Last week I had the opportunity to read all the Batwa student profiles in one sitting. It was such an illustrative exercise, hearing their collective voice as they journey together during this academic year. Though each student has a unique story, they also have common threads that bind them together.

I felt as if I was listening to a chorus when it came to their thoughts on how to improve their home churches back in the villages. So many of them love singing and desire to see congregational times of corporate worship enhanced with musical instruments. Based on my recollection, nearly half the students envision a future gift to their church of instruments. Many want to purchase chairs and some even dream of building better buildings for their worshipping communities. But on instruments they sing in unison, they know this will bless their friends and families back home.

There was also a unified cadence as the students raved about their current living conditions in the Community For Burundi household. What I sensed as I read each story was the deep gratitude they had for being in a home where they were given the tools to succeed. Many felt that, for the first time, they could concentrate on school work knowing that other domestic matters were taken care of for them. Knowing that there would be three meals a day was a huge blessing and relief to so many. A home with electricity and running water was new and so appreciated by others. More than a few mentioned that simply having a dry place to put their books to protect from that rains was cause to be thankful. Back in their villages they were always preoccupied with the dynamics of provision – how to get food, money and shelter for parents, siblings and themselves. But here they are cared for and able to spend time in studies and even much needed sleep! They are free to be students!

So appreciative are they about this huge home, that most dream of owning one (or two) like it once they have jobs. They are so eager to make a home for their families – not just future spouses and children, but parents and siblings, too. And they want to open their large home to other Batwa students. In short, they want to return the favor. They dream of creating the type of home that Community For Burundi has built… a safe place for Batwa students to live, study and succeed. The students know that they want to offer that opportunity to others someday.

When I dream with them, I see 40 households filled to the brim with students of great intelligence, potential and aspirations. Imagine that… 40 homes for Batwa students to learn and become the catalyst for change in their community and country! It is a worthwhile dream. And I love that our student friends are already beginning to sketch out a future that will be a blessing to other Batwa, and therefore other Burundians.

I get so excited as I imagine the good things fomenting in the household this term as these men and women live together. They are pushing one another forward, helping one another with each study group and tutoring session. Every shared meal is like dipping into a new reality – a reminder that they can really change their world together. They are imagining a new future for themselves, their families, villages and country.

I am quite confident that they will each complete school, given the provision of friends and encouragement from local Batwa leaders. I fully expect that they will make good on their dreams to give instruments, chairs and buildings to their churches. I am sure that many will have large homes, large enough to house future students. But it is the dreams they have yet to dream, the possibilities they have yet to imagine that most captivate me… because those deeper visions will be the ones nurtured in community, fueled by education and springing from a place of confident hope for the future. When they finally utter those visions, as a great symphony, their music will ring of deep restoration for the Batwa of Burundi.

Didieu grew up in the rural region of Mwaro, at the heart of Burundi. He is currently attending a local college and dreams of studying medicine some day. But that is just the beginning of his Wish List…

• Help the Batwa by bringing medical services to them, because as it stands now most cannot afford health care and are afraid to go to hospitals.

• Test people in villages for various diseases such as maleria and HIV so that they can receive treatment and get well.

• Assist his family by building a good house in their village.

• Help younger relatives to complete their education by providing school fees and ensuring they have ample food to eat regularly.

• Teach his neighbors how to grow food, both to eat and to sell so they can have nutrition and income.

• For Burundi to see have medically trained people available for Batwa to visit for treatment when they are sick.

• To become a respected, well-known surgeon in Burundi so he can offer services to orphans in the countryside.

• To build schools in which anyone, especially the oppressed, can attend.

• To get as many books as possible to learn as much as possible to help his community.

Does this sound like your Wish List this year? Do you want the things that will move the marginalized and oppressed forward, things that will restore their health and dignity? Do you dream of giving hope to orphans, the poor and your neighbors? If all your wishes are granted, will your community be a better place for all to live? Didieu’s Wish List reminds us to long for the gifts that bring true transformation to others, not just hoard personal pleasures this season.

May he get everything on his Wish List…

Oscar comes from a large family of seven children. Both of his parents are still living, but they do not have regular work. This is a familiar plight for Batwa families… no available work which leaves the children without adequate food to eat, no clean water to wash and school a luxury many cannot afford. But then he met Evariste, a university student and leader for Community For Burundi – and that changed everything!

Evariste learned that Oscar was completing the 8th grade, and that he was determined to make a difference in his community if he could just pull together enough resources to finish school. Once he graduated from secondary school, he wants to study agriculture and become an agricultural engineer. He has long been fascinated with plants, how crops grow and even animal husbandry. He wants to learn more so that he can teach other Batwa community leaders how to cultivate crops, bring in needed nutrition and funds for things like wells, school fees, blankets and more sustainable housing. His family still lives in a hut made of straw and palm fronds… and he wants to build them a home out of bricks one day… to give them stability, security and a future.

Oscar dreams of building a large home someday – like the Community For Burundi house where he now lives. He is known around the house for his love of dancing. And now, he says he feels like dancing all day and night because of the joy he has getting to live with the other students in the Community For Burundi house!

With an outgoing personality, Gaston easily makes friends with his fellow students and eagerly chats about his life in Bujumbura and the future. He is a musician, a guitarist who loves music of many kinds, who has helped begin a Batwa choir within the student house to show the world that they have as much talent as other people.

