Potential Future Projects

Are you a business or individual who would like to sponsor the project or donate equipment?

Could you chose GlobalEyes for your next fundraiser?

Through the Girl Guide Association in Burundi I am in touch with the Nyarunazi camp for Returnees - people who fled their homes and their country during the bitter 13 year civil war which killed over 200, 000 people, saw hundreds of thousands flee the country, and left more than 200,000 internally displaced people.

The refugee camps are now closing, and around 450,000 refugees have now come back to Burundi. Many of them are living in returnee camps while they try to rebuild their lives and their communities. The 356 children living in this camp have been through alot. They have been displaced, and many will have had friends or family members killed during the civil war. Some may be AIDS orphans, and some may have been recruited as child soldiers, something that was common during the war. 161 of the children are not in education, and this is not an organisation with a regular volunteer programme, so these children do not have any opportunities to take part in the performing arts, or to let their voices be heard.

Burundi has the lowest per capita income in the world, limited natural resources, an underdeveloped manufacturing sector and low levels of education. It is a landlocked country with poor internal transport routes, meagre health provisions and a high incidence of HIV and AIDS, and is a source country for human traficking. There is also high unemployment, particularly among the young. It is a country which has suffered from civil war and warring neighbours almost consistently since independence in 1959, but it is now at peace, and is now desperately trying to pull itself out of poverty.

By most accountrs, the new, multi-ethnic government is working. There are still occasional conflicts between dissident rebel groups, but the government is looking more stable than at any other time during the country's independent history, and the people are ready to be a part of the world once more. By all accounts, they are doing well and showing real signs of progress. But this is still a very poor, war torn nation, and the children in these camps are amongst some of the poorest and most vulnerable.

Other communities who have shown an interest in taking part in a GlobalEyes workshop in the future include childrens homes, schools and shelters in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Tanzania, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Honduras, Bolivia, Haiti and an Aboriginal community in Australia.