grocery store of the village, and he is doing great business.
Back to weekend and work.
And one wish for the coming week: no more book burning, no more UN staff killings, and no rebel arming (it never works), thanks.
I’ll also share my fav report of the week:
The note, not the giving in. I gave in. With my long hours and the stores short hours, I had to get help at home so I could eat more diversified than tuna cans, and, on occasion, fall asleep to a movie instead of doing manual laundry into the wee hours. Last week Evariste’s son and friend had come along to meet me. It was raining on that day, so we all gathered in to watch a movie on the history of Burundi I had just picked up at the library. Parts of the movie were uncomfortable to watch together, needless to say. I told them that, and when I asked how they felt Evariste said the movie was quite accurate, that the Burundi he has known since he was born in the early 60s had never been good to live in. To my surprise, he spoke of the time of the crisis (read genocide) and said as a Hutu he couldn’t come to town at the risk of being slaughtered by Tutsi, and that Tutsi would not venture to the hills as the same “sort” would be reserved to them up there.
Burundi is walking on a thin peace line between its economy and its politics. I wouldn’t be surprised if that line “prenait feux” anytime. On the other end, I wouldn’t be surprised if things worked out much better for Burundi, given the gorgeous country it is. And here is an interesting question: what do you do with a language that doesn’t distinguish “dialogue” from “negotiation”? That would be Kirundi.
Another puzzle is featured this week: How to apply the UN policy of no more than one family member in the UN system per country. How do you apply that in the small country of Burundi? Family can mean many things in many different cultures…and no, the text of the policy itself doesn’t give the answer. What about retroactive cases?
It’s also time to introduce colleague extraordinaire n.3, my boss, Gustavo Gonzalez. Put simply, he is trying hard to revolutionize the UN system and make it more (and seriously) efficient, transparent, and human at the same time. How? By leading by example. By encouraging innovation. And I get to help him do that. What can I say? It’s awesome.
Lastly, these past days and weeks have had me, like many of you, think about sovereignty. What I have to say Charli has said it succinctly and powerfully: http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2011/03/true-but-irrelevant
Rest, improvised dog park on the beaches of Lake Tanganyika, beach volley ball until dark, good food, hippo songs, and a good movie.
Great week. I learned about a positive side of One UN. UNEP colleagues visited us and we started the process of encouraging the Government of Burundi to embrace green economy as a pathway to sustainable development and poverty eradication--and thus peacebuilding. In my opinion, this is absolutely necesseary in Burundi, as explored in previous posts. The above might sound like common sense to many of you, but getting this common sense out of big bureaucracies is nothing to sneeze at.
Wiggio and greening the building suggestions were adopted at the office, and I am even asked to further my proposal to look into social entrepreneurship as one solution to the economic key domain of the villagisation policy in Burundi.
When you have sharp, caring, and humble cooleagues, 15h work day pass very fast!
Today boss asked me opinion/advice in important policy planning meeting with national counterpart.
Confidence building in 4 weeks. Not bad!
Note to self part II: the value of substantial education might never have been clearer to me than at the issue of this meeting. Whoever wants to help build a peaceful and prosper Burundi needs to invest in higher ed here.
UNDP colleague: "t'as passé un bon weekend?"
Me: "played tennis at gun point,
went to beautiful Rumoge with a VERY noisy bus, lighted up countless candles, squatted neighbors’ bathrooms and nearby hotel electricity, heated up water and...
I am exhausted, can barely keep my eyes open"
Just came back from the Kakabone concert. Was quite good. Check out the pics and video!
It seems to be a great example of generational and cultural exchange. Does the patriotic sounding song remind you of anything?
In no particular order—take it circularly
1. International aid workers live in the same houses as the colonials did
2. Country clubs are mainly frequented by Muzumbus and the few well to do Burundians
3. Muzumbus and well to do Burundians have house helpers that get paid about 25 times more than their aids. Hill staffers, you thought you had it bad? (see first post for more on this)
4. Most things are imported
5. Space visibly hurt by unfair global economic system
6. International organizations have to navigate partnerships with corrupt counterparts
7. International organizations provide most jobs
8. Locals too often consider muzumbus as "parents" vs. resenting them
8. Competent and well intentioned peacebuilders present scratch their heads at the above
9. Gaddafi has his name on at least one institution in the country
For cameleon see upcoming pic.
