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Burundi is a beautiful country. Complex but beautiful. It has a complicated political history and a challenging present. One of Africa’s smallest nations, it is also one of its most impoverished. It has been almost completely deforested. Struggling from corruption, weak infrastructure, poor access to health and education services, and hunger, it is not surprising that The World Happiness Report 2018 ranked the nation as the world’s least happy with a rank of 156.
Desire seems to either not know this or to not care. He looks very happy to see me. At 30, he is well dressed and well educated. His assurance to me that Burundi is a safe and peaceful country, a prospering country, an ideal country is sobering given the above realities. The firsthand concerns that Sidonie, the woman I interviewed immediately before Desire, expressed regarding the widespread abuse of women and their struggle for economic survival are also concerning.
But I like Desire.
He is his name. He is perhaps more an idealist than a realist but maybe Burundi needs the idealists now. The dreamers. The enthusiasts and visionaries. The people of Faith and Hope.
He shares with me his life story. He is an orphan, he tells me. His mother died when he was 7, his father three years ago when he was 27. This probably disqualifies him from orphanhood, I want to suggest, but I let it go. He has three siblings, all hearing, and this was challenging for him but it was a loving family and they were well provided for.
Our meeting is less of an interview and more of a conversation. I like that. But Desire is quick to turn the conversation to support. He needs a computer. Can I help him with that? I suggest we talk a little more about his life.
Desire’s father was a pastor. Desire is grateful for his father’s Christian influence but he always felt that he was missing the point of it all. There was little explanation and therefore not much understanding. But his father supported his schooling, a precious gift that would prove enriching, and encouraged his church-going. Desire went to a Deaf primary school which he loved. His secondary school included a mix of Deaf and hearing kids and while he did well there, he found it more challenging.
Last year, Desire entered university. This is a wonderful opportunity for any Burundian but especially so for a Deaf man. He needs a computer, he tells me forthrightly. Could I get him a computer? “How were you able to enter university?” I ask him. As his father was never able to support him at this level, Fabien, DMI’s field director in Burundi has graciously sponsored his studies. “But Fabien can’t afford a computer,” he explains. “Do you think you could get me a one?”
Tell me about your faith, I ask, avoiding his question.
“I am a Christian man,” he tells me sincerely. “I am an active member of my church. I teach Sunday School. I like to teach the children about the Word of God. I learn from the hearing teachers and then I put that into sign for the Deaf kids. To help them understand,” he says becoming more animated, “I dramatise the events in the Bible. I draw cartoons to tell the stories and talk about moral issues like, ‘Are Christians allowed to fight’? My teaching helps children to know right from wrong, and to know God in a world that is sometimes very ungodly.”
I can see the visionary in Desire again here as he speaks. I can see his passion. He likes to be active, he is always active. He doesn’t like to rest or even sleep. There are too many things going on in his head, too many things to learn, too many things to do. Could I support him with a computer? he asks again.
I’m starting to get annoyed by his incessant requests for a computer. He is 30 years old. What is he doing to support himself, I want to ask? Where is the drive for his economic independence? The desire to break free from a welfare mentality? I put this to him bluntly.
“I pray for provision,” he says, but I’m not convinced. “I really want to focus on my studies,” he continues. “I need to if I want to succeed in them.” I ask him what he is studying at university.
“Computer science.”
He is studying computers. “How do you do that without a computer?” I ask. It feels like the table is suddenly turning on me. “I can’t,” he says with a calm smile. “I just study from the notes and visit the Internet cafe when I can.”
Desire wants to become a teacher and help the Deaf of Burundi break from the cycle of poverty and discrimination, especially those in the villages who have little access to education. This is a dream that can easily become a reality. I would love to see this happen. I would love to see Desire fulfil his name and help Burundi become the ideal country that he envisions.
If you would like to help Desire get his computer, or support any of the students, teachers, pastors or staff with DMI, please click on the donate button below, or mail to info@deafmin.org
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