Intro

THE PROJECT: This documentary is done as part of an Oxfam International competition to advocate against small arms by showing their impact on social and economic development. All of us living in Burundi, we are able to see this dreadful connection first hand, in every day life. So we decided to participate, and this is how we came up with: "Bang for your Buck." READ MORE

Monday, August 23, 2010

Life on 1 grenade/day

It is Monday morning. Burundi was ranked 3rd most exposed country by an international study on food insecurity published last week. But here like elsewhere*, poverty is not the only-child of the years of civil war; it goes hand in hand with rampant armed violence, which corrupts social relations and leaves little hope for development. Most reports on the country mention that a vast majority of Burundians live on less than a dollar a day; they could also say that the country lives on more than a grenade a day.

Last week I was not in the office as we traveled in the country to shoot interviews for the documentary. Today I am back to work and I am reading the news of the weekend to prepare for a morning meeting.

In three days three grenade attacks.

The first one was in Muyinga, at the border with Rwanda and Tanzania. A 36 year-old mother and her 6 month-old baby were killed by a grenade thrown through the window of their house. According to the report, because of a land dispute.

The second one happened in Rumonge, about 50km south of Bujumbura. This time, the grenade was thrown into the house of a family who had just been granted the property of its land by the commission in charge of arbitrating land disputes.

The third one in Gitega, right at the center of the country. Three young men, working as taxi-velo (bicycle taxis) were injured by the explosion. One of them will have a leg amputated.

As it happened we were in two of theses places (Rumonge and Gitega) last week to meet other victims and film their testimonies. Talking to these people for a few hours only allowed us to imagine the horror of their situation. In Gitega the person we interviewed was getting married when his brother threw a grenade right in the middle of the crowd. Seventeen kids and two adults died in the explosion. This story is not unique, and after this weekend only, testimonies like his could come from three more persons.
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*According to a study published on 19th August by Maplecroft, in collaboration with the World Food Programme, the ten countries with the highest risk of food crisis are: (1) Afganistan, (2) the Democratic Republic of Congo, (3) Burundi, (4) Eritrea, (5) Sudan, (6) Ethiopia, (7) Angola, (8) Liberia, (9) Chad and (10) Zimbabwe.
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