The One Thing

Domitile Bankuwunguka's water tank.

Cost and date of purchase: free, in 2003;

Why she chose it:
"Everyday I carry it with me to go get water on the Maragazi river. And you know it is quite a way, it takes me two hours to walk eight kilometers, four on the way up and four on the way back. But I like it, especially when I find myself on the river shore, trading secrets with my best friend Capitoline".

Hill of Buga. The village is only formed of a central street and few huts of mud. All around is a maze of paths in the middle of the vegetation in which resides the majority of the hill's inhabitants.
Located at the heart of the African Great Lakes region, Burundi has weathered more than a decade of violence and troubles. Conflict has contributed to widespread poverty.

An isolated house in the village of Buga.
Burundi is a landlocked, resource-poor country with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector. The mainstay of the Burundian economy is agriculture.
Agriculture supports more than 70% of the labour force, the majority of whom are subsistence farmers.

Burundi, Hill of Buga. A wedding parade in the main street. The village is only formed of this central street and few huts of mud. All around is a maze of paths in the middle of the vegetation in which resides the majority of the hill's inhabitants. Located at the heart of the African Great Lakes region, Burundi has weathered more than a decade of violence and troubles. Conflict has contributed to widespread poverty.

Portrait with object: Rosette Nizigiyimana’s mirror and comb.
Cost and date of purchase: 300 Fbu for the comb (0,16 Euro, 0,26 Dollar), 1000 Fbu the comb (0,56 Euro, 0,87 Dollar), both acquired in summer of 2006;
Why she chose it: “I enjoy presenting myself well in special occasions: when going out with friends, to church on sunday or for ceremonies”.

Portrait with object: Flix Hatungimana's ball
Felix Hatungimana, 10 year old;
Object origin: the yard of his house;
Cost and date of purchase: made with his own hands in June of 2007, with the help of a little string, recycled paper and pieces of cloth;
Why he chose it: "Football is my favorite sport. One day I will play in a great team in Europe".

Residents of Buga Village, the poorest village in the Southern region, are portrayed here with the only object they own.
Portrait with object: Marie Nyadwi's hoe.
Marie Nyadwi, 45 year old, farmer
Object origin: Gatabo's market; Cost and date of purchase: 1.500 Fbu (0,84 Euro, 1,30 Dollar), in 2006;
Why he chose it: "It keeps me busy from morning to the afternoon. I use it everyday".
Life's best memory: "The first bean crop after the war".

Hill of Buga. At the sunrise the farmers set off for the fields. The family of Onesim Hahinyugimana walks toward theirs little distant cultivated land. The long period of fighting was extremely disruptive to agriculture, which is the main source of livelihood for nine in ten Burundians.

Hill of Buga. At the sunrise the families of farmers are already in the fields. Felix, 10 years, helps his father watering the cabbages.
The vast majority of Burundi’s poor people are small-scale subsistence farmers trying to recover from the conflict. They face many constraints. This relatively small country has a high population growth rate, and as the population grows, less fertile land is available for agriculture

Residents of Buga Village, the poorest village in the Southern region, are portrayed here with the only object they own: Louis Ntahimperera’s weed killer (with vest, siringes and sunglasses).
Object origin: a gift by Intermon Oxfam;
Why he chose it: “Nature is my passion”.

Residents of Buga Village, the poorest village in the Southern region, are portrayed here with the only object they own: Isidonie Nahimana’s rabbit
Cost and date of purchase: a gift received in 2007;
Why she chose it: “…I hope in a few months it will become a delicious meal to go with string beans!”.

Residents of Buga Village, the poorest village in the Southern region, are portrayed here with the only object they own.
portrait with object: Aunt Marseline’s rosary.
Cost and date of purchase: 300 Fbu (16 Euro cent, 0,26 Dollar), in 2004;
Why she chose it: “I am part of the Marian movement and I am very much tied to the Holy Virgin Mary. She will take me to paradise”.

