Photo of the month: June – Burundi

The photo
“On the banks of Lake Tanganyika, youths living on the streets try to keep themselves occupied and earn a bit of food by helping the fishermen. Coming from the hills – from which they were forced to flee by the “crisis” (the war) – they are often orphaned and have lived on the streets from an early age; there appears to be no way out for them. In this photo I can see the beauty of Burundi, filled with a seemingly insoluble situation, with fatalism and ever-latent violence.

The author – François Struzik
Francois Struzik, an independent Belgian photographer, has been to visit projects of Terre des hommes (Tdh) three times. A first trip in Autumn 2007 to Moldova, a second to Romania in April 2008 and recently a third to Burundi.
During his work he has been confronted by various subjects and situations such as orphans of war or AIDS, children living on the streets, the marginalization of Roma children and the dangers of migration in Eastern Europe.
His photos have been published in the Terre des hommes Magazine and the online magazine BFM

His site: www.simplyhuman.be

The project – Burundi
Children in a street situation: In the capital Bujumbura, Terre des hommes works for the reintegration of these children in their own families. The youngsters who cannot go back home are supported towards an independent life by way of job training. All decisions are first discussed together with the child concerned. Tdh works within a network, so as to coordinate tasks and to profit from synergies.