Day 10

Saturday

A bitter sweet day as we conclude our training at THARS today and say goodbye to the many new friends we have made. Today is hands on for training as the participants apply some of what they have learned to the Botwa (Pygmy) children who are ever present. The kids loved all the attention. To give you some perspective remember that Burundi is the poorest country in the world and the Batwa are the poorest people in the country. These kids have nothing, so a broken crayon or used wrapper becomes a prized possession. Every time one of us westerners showed up the children would come flocking yelling “Muzungu” which means “white person.” Living in the bush they see very few white people. A few showed signs of fear, possible spurred on by the stories that white people eat black children, but most were eager to stare at us or see what our skin feels like.

We concluded our training and the participants treated us to a surprise: they had prepared a special thank you for us complete with songs, traditional dances, a speech and gifts. It was very touching and will never be forgotten. It made the goodbyes all that much harder.

After lunch when everyone left we went with David to watch the drummers. These are not any drummers. The direct descendants of the kings drummers, they play traditional drums while acting out morality plays. There are not words sufficient to convey the experience, but suffice it to say they were spectacular. At the end of their performance they invited me to play with them…so why not! It was a thrill. I learned later that it is a high honor to be asked to play with the drummers usually reserved for dignitaries and important people.