Hill of Buga, Southern region of Burundi. The majority of men of the region work as farmers or in the near sugar refinery. In this picture a boy in the fields of sugar cane.
Burundi is both landlocked and resource poor with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector which makes it very difficult to survive, thus making the country heavily dependent on foreign aid. In 2014, 42 percent of Burundi’s national income came from foreign aid; this is the second highest national income to foreign aid rate in all of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Hill of Buga. A crowd attends a special community meeting. They are discussing how to handle a new aid from an NGO.
As in neighbouring countries, the large number of men killed during the conflicts, and the rapid spread of HIV/Aids, have created many poorer and fragile households headed by women or minors, who have little access to non-agricultural resources. In 2014, 42 percent of Burundi’s national income came from foreign aid; this is the second highest national income to foreign aid rate in all of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Hill of Buga. At the sunrise the families of farmers are already in the fields. Buga is the poorest village in the Southern region of Burundi.
The vast majority of Burundi’s poor people are small-scale subsistence farmers trying to recover from the conflict. They face many constraints. This relatively small country has a high population growth rate, and as the population grows, less fertile land is available for agriculture

Portrait with object: Bernard Batungwana's bible.
Bernard Batungwana, 55 years old, farmer;
Object origin: Nduta's refugee camp;
Cost and date of purchase: 2.500 Fbu (1,40 euro, 2,19 Dollar), in 2003;
Why he chose it: Is Evangelist, he purposely opened the holy book on his favorite verse, Salm 1;1: "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked, Nor standeth in the way of sinners, Nor sitteth in the seat of scoffers". I'm particularly tied to this passage because it consoles me of all the hardships of a life I have chosen to dedicate to family and Jesus.
Worst memory: "There are many, too many. We are Burundi's damned".

Portrait with object: Samuel Sabimana’s radio.
Cost and date of purchase: 6.000 Fbu (3,38 Euro, 5,26 Dollars), radio purchased with the money earned from working in a neighbour’s field by a Burundian refugee who returned from Tanzania;
Why he chose it: “I used to listen to other people’s radios and, since I like music and being informed on what happens in Burundi and in the rest of the World, I wanted to have one too”.

Portrait with object: Anatholie Barayandema's hoe.
Anatholie Barayandema, 70 year old, farmer;
Object origin: Gatabo market, four kilometers from Buga;
Cost and date of purchase: 1500 Fbu, (0,84 Euro, 1,30 Dollar), February 2006;
Why she chose it: "I have been digging the earth since I was six".
Life's best memory: "My wedding and then my engagement to Marc. It happened just a few weeks ago. I had known him for many years. He has alway been a great neighbour. I was lucky".
Worst memory: "Being a widow. I was tired of it".

Portrait with object: Therese Ntahorutaba's husband's identity card.
Therese Ntahorutaba, 47 year old, unemployed, she is the hill's poorest lady;
Object origin: the town of Kayogoro, 40 km from Buga's hill;
Cost and date of purchase: "In 2005, the year my husband died. His name was Joseph Bakaze";
Why she chose it: "I miss my husband so much that I still love him".

Portrait with object: “Box”, Josiane’s stray puppy.
Cost and date of purchase: a present for her first birthday;
Why she chose it: “… They are inseparable play pals…”

Portrait with object: Onesim Hahinyugimana’s bicycle.
Cost and date of purchase: 20,000 Fbu (11.29 Euro, 17.55 Dollars), in 2005;
Why he chose it: “As we say around our parts, first the bike then the woman. It is a necessary mean to move around in the hills of the Gatabo area”.

Portrait with object: Fulgence Hahinyuzimana’s wooden tricycle.
Cost and date of purchase: “I built it myself with the stems of a plant that is very common around Buga, the sorgho”;
Why he chose it: “It is my favorite toy”.

The sky over the Village of Buga. Buga is the poorest village in the Southern region of Burundi.
Located at the heart of the African Great Lakes region, Burundi has weathered more than a decade of violence and troubles. Conflict has contributed to widespread poverty.

A child with the toy-glasses that has built alone with the stems of sorgho, the most diffused plant in Buga. Due to Burundi’s civil war, poverty increased from 48 to 67 per cent of the population between 1994 and 2006. Rising food prices affect families’ livelihood and increase vulnerability to repetitive threats such as flooding, droughts, landslides and the impact of climate change.