Family picture of participants after receiving certificates
Fifteen months after students scaled the walls of the US embassy in Bujumbura seeking refuge from police, it’s business as usual at the embassy building.
On 29 September, 176 Burundian students graduated from a 3-month English language course at the Rosa Parks American Corner, a section of the embassy dedicated to English language and cultural education. The event commemorated the fourth anniversary of the education center. The center provides an intellectual environment where people can learn, read and conduct research.
Christopher Smith, Public Affairs Officer at the US Embassy in Bujumbura, said: “The US wants to change the situation and society. The US supports the efforts made in the promotion of youths and women through promoting entrepreneurship and other language skills”
The same view is shared by Evariste Niyonsaba, a US Embassy intern and trainer at US Embassy Information Resources center. “English is a very important tool of communication for Burundi as it joined a regional English speaking community-EAC”, he said. “As Ludwig Wittgenstein said, the limits of one’s language are the limits of one’s world. I urge you to keep practicing, working on your English, keeping in mind that those certificates will not speak for you; it is up to you to prove that you deserved them”, said Evariste Niyonsaba.
The American Embassy created this program to offer learning opportunities and, especially for the youth, to improve the English language and enable them to compete in the labor market.
The students, who came from different universities in Burundi, completed courses in the English language, spoken English, and entrepreneurship.
They celebrated at the graduation ceremony with poetry readings, slams and dances.
Nathalie Ndayishimiye, who studied spoken English, said that she had improved her speaking skills and was more confident. “I am sure that I could compete with other EAC youths”, she said.
Adelard Kakunze, the founder of Burundi 3.0, an entrepreneurship organization, said youths must wake up and create their own jobs rather than expecting them from somebody else. “Believe that you can transform and develop the country through your own projects”, he said.
Kakunze indicated however, that though the US Embassy supports youths in training, there are still considerable challenges in education , notably the lack of competent staff, funds and infrastructure.
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