I’m in Ruyigi at our field office. Just returned from
visiting one of the refugee camps. We’ve had tons of rain and the road was
quite muddy. The rains are not really supposed to begin until next month and
already we’ve had enough that I can say that the rainy season has begun. Last
night in Muyinga it showed again that in this neck of the woods, when it rains,
it really rains.
There are times where it’s difficult to strike the balance
between the reality of the work I do and the attempt to extract stories that
may be of interest to someone on the outside. In other words, sometimes what is
really going on is of relevance to me as I archive this chapter of my time here
in Burundi. But it may have little to no entertainment value and is often rather
depressing. I suppose news sources face similar reflections as they sift
through the seemingly endless bad news stories. They consequently chose to hone
in on selected ones and then venture off into something slightly more positive
so as to avoid leaving the viewer utterly depressed.
Such is my current dilemma. The past month or so has been
fraught with bad news and not much respite in between. In the past four months
our organization has lost five staff, three of them in the last month and two
of them at the office. It has been a nightmare for my team, particularly in
Bujumbura where all five were based. There are staff that are questioning whether
the organization is being plagued by an evil spirit and even speculating about
who/where the source might be. In reality, since my arrival in 2010 the numbers
of staff deaths (in relation to our organization size) are not inconsistent
with the overall trend in the country. Admittedly, however, the current spate
of staff loss is rather shocking and is having a significant impact on staff
morale.
The most recent incident happened yesterday in front of our
office. One of our female staff was arriving at the office on the back of a
motorcycle driven by her husband. As they were turning into the office, a large
truck plowed into them. While the husband was thrown from the motorcycle, my colleague was apparently crushed beneath the truck. It’s not clear but it appears
she was killed instantly. Adding to the horror is the fact that she was
pregnant with her third child.
When I arrived at the scene, minutes after the accident,
they were lifting her body into one of our vehicles. I was unaware at the time
who it was but from the unfortunately not uncommon sight of a crumpled
motorcycle, large crowd and a truck stopped in the road with a dent on the
front, right fender, it was relatively easy to figure out what had just
happened.
Many of our staff who were arriving to work were witnesses
to the accident. Many more came rushing out of the compound soon after and subsequently
saw their colleague’s body lying on the road. It was not a pretty scene.
Our staff, already stunned by the loss of another colleague
last week, are assisting the family with the funeral arrangements. We’ve lost
some wonderful people but I’m thankful to have worked with them.
Off to an evening with some of my staff. It's chilly and the stars are out. Looks like the weather is clearing. Let's hope.
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