I come here today with the big eyes face one makes when one’s jaw drops when (for example)one discovers magouilles and corruption and must strategize with colleagues to combat it in partners.
I also come with questions:
Why is the US (and no other) moving military ships closer to Libya? Give me the obvious, the non-obvious. Perhaps it's because I am on the African continent right now, but I really would like to understand this deep down.
Here are a few answers I got on facebook:
It's all about responsibilities that come with being the super power of the planet. In an other way, it's objectively an expression to demonstrate leadership against something horrible as a sanguinary dictatorship killing its own citizens w...hile these people decide to express their wish for a better system of government.
But, let's not be naïve neither; subjectively, the time has came to see the end of more than 4 decades of dictatorship in Lybia. On the ground, the strategy seems to have real impact; because, although the Dictator keeps fighting against the insurgents, his speech has completly changed: he does no longer promiss to kill insurgents like rats or dogs, but he's now talking about "they are my people, I know they like me..." (More diplomatic): It might be difficult to notice, but it's a big change. That's what happens when the world reacts against something going wrong in a specific nation, it does really help to keep the worse from happening...See More
To be able to enforce a no-fly zone, ideally under a UNSC resolution
TO SUPPORT AL QAEDA, it seems.
But really, to break international law, because that's what US does
Yaroslav also mentions oil.
Scott wrote:
I agree with the ability to enforce a No-fly Zone is paramount right now. I think it is also to ensure that the Oil continues to flow freely from Libya as well. But I would also hazard to say that the US is also late in doing this.
I am going to make my investigations with Burundians about this.
Another thing I want to investigate with Burundians:
Do they think Middle-Eastern style revolutions are possible in, say, the Great Lakes region? Are people just too poor? Not educated enough*? Or is the norm of the race to power to ensure the well-being of one’s extended family at the expense of the rest and in the context of an unjust global economy (for more on this see last section here http://mantlethought.org/content/eyes-nato-lisbon), too powerful?
I’ll start with the friend taxi man who just wants a fair salary, nothing fancy, just something fair. And then his friend, a qualified assistant, going crazy (literally) at his and his wife unemployment situation.
*Here I must introduce a parenthesis and briefly describe the weekend experience of my colleagues in the communication department. They were in the second biggest city of the country, doing photo shoots destined at the promotion of national tourism (all commissioned, of course, by the relevant ministry.) Such mission involves negotiating with people to take pictures of their properties and/or persons. You don’t use people’s images without paying them. In the course of doing their work, they were accused of preparing a woman for crucifixion, which prompted the governor to show up. Colleagues didn’t know who he was. Oops. I mean, not a big oops bc they were in fact NOT getting ready for a crucifixion. But a oops quand meme.
At first I decided that spending a BD in a place where you have been for just a few weeks, away from your people, is not cool, even if you have great colleagues and budding new friendship. Then I opened my facebook page and felt better. Death of distance, as Professor Skidmore coined it.
I think I'll remember this Feb 25 for the kindness of the new friends, the care of the united nations of birthday wishers through facebook, and the care and humorostic stories from those closest to me (that includes you, clown of Jaffar!). I'll also remember it for the morning meeting on one of the biggest mess I have ever heard of--the juxtaposition of legal titles (and other) to land in Burundi---and in which I had to remind a set of exclusively [nice] male colleagues of the implication that the language of a specific recommendation could...would have on gender power relations--and thus sustainable development. They got it and changed the language around. Yeah for all! It is in the same meeting that I met a young Burundian activist who better become president one day.
Good news: people are tired of fighting, and their country truly looks like the Switzerland of Africa, which has got to be possible to turn into an advantage.
