Background on Burundi

Initially, VHW's primary work is in the Republic of Burundi, a country of both great beauty and great tragedy. Burundi is a landlocked East African country of over 8 million people that shares borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania. At 27,830 sq km, Burundi is slightly smaller than the state of Maryland. The capital city is Bujumbura, located in the northwest part of the country and home to approximately 500,000 people. The official languages of the country are Kirundi and French. Swahili is also spoken, mostly in cities and areas bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Tanzania.

Current Health Status

"In the event of a medical emergency, it is best to get out of the country [Burundi]..." -Lonely Planet, 7th edition.

The only operating room at Rumonge, a Burundi district hospital, serving more than 350,000 people (Photo: 2007)

By all measures, Burundi has a public health crisis. With the violence of the 1990s largely over, Burundi's mortality figures remain among the worst in the world. In March 2005, the UN reported that one out of every five Burundians dies from water-born diseases and poor sanitation. The figure and table in the link below show that Burundi compares unfavorably even with other African countries that receive poor international attention and health aid.