CONTACT: Linda Bloom (Release # 240) May 9, 1996
As reports of new killings in Burundi increase the flow of refugees, another United Methodist Volunteers for Africa team is preparing for work at refugee camps in neighboring Zaire.
Richard Williams, a United Methodist Board of Global Ministries consultant who organizes the Africa teams, said the 23rd group of volunteers is scheduled to leave June 1.
The mission agency has been dispatching teams to assist Rwandan and Burundian refugees in camps at Goma, Bukavu and Uvira in Zaire since August, 1994. The most recent volunteers worked there in March.
Continued unrest in Burundi is complicating the mission work. Reports of an April 26 massacre of more than 200 Hutus, mostly women and children, in the village of Buhoro have surfaced. The Tutsi-dominated military has been blamed for the deaths and a senior U.S. human rights envoy was expected to arrive May 7 to investigate, according to Reuters News Service.
Now, according to Williams, "the borders have been closed from the Zaire side and the Burundi side" to stem the flow of refugees. The closure prohibits the volunteers from flying into Bujumbura, Burundi's capital, and traveling by road to the Uvira camp, as they have in the past.
As of May 8, Williams also was trying to obtain an exemption from a recent edict issued by the government of Zaire requiring all foreigners entering the country to be processed through the city of Kinshasa. That would add several extra days and considerable expense for the teams, he explained.
Through the United Methodist Bishops' Appeal and Campaign for Africa -- issued on July 31, 1994 -- the Board of Global Ministries has remained committed to its refugee work there, despite occasional periods of increased tension and violence.
From August to December 1995, as the Zaire government tried to force refugees to return to their own countries, "we monitored (the situation) very closely," Williams said.
Precautions included the use of smaller work teams with more experienced members. "We tried to get people who had done it before, who we knew were cool-headed," he added.
In the few instances when it has been considered too risky to send in a team, "we always give them (volunteers) the option of rescheduling for the next month."
Currently, the situation in Burundi bears watching, according to Williams. Because the civil war there has a more sporadic, low-intensity level, the body count is not as readily apparent. "When you look at it cumulatively, you have a lot of people being killed," he said.
The June team is composed of seven volunteers. The Methodist Church of Kenya also sends up to three volunteers with a team, such as home economists, nurses and dentists. The Kenyans help the Western volunteers with language and understanding the culture. "It's a perfect mix to have," Williams said.
Donations to support the teams and other work in Africa can be made to the Bishops' Appeal, UMCOR Advance No. 101275-4.
Information on volunteer teams is available by calling Williams at (212) 870-3659. Medical personnel, teachers, social workers, counselors and clergy are particularly needed.
Produced by United Methodist News Service.
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