voyagescitron

Ah, facebook. My 'friends' have increasingly weighed in on the debate about Chik-fil-A, a fast food company specializing in chicken sandwiches, waffle fries, and (more recently) the definition of marriage. In an interview with Ken Coleman, President and COO Dan Cathy was asked about the impact of fatherlessness on our nation today. I give you his response: "... I see it's a real crisis in the sense that there is a certain amount of emotional DNA... that God intended for us to get from from a mother and a dad that we observe over life as children... that we can only get from our dad and we only get it from our mother... and we're to get it in a home dynamic and environment where they're interrelating together." Emotional DNA sounds important. Remember everyone, it only ... read more

I'm lazy. The result is that I haven't blogged in a month... but I'm back! It's been an interesting few weeks, here in Bujumbura. One of the most fascinating things about my interviews is how people construct Burundi's past. I could probably group people into current political affiliations based on their renditions of history - who was responsible for most of the killing during the war, which rebel groups were better, who were the best and worst presidents, when the division between Hutus and Tutsis began... And, believe me, there are some very different ways to tell the history of Burundi. That's not so different from any of us, actually - the details we highlight from the past shape how we see and understand the world today. "A man's called a traitor or a liberator. A ... read more

Hello, hello. I’ve officially been living in Burundi for two weeks, now. Hard to believe! Life in Buja has been pretty great. My research is going well, so far. For better or worse, my questions about violence in the country are becoming increasingly pertinent, which means there’s a lot of information. I’m also learning how to navigate daily life here. I’m not sure what I expected when I came to this country, but I’m pretty sure what I’ve found is not what I anticipated when I got on the plane. Every day, I wonder if my view of Burundi is becoming clearer or more muddled. I wish I knew… Research Burundi has a relatively tight-knit community of NGOs, consultants, researchers, and academics - everyone seems to know everyone. One person can give you more contacts than ... read more

The Blog Hello, hello! I've been in Burundi for two days, and I believe it's time to begin blogging. I am typically an unreliable blogger - I skip details and post pretty rarely; but, this time is different (I can feel it). I hope this site will serve as a way for me to share my impressions, and experiences, among other things, while I'm in the great country of Burundi. Josiah and I are living just outside of Buja while we begin research for our PhD dissertations - it's the first trip for each of us, but won't be the last. We live here with Jean-Pierre, our guard, and a dog named Burton (Bwegu, in Kirundi). Another PhD student and her husband (Cara and James) used to live in this house, and set us both up ... read more

Hello Everyone! I am in Kigali, Rwanda now (have been for about three weeks), and I am having an absolutely wonderful experience! I've learned so much about Operationg Crossroads, which is the program I'm working through. It turns out they are having their 50th anniversary next year and they are the program that actually started the Peace Corps. It's basically run by one guy (Willis Logan), who knows everyone's name somehow when you get to the conference in New York. While in New York, we met our group and learned about what other groups were doing. There are groups going to Kenya, Ghana, Gambia, Uganda, Senegal, and Rwanda this year, and they're all doing really different projects. Some are doing women's studies programs, others are assessing microfinancing, there are health programs, building libraries, the works. It's ... read more