Three years ago Gaston came to the city after his father asked Etienne Ndayishimiye, both a Member of Parliament and a friend to Community For Burundi, if his youngest son could live with him in order to pursue an education. The young man left his parents and six siblings in Makamba, a refugee camp near the Burundian border in Tanzania, to come to Bujumbura where he has completed middle school. His family had moved to Tanzania when Gaston was just 12 years old and lived in very poor conditions there. Since he has come to Bujumbura, his parents and all but two brothers have returned to Bururi, Burundi, though their life there is still difficult.

At 20 years old, Gaston has a heart to help others with his skills and education. He would like to have the expertise upon graduation to bring electricity to his village and help his church with electrical matters, as well. He dreams of assisting those people living in remote areas with access to electricity. He also wants to someday build a large home to house Batwa students, helping them complete their education as Community For Burundi is helping him now.

His gratitude for the opportunity to study with the aid of Community for Burundi and life in a house where he sleeps well and has good food to eat overflows in his seemingly permanent grin and his gracious words as he repeats his thanks again and again.

Josiane Gahimbare is 15 years old, one of the youngest students in the Community For Burundi household. Her name means ‘a small, beautiful thing,’ and she is rather shy. She comes from a family torn apart too soon, as her father was killed by rebel soldiers when she was 8 years old and her only sister left for the city to find work and never returned. Now only Josiane and her mother remain together.

Her mother went to work in other people’s fields in order to earn a small amount of money to keep them alive. Josiane attended primary school, but only could go sporadically. This made integrating with the other students hard and keeping up with her studies even harder, so there was little joy in school. But she does want to learn…

What Josiane is passionate about is mastering the English language. She believes that since so many countries in the world use English and even technology relies heavily on knowledge of the language – the ability to communicate fluently in English will be such a benefit to her. It is necessary for the Batwa people if they want to advance, she says. She wants to teach English to others – the Batwa communities but also Hutus and Tutsis. She believes that everyone should have the opportunity to learn English if they want to.

Someday, Josiane wants to improve the living conditions for her family and friends. She envisions them living in nice homes instead of the grass and mud huts where they live now. She dreams of owning a large piece of land where she can cultivate crops, and of building homes nearby for the workers so that they will have easy access to their work. She wants them to live comfortably while they farm the land, both to feed their families and to take to market for a profit. It is beautiful to see her envisioning management of land that includes the welfare of the workers, wanting everyone to have access to work, food and education. She is living up to her name – small and beautiful.

Godeberthe Ntimpirangeza is a young woman of 20 years who grew up in Mwaro, a province in the heart of Burundi. Mwaro is known as the only region in the country where the tribes have lived together in peace, yet even there the Batwa are marginalized and treated poorly. Godeberthe found herself, a bright young woman, in a peaceful village that still prevented her from reaching her potential.

But those around her recognized her inner strength and indigenous intelligence. She worked hard to stay in school, but it was not easy without a proper home, clean water or reliable funds for school fees and books. She was enduring the ridicule and still excelling in classes like math and science. Community For Burundi representatives knew she was a perfect candidate for the Batwa Education Project… believing a stable environment would allow her to exceed all expectations.

Godeberthe wants to complete her secondary education and pursue studies in medicine. She wants to return to the villages of Mwaro and educate others about the important matters of health that will help them improve their lives and prevent illness. She knows things as simple as drinking clean water and washing properly can help her community move toward better health. And she wants to offer them the healthcare that she and her family did not have access to growing up, bringing progress to her community.

Those in the Community For Burundi home often comment on Godeberthe’s cheerful demeanor around the house. She is always in good spirits, singing and thanking God for the change in her life since coming to the house. She has never lived in such a home, with new friends, ample food, water and electricity. Everyday she laughs for the sheer joy of her circumstances!

She looks forward to someday buying a large home like the Community For Burundi home – because she wants to have enough room to welcome in students and help them pursue their education, as she is being given that opportunity now. She is already dreaming of helping others in so many ways!

For over a month now, the students living in the Community for Burundi household have gathered together twice a week around the long tables in their first floor common room for English lessons. Though English is not an official language in this country, having the ability to speak it well is becoming an increasingly valuable skill when searching for employment that can bring about permanent change for people, especially as the newly created East African Union (comprising Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Kenya) conducts all of its business in English. While most of the Batwa students have studied English to some extent in the schools they have attended, they have only a very basic and theoretical knowledge of the language and are still shy about conversing. The beginning lessons dealt with very basic vocabulary, including greetings, numbers, days, and months. As the classes have progressed, the emphasis has shifted to correct pronunciation, correct sentence phrasing, and building comprehension of spoken English. More and more students have become bold enough to answer oral questions in front of their peers, and many of them come and test out their skills by conversing completely in English before and after the classes. A few have even begun answering the questions from their profile surveys in English without the aid of a translator.

Occasionally, humorous situations arise because of cultural differences. For example, one week when asked to name things that people can eat, one student confidently answered, “Cat.” Everyone chuckled a bit as he was told that cats are not food, but when the instructor, Christy, recalled hearing how people do indeed sometimes eat cats in rural areas of Burundi, she had to correct herself and admit that the student was correct after all! Even during classes when such obvious cultural differences do not come to light, the mood is light-hearted, and the students easily laugh at their mistakes, correct themselves and continue ahead. They offer assistance to one another and strengthen their skills by practicing new words, which then gives them confidence to speak with people outside of their Community for Burundi family.

Christy Jones is a volunteer for Community for Burundi and an educator with 10 years teaching experience in the States. She is taking a sabbatical to be in Burundi and with the Batwa students. She has welcomed these students into her heart, and they have embraced her faithfulness as their English teacher and friend. English classes are fun among friends!