Burundi: Returning to a Normal Life After War

On some days Espérance Nibigira, who is 35 years old, wonders how she is going to find the energy to begin the day. A combatant in the north-west of Burundi during the civil war that raged between 1993 and 2005 and resulted in 300,000 victims, she suffered an accident on the battlefield that left her disabled and suffering from amnesia.

Having returned since 2009 to her village of Bwayi, in the province of Cibitoke, this widow and mother of three has tried gradually to return to a normal way of life but her physical and intellectual capacities have been undermined and the money that she was given on her demobilization has only enabled her to obtain essential goods. Unable to work in the fields so as to provide for her family´s needs, Espérance decided to join a community solidarity project that has been launched with assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and with the financial support of the Japanese government.

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