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Case Study Resources
In my work at the University of Ngozi, I have met several people who offer inspiring testimony about the resilience of the human spirit. For example, Jean has served in government and now works for a Belgian company. When I asked if he had lost anyone during the violence in Burundi in the early 1990’s, he quickly says, “Yes, everyone I knew.” Yet, his optimism is real... READ MORE
They are everywhere. While a few people ride singly, most bikes here in Burundi are taxis or transport with racks on the back, engulfed when they carry three people or looking more like trucks when they are loaded down for market. Most people ride side-saddle including women with babies strapped on their backs. Some bikes are decorated with the country’s national colors of red, white and green, and loaded with reflectors. Others are more of the workhorse variety, often caked with dirt... READ MORE
Mureke is a seminary in Northern Burundi, an hour or so by car from Ngozi city. This is one of the top performing schools in Burundi, ranking either first or second on the national exams despite a student population that is quite poor when compared to schools in the capital city of Bujumbura. This is a residential school and the expectations are high so there controls in place, for example, to ensure quiet study time... READ MORE
As someone who has played much basketball, I know well the power of sports to promote teamwork, break down prejudices and build up appreciations among people who come from different backgrounds. As someone who grew up in Boston in the 1950’s and 1960’s, I also know that the commitment to team, sacrifice, and success were the signature traits of the Celtics that produced a phenomenal record of NBA championships... READ MORE
The time is 1998 and the small East African nation of Burundi has been wracked by wars and violence since 1972 and before. The rule of various kings changed when the minority Tutsis were formally enthroned by first the German colonizers and then by the Belgians who exploited ethnic divisions with the intent to “divide and control.” The majority Hutus finally had one of their own, Melchior Ndadaye, elected as president in 1993 only to have him assassinated by Tutsi soldiers four months later... READ MORE
As a young Hutu man of twenty-five, Celestin has much to be angry about. He was seven years old when the war broke out in 1993 and he saw and heard much that was terrifying. The minority Tutsi had dominated Burundi since being enthroned by the Belgian colonizers. According to Celestin, the “Tutsi made up more than 90% of those in government and more than 95% of those in the army.” In a desperately poor country, those percentages mean stable employment, good money and power. The majority Hutu seethed with anger and frustration... READ MORE
During a trip to their home villages, Director of Academics Isaac Bizziman and Rector (Provost) Apollinaire Bangayimbaca from the University of Ngozi (UNG) talk about the forty years of war and violence that have ravaged Burundi, a small, densely populated and impoverished nation in the heart of Africa. Both are Hutus and I want to talk about the genocidal slaughter of some 200,000 Hutus by the Tutsi dominated army in 1972... READ MORE
Born in 1987 in Rwanda, “J” does not like to mention her ethnicity. She fears the possible harm that might come her way. Memories of many are raw. The genocide in Rwanda saw 800,000 murdered after their elected President was shot down in 1993 and Hutus in power unleashed a savage killing spree against Tutsi who had been the traditional rulers at one time and were later formally enthroned by German and Belgian colonizers... READ MORE
Burundi is a poor nation of nearly nine million people made up three ethnic groups—majority Hutu, and minority Tutsi, and Twa. Colonized for two centuries by the Germans and Belgians, these ethnic groups were pitted against each other with the Tutsi enthroned in power, a decision that was then justified by various pseudo-scientific measures. Shortly after independence was declared in 1962, the country imploded with ethnic violence as the Tutsi dominated army went on a killing spree that left 300,000 Hutu dead... READ MORE
Every nation and every citizen in every nation must determine the right mix of security costs in their plans for the future. Those countries that consistently top the charts for quality of life, economic performance and school success—e.g., the Scandinavian nations of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark—have a good mix of public and private investments, equitable expenditures per student regardless of the per capita income of their communities, national health care, generous foreign aid but a very limited standing military... READ MOREAdditional Resource: PowerPoint Slides- Student Voices: Promoting Sustainable Peace and Development after 40 years of genocide, war and violence
In 1972, Hutus attacked a military-affiliated town and the Tutsi dominated army retaliated systematically, targeting Hutu leaders and those with an education, killing some 200,000, and forcing another 150,000 to flee the country and seek asylum. Lambert Ndikomana was four years old when his family fled to Rwanda. His father had been tortured and forced to drink his own blood... READ MORE
I got my eighteen first year language “Interpretation” students here at the University of Ngozi in northern Burundi out of their tight formation on these hard wooden benches and desks to stand in a circle. I then explained the reasons why Native American peoples so often used the circle when deciding issues, putting everyone on an equal footing, able to see and hear everyone else. In contrast were the forward facing straight rows typical of their school and university years with information pouring down on them from on high. I stand on a raised platform two steps above the cement floor where their desks sit... READ MORE
Historic divisions in Burundi, East Africa between Hutu, Tutsi and Twa were exploited by colonial powers to ensure their control and profit. This small, impoverished, and crowded nation of nearly nine million people, considered one of the poorest countries in the world, is now making a transition out of forty years of war and violence. After independence in 1962, the confluence of colonial controls mixed with poverty and limited access to education to create a volatile mix that proved too easily exploited for political gain. The resulting violence claimed somewhere between 300,000 and 550,000 lives—the fact that no one knows for certain is testimony to these horrors—800,000 forced to flee the country, and another 150,000 displaced over the past 40 years... READ MORE |
BICYCLE HEAVEN AND HELL: A Resilient Burundi Moves on Two Wheels
PRACTICING PEACE BUILDING: A Seminary of Success
TEAMWORK AND COOPERATION: Ubuntu and the Potential in Sports for Peace and Reconciliation 
WORKING WITH THE PEOPLE: Government and the Public Good
FORGIVING AND FORGETTING: Isaac Bizziman, Ph.D., Reconciliation and the University of Ngozi
A NEW KIND OF UNIVERSITY: The Audacity of Hope Made Real
THE CASE FOR EDUCATION: Going for that Deeper Understanding
WE FLED ONE CONFLICT ONLY TO HAVE ANOTHER FIND US:Lambert Ndikomana and the Complexity of the Refugee’s Struggle
THE STUDENTS SPEAK: Sustainable Peace and Development in Post-Genocide Burundi