About Burundi

Burundi is beautiful. It is difficult to reconcile the spectacular beauty and the tragedy of this small country. Burundi is located in east central Africa and shares borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Tanzania. It is home to more than nine million people.

A landlocked country, Burundi is slightly smaller than the state of Maryland and the second most densely populated country in Africa. Less than five percent of the population lives in the capital city, Bujumbura, in the northwest part of the country. The World Bank has named Burundi the world’s poorest county. Burundi’s economy is driven by agriculture (chiefly coffee and tea exports) and services. The per capita GDP (2008) is $138. Agriculture supports 90% of the workforce—most people earn their living as subsistence farmers. Civil war in the 1990s and 2000s and overpopulation have led to the reduction of the subsistence economy, making the country a net-food importer. Burundi is heavily reliant on awfully meager international aid.

In the 21st century, letting down some parts of the world's human society by leaving them lag centuries behind is a challenge to social justice, and a serious threat to the test of our progress as well as global peace. Village Health Works, with its holistic approach, is committed to shifting such society’s harsh living conditions into those that favor life full of hope and happiness for all. We aim at becoming a center of excellence for healing and teaching for our world, a role model in Burundi and far beyond its borders.