My name is Jean-Claude Kamwenubusa. I was born the 5th of May 1983 in Murengeza Community, which is 15-18km from Buterere. I am the third born in my family, and the only son. I have three sisters. I lived in Buterere for a long time, but I left because of the socio-economic conditions and because I was studying far from that poor community. I went to primary school in my mother community of Murengeza. Then, because of war in 1993, we left our community and went to DRC. Then war appeared in DRC as well, so we went to Tanzania. We came back to live in Buterere, where I finished primary school and my secondary studies. Currently I am directly connected with Buterere Community because I live near by it and work within ASSAS-Burundi the Organisation initiator of BUTERERE project since 2006. The people of Buterere with local Administration suggested to ASASS-Burundi to use its strategies to help overcome inequalities identified in this community: Implemention of a Social and Health centre Infrastructure and train youth and women so that they can become autosustainable. So I spend most of the time in this community  A community without hope People in the North Communes of Bujumbura, especially in Buterere community, have major social, health and economic problems. Many have no formal or informal skills. Most have no land, while others have only small plots which are not suitable for farming. 97% of the families are below the poverty line, living on less than US $1 a day. More than half of the households go bed without food at night. These socio-economic problems increased during the civil war, from 1993 to 2006, because the number of inhabitants increased. Buterere has been a center for Refugees from the national communities and neighbouring countries. Women and girls are subject to sexual abuse and prostitution, while men and youth go bagging in the markets and along the roads, picking up food and materials from the dustbins, which only increases the public health problems. People have no hope for getting job. They have no hope for their future.  Finding the spirit to make a difference On my visits, I saw that Buterere community was forgotten by the local government. There were no projects, no organizations that were involved in assisting people. People were very vulnerable to death and disease. I saw how miserable people were in the community, resorting to prostitution in order to get food, and dying from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, STDs, hunger, malaria, malnutrition, and micronutrient deficiency. I saw that there was a great need for problems to be solved in the community, and I saw that people were not able to solve the problems themselves. I felt the spirit to try and build hope for the community by implementing services which would aim at the promotion of community development and support for local people. In particular, the people need social support and health welfare, including both primary care and public health. Gender and economic empowerment is also needed through skill training, community involvement and participation, particularly related to young people. I am an activist young person, and I want to contribute on behalf of my country and vulnerable people in the community. I figured that if I saved people, it would be useful for the development of the country. I also understood that there are world volunteers who can assist me, providing material, ideas, information and other necessary resources to resolve problems. So I decided to get involved in this project. I decided to get involved because I studied at the primary school in that community. I experienced life there. People in the community inspired me, and the Administration in that community encouraged me.  Building hope together People in the community have taken a vital role to identifying the problems and issues of their villages. They helped ASASS-BDI team to collect information requested by Neighbours, and they conviced the Administration to give land where the Centre will be built. The local people also met with authorities to discuss possible solutions to the community's problems. We talked about the behavioural practices, livelihood skills and coping mechanisms needed for the community to move towards development. Neighbors participated actively in these discussions, as well, giving suggestions and ideas which have contributed the joint planning process and development of a business action plan for Buterere community development center. Neighbours provided many examples of social and health welfare organisations, and other projects which should help during implementation of our project. Neighbours also contributed to designing the Health and Social Centre infrastructures for Buterere Community.  A healthy start for Buterere Our first plan is to implement the Social and Health Welfare Care Centre to ensure the empowerment of people in Buterere Community. At the Centre, people will learn income generation activities, sustainability, HIV/AIDS prevention, micronutrient disease prevention and other skills for producing materials they can sell to earn income. It's possible we will open the Centre in September 2007 and begin some activities. We will need to find a house the staff can use to coordinate activities, and the nurses, psychologists, and others can use to begin offering Voluntary Counselling, Testing and Care, follow up HIV/AIDS, and assistance to orphans before our official house is built. Our future plan for our local community is to develop microbusinesses and skills training in entrepreneurship to develop small businesses as self sustaining local means of wealth generation.  A day in the life I don't have any job besides running my project, because I completed my General Humanity studies last month, and I have to prepare for the State Examinations for University entrance. I am still volunteering as a National Focal Point in Burundi for the Global Youth Coalition on AIDS (GYCA), and I am a member representative of the Village Suisse NGO in Burundi. I have participated actively in promoting youth by coordinating youth organizations at the National Level and serving as a Youth Multicoordinator in United Youth Projects in Burundi. I am also a Legal Representative and President-Founder of ASASS-BURUNDI. I always wake up at 5:30 am, taking tea till 6:15. To get to the office, I walk or pay a car or motorbicycle. The office is 10 minutes away. I reach my office at 7o'clock and go into the cafeteria to breakfast with milk, or tea-milk and rice or banana. I begin my work activities at 7:25. At 12:30 I go home or eat in the cafeteria for lunch. I take foods such as beans, cassava bread, potatoes, or rice. I come back at the office for the last services ending the journey about 1:30 pm. Always from 2:00 I go into the cyber café to consult my email box and reply to the urgent messages. I mainly share programs with members in our organization in order to fully be at the Internet all day from morning till evening from 7:30 till 8:00 PM. Information and Communication Technology (Internet) is a great tool of communication which has meaningfully contributed to the development of my life skills. It has influenced my cultures. I feel more involved from the Internet. So, for me, the Internet has many roles: it is a tool in the areas of health, education, and science, security and entertainment. I see the Internet as a tool that connect people around the world, as an avenue to get informed, involved, and inspired to shape our world and communities. I get connected from the youth organization in the University Of Burundi, where I am a General Secretary, charged with Communication, Research and Training of youth on new software. Internet costs depend on which cyber café I use. I mainly pay 11.500 Franc Bu per day between 2-7 hr, or 14.000 Franc Bu when I work longer, for example on Friday and Saturday. In my free time, I like to dance, play the keyboard, play guitar, and sing. I adore Blues and Reggae music, as well as worship and praise songs. I sing with a team very well-known here in the Great Lakes Region called Shemza Music with the leader Apollinaire leader. I also sing with a worship team I created with other colleagues. I have been involved in that for 5 years. I enjoy funny stories, comic people, comedy stories, live discussions, achieving results, finding solutions to problems, and meeting a new friend.  Driven to make a difference My conscience keeps me awake me at night, urging me to wake up, stand up, and begin thinking and designing achievable programs and strategies aimed at development and sustainability. Almighty God inspires me by empowering me, giving me energy to work on behalf of people, and by creating in me the spirit of activeness, participation and willingness to help others. I was also inspired by the meetings and community events which I attended at the invitation of local governments and NGOs, and by the events I organized myself. My best lesson in life is to be humble, an activist, peaceful, a helper of others, and to be a person who lobbies others in the right direction and who reflects the right. I aim to be a mirror of others.  Jean-Claude's Message to Neighbours My dream for Buterere Community is to implement the social, welfare and health center which will respond to the needs of the people and promote the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the aims of the World Program Action for Youth in the targeted community. The centre will provide assistance as well as material, social, and medical services to the vulnerable, and enable them to be producers, not only consumers, in the community. I welcome all people to join us in building this great effort. I look forward to collaborating and cooperating with them in order to keep our goals in the right direction. Neighbours can expect from me exchanges of experiences, information, resources, close cooperation to improve our commitments, representation of our communities, and all mutual assistance towards achievement of our goals. I would like to extend many thanks to the NABUUR team, who give their efforts on behalf of our local communities and vulnerable people. May this year see the results of your goal!!!