Growth
It was scary when we began. I was afraid of a lot of things. We started from scratch with no money, working with people who had less than nothing while carrying their tragedies like a great weight. The war had just officially ended and wounds were still fresh. Insecurity was still around and there was no place to sleep. It was important for me to put my fears aside and keep my hope and dream alive to be able to continue the work. But spending so many hours feeling sad, powerless and watching the life of an entire community evaporate, was more exhausting than confronting the situation.
On the 25th of December 2005, we gathered in a group of 11 men and four women from Kigutu for the first time to talk about these issues and choose a site for what is now the Sharon McKenna Community Health Center. Together, the community gifted 25 acres of prime land, their most valuable possession, commenting, "As long this is for our own clinic, take as much land as you need."
As we planned the construction, the local community began making bricks for construction; women started carrying stones on their heads and together they raised 150,000 Burundian Francs ($150) to rent a truck to bring equipment to the health center site. More than 150 community members labored for days to carve nearly four miles of new road, (which has just recently been renovated by the government of Burundi).
There were many grueling setbacks and challenges, but giving up was never an option for us. We continued to work harder knowing that nothing worthwhile comes easily and that it would take a lengthy process to accomplish our mission.
As the results of hard work became more and more visible, enthusiasm spread throughout the community as people began to realize that they had a real prospect at health care, and more willing people volunteered their time to support the effort.
Everyone understood that we had to lift together, and pull together, to achieve results that would last. And they did, with such passion and such intensity that the work became a calling, and the site a place of healing, a place for reconciliation, a place for much fun and for hopeful futures.
