Young Burundians for the disarmament

Jérôme e Joëlle, tales of ordinary violence! On 7th May of the present year, at 9 pm, the centre received terrible news: this episode, which has left all the northern neighbourhoods’ inhabitants speechless, by many viewpoints symbolises the situation today’s Burundi is experiencing: When the war broke out, Jerome took shelter in the Jeunes Kamenge Centre, where he began working as a promoter for peace and equality. He works there day and night, while fostering his seven young brothers and sisters. Finally, he got married in December 2006, and in January found out he was to become a father. On the evening of 7^th May he returned home to Joelle after a day spent working in his “workshop for the peace”. A friend of his comes to the house, he is a childhood friend who fought in the war. That night he is very shaken; they speak, and mid- conversation, Douglas suddenly takes out his gun and opens fire on Jerome. Joelle rushes in wanting to help him, but is seized by Douglas who then cuts her throat. It is a horrible story, cruelly demonstrating how weapons can be brutally used to cut short life of someone, and destroy the life of a whole family.

Dead, without a meaning The participation of more than 6.000 people in mourning and the collection of signatures undertaken by the young, and sent to their government to call for a complete disarmament, translates not just the grief, but also the despair and the fear of the people, hopeless in the face of death, a real fear to any “peace fighter” whose lives were constantly at risk. Put in the context where it happened, this death represents what all Burundians do not want to experience anymore: war and violence. Now the democracy has come, and Burundians want to meet it. Even before understanding what this represents on a political level, Burundians have invested in democracy as a new hope of peace and progress. Sadly, these two aspects are not tied up together: until peace can be achieved, progress remains unachievable.