Bad new: low salaries for civil servants and corruption, no justice system to speak of, too many people for not enough land in a primarily agro society, very little investment to generate jobs because of the corruption, lots of youth unemployed, part of the opposition re-arming, Al-Shabaab treats, dormant ethnic tensions, HUGE disparities in wealth between the few in power and the poverty stricken rest.
It does sound like a time bomb at times, but at the same time, the good news do offer some hope.
In my position I help the UNDP Country Director move things along. the work is diverse and comples and thus difficult to evaluate after just a few weeks. However, I can't possibly offer an informal, unofficial first assesmment without promising to asess my own work as soon as I have enough material to do so. So be on the look out, it will come! One of the lessons I am learning is that time is a price to pay for transparency...
Helping rebuild a country is daunting, but in the course of that, there are things you read that can only be laughed about. On another note, I find myself collaborating with old colleagues and friends all around the globe, some of my fav people. I think it means I am in one right place.
It's daunting on me that being in Burundi is a lot like growing up in Belgium. The food is extremely similar. I recognize Belgian products all over. Bakery sections feature homemade waffles that taste just like my grandma's and aunts'.
There are the red and dusty tennis courts, and the people at the bar chatting and watching others play. Horses (I did a lot of horseback riding from age 5 to 10.) People go to the pub after work.
It's all somewhat comforting but where are the Burundian traditions, the Burundian foods? Has it all been forgetten as a colleague suggested to me, pointing out the life expentency of Burundians (49)?
Something else to be investigated.
Something
1. Most cars here have the steering wheel on the right side and ride on the right side of the road.
2. Les fourmies burundaises sont piquees aux hormones
Introducing colleague number 3: Aissata De. Aissata has made a strong impression on me fom the very beginning for a simple reason. She has a motto, and it's uncompromising integrity.
But not all colleagues are stars...colleague number 4 should really treat people better.
On the topic of making UN staff behave, we had a session today (intro, video, discussion) that made it clear that suspicions of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN staff MUST be reported.
Today I also had a taste of an integrated UN mission meeting. One hour to discuss how to coordinate the sharing and viewing of project updates. I am TOTALLY introducing the boss to Wiggio and Team Works. Tomorrow.
This past few days, I have had the oppotunity to lunch with colleagues and get to know them a bit better. Let me tell you about two of them as a start--tell you how cool they are.
There is Matteo from Italy/Burundi. He negotiated with rebels in Sierra Leone to get kids out of their armed forces. In Burundi, he works with community to ensure peace where returnees and/or ex-combattants enter the picture. Matteo has a great family, Jose (his wife, from Burundi), Amoro and Romeo (2 great little guys!) and Max and Beethoven...yup, the family dogs. We ate Ethiopian for lunch...yum!!! Andrea and Jim, time to eat Ethiopian yet?!
Awa Diouf doesn't really need an intro, but here it is anyway. Awa is a senior gender advisor, also with lots of experience in good governance...one doesn't mess with Madame Awa, believe me. Awa is from Senegal, has a positive experience with USAID--Jen :)--confirms that Chad is a really though place to work in (How do you do startegic planning with communities who don't know whether their houses will still stand when they go home after work?!), and today can be found dancing and laughing while ensuring that gender relations are taken into account in everything we do at the office, with eyes on gender equality. (Oufti, one can see I am writing sentences in French these days!) In part thanks to her work, Burundi
has more elected women than anywhere else in Africa, and is number 2 worldwide in terms of number of women elected and appointed to office.
I found out more about the tennis kids. They are abandonned, street kids from the provinces. In Bujumbbura, they got the opportunity to play tennis in the morning, and earn some money in the afternoon as ball kids. They live in shacks with families close by the tennis courts. Beyond the fact they don't have appropriate living conditions (like many people here), too many of them don't go to school (primary education has recently been made free in Burundi), from what I understand, because they have never been to school and because there is no capacity for accelerated education for them. I told Awa, and she is meeting her Unicef colleague tomorrow to pick her brain.
This week we also got to talk to Babacar Cisse (who was visiting), UNDP Africa n 2 (outch, I am catching UN language flu, I'll watch myself and recover, promise). Good impression, too. Nice. Sharp. Skeptics, the UN has its problems, but quite honestly, it has its qualities too.
