Burundi

Home-Start Giriwanyu, ASBL

The operation was founded in June 2017 by a Burundi national who had been trained by a Home-Start scheme in Norway, and wanted to replicate it at home.  Based first in Bujumbura, they then -expanded to Cibitoke and have done exceptional work,  thanks largely to her personal generosity, her professional training in health- care and their experienced national board.  They have been lucky to secure highly trained volunteers, and there is a large centre in the capital where families can meet as a group and where the volunteer training takes place.  

Where the levels of child stunting  are the highest in the world, all mothers are taken for health checks in pregnancy, and the recent focus has been squarely on good nutrition, showing families how to find and grow food, but also on violence in the home, teenage pregnancies and child rights.

There was great HSW member support at inception: the first national coordinator was trained by Home-Start South Africa and Quebec sent copies of their French language volunteer training. Uganda has also given guidance. They are beginning to work with local hospitals and municipal authorities and their social media presence has greatly advanced. The logical next step should be away from the towns, where the needs are even more marked. Further expansion will depend on the obvious challenge of securing funding, but with their positive, professional, focused approach to quality assurance and their mission, they deserve to find every support.

Home-Start Giriwanyu Burundi
Quartier Asiatique
Avenue des  Paysans, no 27
Bujumbura
Burundi 

Tel: + 257 610 87094 
Email: info@homestart-giriwanyuburundi.com 

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/HomeStartFamilyEmpowermentBurundi

You Tube: HS Burundi Family TV
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYQKWWl6LaEVo1f_nSRmw1g