Home Schooling

First of all I have to say Chicago is trying really hard this week to make me sad I'm leaving for a month of the summer.  "Chicago" and "perfect weather" are not often found in the same sentence but I defy anyone to find me better weather than the 78 deg, clear blue sky and light breeze we've got right now.  And my Andersonville neighborhood could not be more beautiful.  It's amazing the difference that leaves make.  During the winter my neighborhood is beautiful because you can see all the amazing old buildings with their little decorative touches and during the spring you see pretty much the same thing, just through a haze of pale green as the tiny buds start to come out.  But right now walking down the street you pretty much see green, walking through a tree tunnel along garden and lawn.  These are great days for the sun porch where I'm spending a lot of my time, reading and studying.

I'm trying to learn as much as I can about Burundi and it's history and so on before I go.  I picked up one of the books recommended by the fine folks at AGLI, it's called Unlocking Horns: Forgivness & Reconciliation in Burundi.  It was written by two Quakers (one from Burundi) and gives an overview of the history of the country and of the missionary work within it.  It is very much written from a Christian perspective and focuses in its later chapters on the relevance of Scripture and Christian values to the healing process.  I might argue that 'Christian' values are also the values of many other religions but my understanding is that part of the intent of the book is to be relevant to the large Christian communities in Burundi itself.  And the authors are also careful to say that Christians are after all, human, like everyone else and subject to the same weaknesses and failures to live up to religious (or other) ideals as anyone.  

Now in an attempt to re-iterate to myself what I've learned and perhaps pass some knowledge on to others I'll summarize a few things I found interesting.  Burundi stands apart from many other African nations in several respects.  Though its people often speak several languages (currently including Swahili, Kinyarwanda, French and English) everyone has at least one language in common, Kirundi.  Where other African nations are made up of many disparate tribes with no history of unity, Burundi's three ethnic groups were ruled by a single king long before it was colonized by the Germans and then the Belgians.  Burundi's traditional religion (prior to the coming of the missionaries) was also monotheistic in contrast to the animism prevalent in other African cultures.  So there were all kinds of reasons to hope that Burundi would escape the violence and internal strife that befell so many other nations in the transition to independence.  But when Prince Rwagasore who had just been elected prime minister in the elections of 1961 was assassinated, Burundi lost a charismatic leader who had worked to build support among both Hutu and Tutsi.  Himself a Tutsi his wife was Hutu and had he lived to establish a government much of Burundi's recent history might have been quite different.    Instead there has been a succession of assassinations and military coups and the life expectancy of several prime ministers is best expressed in days rather than years.  

I'll pass on more history and the current situation as I learn it.  Right now I need to make cookies for one of the several hundred social events I have scheduled  prior to my departure in (counting down!) 10 days.  

S