Al-Shabaab, stay away. Thanks.
I just saw a goat on a bicycle, seeming comfortable on a kid's knees at the back.
The Burundi Journal.
One hour away from landing, don’t really feel like I am away.
May be the kind spirit of Burundi is already opening its arms? En effet, “bienvenue au pays!”
Phew, I can breath.
Landed. Heat around stomach, not quite the feeling of emptiness.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Under the sun, under the wind. The birds are singing. Mangoes are the size of footballs. Time to meet people now.
Driving through the streets, thinking of the book Strength in What Remains
Tuesday, Jan 18
Birds are still singing. Networking has started, and if it were a bird, it would definitely rock and roll.
Thursday, Jan 20
Met attaches at the Belgian Embassy. *I think* they like President Obama. I know they like the American Ambassador here, they find her very involved, which according to them is not usual, and they like it.
Challenges it seems I will be talking about: governance, corruption, justice.
How do you “develop” a country without stealing from foreign countries or other “others” and without running the show with “enough” of a degree of tyranny.
Ok, so xxx was indeed horrible. I feel free working in a UN office where I am not completely allowed in the outside world without an escort.
Friday, Jan 21
Survived first east African food intox.
Saterday, Jan 22
The kings of the hills, and the shocking poverty below.
Rio goes the opposite way. Interesting to think of this in terms of what it means for improved quality of living for the disadvantaged. Where are you best situated for progress? On the hills or below?
Monday Jan 24
Meeting with Kate of Norvegian Refugee Council
Observations: main employeur in Burundi are international orgs
For jobs to be created, need to provide the environment for that. Meaning, end of corruption and proper legal system.
Evaluation system of UNDP is freakin impressive
Saterday Jan 29:
L’entente sportive. Beautiful tennis, pool, golf, horses. Burundians love sport. Programs for kids of difficult/violent areas: they go to school and then to entente to play sport. Let’s investigate this further.
Met a youngster who asked if I were a horse whisperer. I gave him some tips :)
Went to Musaba Women Cooperative and got art for the house.
Wanna know NYC, talk to cabs. Wanna know Bujumbura. Take and talk to cabs.
Sunday Jan 30:
Hope the parents enjoy the Abba concert!
Shika companions—sport, amitie, solidarity, collines montagneuses, villages, fanta in the middle, biere a la fin. N’oublions pas les chants—les marcheurs et les eglises sur le chemin!
Ok, so the Burundian radio had its bad days to say the least, but today, man, woman, awesome news, international news, and hits from Goldman to Madona to yet to be indentified Kirundi and Swahili hits...all day long!
Wednesday Feb 2
UN houses used to be Belgian houses
Eery similarity
The problem of job relations: An expat works here and is expected to provide jobs to Burundians. Most expats work for international orgs, meaning the kind of jobs they can provide are domestic jobs. Salaries for domestic jobs are $75/month and if one ventures above $150, one gets in trouble with upper class Burundians who use domestic services. Whatever domestic workers say, a nice holiday package and a medical umbrella is a meager consolation when you look at the big picture. On top of that, paying domestic workers well means they buy land away from their neighbors which are left destitute—even more destitute. Have I mentioned not all expats feel comfortable with having domestic workers?
Thursday Feb 3
Chauffeur says Belgians didn’t build like British or French, so no help
Belgian Embassy said earlier Burundians appreciated the fact Belgians never left
Humm, authentic dialogue seems to be missing here
Sunday Feb 6th
Hiked to the Kiriri Campus with the Shika companions. Ca grimpe!
The campus has the biggest pool I have ever seen. Check out the pic!
Encountered a “pitch perfect” photo op, but after watching Enjoy Poverty I just couldn’t take it. Not that it was a horrendous situation. Just a very black child in a deep red dress on a very back hill that eventually turned green. Wasn’t an hungry child but likely a child from a modest family.
Cab broke down.
Met Rob from Justice Department—Human Rights and Spécial prosécutions. A great family to get together with when back in DC. He has a cool job: he travels the world and prosecute the bad guys!
