Last week was my first ‘field visit’ to Cibitoke province, North West Burundi.  As we passed up in the vehicle, we could see across the Ruzizi River into the Democratic Republic of Congo.  The river divides both countries on the way up.  A short paddle across and you are in the Congo.  It occurred to me that this could be an easy way to visit Congo but illegal border crossings are just not right!

Cibtioke gets its name from toke, such as Matoke in Uganda.  Matoke is cooked banana and you can see why Cibitoke is named so.  Bananas are everywhere and are a big source of income.  Banana beer is a big product.  I have yet to taste it but I will soon. We also passed herds of cows on our way.  It is no wonder there are so many butchers in Bujumbura!  Gold mining is another important source of income, especially in Mabayi.  Whole parts of the countryside have been dug up by artisanal miners.

During the war, Cibitoke was one of the worst hit regions.  Usually, armed groups would hide in the hills and cross over to DRC with ease.  Concern has an excellent reputation here. I heard stories of combatants giving warnings to Concern staff if trouble was brewing in the area.  But that’s in the past now. Concern is also the biggest NGO in this part of Burundi.  The work has moved on from an emergency context to a development one.

Concern is currently conducting research into nutritional habits among the local population.  This field trip is at the end of that research.  The plan was to conduct focus group discussions (FDG) with people to determine how best Concern can help the community. I was asked if I wanted to observe so I agreed as it would provide a good introduction to the people of Cibitoke. We had the first group in Bukinanyana, the eastern commune.  A lot of our time was taken up with travel.  It took 2 hours to get to the health centre from Cibitoke town but we saw a lot of the countryside.  We winded our way around the mountains and saw the massive tea plantations.  Tea and coffee are the two biggest exports in Burundi.

The focus groups were excellent discussions.  Leonidas, my translator sometimes in Bujumbura, was hired by Concern for the week to translate for Alyssa, Philip and myself.  Alyssa and Philip are two health advisors with Concern.  All the people at the FGD’s were more than happy to discuss the challenges they faced in their daily lives.  Many issues were discussed including breastfeeding practices, nutritional knowledge and household resource management.  There were many different opinions aired, and although some patterns emerged in what people said, very often there were contradictory points of view.   I took as many notes as I could and went over them later to see what was being said.  I was encouraged to hear so many different points of view which gave me better glimpse of reality in Cibitoke.  I don’t think any fieldwork experience is going to give you a concrete, solid perspective of a group of people.  My experience is after all only a snapshot in time of my own interpretation.  The FGD’s were a good introduction for me but I will aim to do more in-depth work like visiting communities and meeting people at places of their convenience rather than at health centre which is a bit too formal.

             It was a good week in Cibitoke.  Hope to learn more about the way of life as time progresses.