Laptops and smartphones have become quite common for you, but there is a country in the world where all this is like a dream. People here are still far away from these technologies and their goal is to get two meals a day and that is a big deal. A large number of people are not able to get enough food and due to lack of treatment, people are dying early. The result is that now the population of this country is mostly children and young people. The name of this country is Burundi, which has been at the top of the list of the poorest countries in the world for many years.
After knowing the picture here, you will also say that how much behind the people here are from the world and their most important goal is to fill their stomachs. People are living in mud houses here and things like electricity, gas are available in some parts of the country. Where phones have reached, there is still no electricity. There is only one charging point in the whole village, where people charge their phones. Children are filling their stomachs by catching fish from the pond or by finding food items from the garbage. At the same time, the political conditions of this country are also very bad.
Where is this country?
Burundi is a country in the Great Lakes region in East Africa. It borders Rwanda in the north, Tanzania in the south and east, and Congo in the west. It has two capitals, Gitega is the political capital while Bujumbura is the economic capital. 80 percent of the people here are Hutu and 15 percent are Tutsi. The official languages here are Rundi and French. 85 percent of the population here lives in villages or small towns.
Facts tell the story of poverty…
One of the reasons for poverty in Burundi is the political situation there. The people here have been suffering from civil war for many years. For example, the first democratically elected president of Burundi was assassinated in October 1993 after only 100 days in office. 200,000 people were killed in the civil war that officially ended in 2005. The poverty situation is so bad that most people in Burundi do not have enough to eat. 50 percent of Burundi’s population is not able to eat enough.
Agriculture is the main source of income here and 80 percent of people depend on farming to fulfill their food and income needs. If we look at income, people here spend a large part of their income on food. 75 percent of the people here are living below the poverty line. 50 percent of these people live in extreme poverty. The mortality rate among children under the age of five is 82 per 1,000 people. Apart from political attacks, there is also a danger of floods, hailstorms, drought and torrential rains in Burundi and the people here have to bear the brunt of these disasters as well.
People who died in the civil war
Some time ago, skeletons of more than 6 thousand people were recovered from the excavation. Skeletons of 6033 people were recovered from 6 places in Karusi Province of Burundi. Along with the skeletons, bullets, clothes, glasses and other items were also found from inside the ground. Civil war started in Burundi in 1993 which continued till 2005. It is said that about 3 lakh people died during the civil war. Mass massacres took place in Burundi in 1965, 1969, 1972, 1988 and 1993. Most of the people of Hutu and Tutsi groups were victims of violence.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)