Burundi – Rumonge

Tying in with our Human Rights Education work, this useful experiment aimed at raising awareness of religious tolerance in schools in & around the capital Bujumbura. Led by Fulgence Ndagijimana, an interfaith young adult team visited Rumonge, about 70km south of Bujumbura, where good support from the school authorities meant 300 happy & co-operative students were present (with ten of the school's 17 Muslims present, along with Protestants but minus Pentecostals). With Burundi's politicians discussing the constitution which will guide the country, one team speaker spoke on the Burundian constitution, the first article of which declares Burundi to be a secular state allowing every citizen the right to worship individually or as a community. The Catholic majority had prepared so many of their songs, they had to be asked to allow time for others!

An interfaith group of 25 pupils has been formed, six of them Muslim.