Building Hope
| It’s been a year since Burundi suffered the worst flooding in decades, with more than 40,000 hectares of crops destroyed and over 19,000 homes damaged or lost. That was on top of the rocketing cost of food and national fuel shortages. We had to do something, so we put out a crisis appeal. One year on, I want to share a story of a life impacted thanks to the generosity of the GLO community! Clement was one of the 300,000 people impacted by the floods. He lives with his wife in Nyanza Lac, a fishing town near the Tanzanian border. They have six grown-up children. When the floods hit, water invaded their home, and gradually rose higher and higher. Clement is disabled, so there was little he could do to rescue his possessions, and it was hard for him to get around with the high waters and the risk of crocodiles. |
| “We had nowhere to go. We stayed in the flooded house for two weeks.” Clement |
| Can you imagine living in a partially-submerged house for even one day, let alone 14!But Clement was not alone. A few years back, he took part in a shoe-making programme run by Together for Development Birashoboka (TfDB). We actually shared this story at the time – you can see Clement pictured here. He started a small business with his new skills, which he used to support his family.When Clement contacted TfDB, leader Ephraim knew he could not leave Clement and his family destitute.With funds from the crisis appeal, GLO Partners were able to build homes for flooding survivors like Clement. The new place is further away from his shop, so the commute is trickier, but Clement isn’t grumbling – he is filled with gratitude, “I’m just thankful I don’t have to worry about floods anymore!” |
| What I love about this story is that it demonstrates the kind of long-term relationship we’re all about. Clement was not just a statistic – another person in a training programme – when his hour of need arrived, he was not forgotten. Thank you for enabling us to build hope in Burundi! |
| PS The challenge of everyday life continues in Burundi. Communities need long-term support to bring sustainable change and genuine transformation. If you’d like to get behind our work, click here. Every gift makes a huge difference. |
Leave a Reply