Fields of Life

At the request of President Pierre Nkurunziz, Fields of Life plans to build 20 schools in Burundi. Schools at Nkozi and Bujumbura are underway.

Burundi is landlocked, wedged between Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda in east-central Africa. The country occupies a high plateau divided by several deep valleys. Burundi is a resource-poor country with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector. The economy is predominantly agricultural with more than 90% of the population dependent on subsistence agriculture. Economic growth depends on coffee and tea exports, which account for 90% of foreign exchange earnings.

Burundi's first democratically elected president was assassinated in October 1993 after only 100 days in office, triggering widespread ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi factions. Over 200,000 Burundians perished during the conflict that spanned almost a dozen years. Hundreds of thousands of Burundians were internally displaced or became refugees in neighboring countries. An ethnicbased war that lasted for over a decade resulted in more than 200,000 deaths, forced more than 48,000 refugees into Tanzania, and displaced 140,000 others internally.

An internationally brokered power-sharing agreement between the Tutsidominated government and the Hutu rebels in 2003 paved the way for a transition process that led to an integrated defense force, established a new constitution in 2005, and elected a majority Hutu government in 2005. The new government, led by President Pierre NKURUNZIZA, signed a South African brokered ceasefire with the country's last rebel group in September of 2006 but still faces many challenges.

Only one in two children go to school, and approximately one in 15 adults have HIV/AIDS. Food, medicine, and electricity remain in short supply. Political stability and the end of the civil war have improved aid flows and economic activity has increased, but underlying weaknesses - a high poverty rate, poor education rates, a weak legal system, and low administrative capacity - risk undermining planned economic reforms. Burundi will continue to remain heavily dependent on aid from bilateral and multilateral donors.

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Projects in Burundi:

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Key: School Health Water

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Idi Amin, who ruled the country from 1971 to 1979 was responsible for the deaths of close to 300,000 people. During the leadership of Milton Obote another 100,000 people lost their lives. In the 1990s the government promulgated non-party presidential and legislative elections.