Burundi

Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world: its per capita GDP, the value of all goods and services produced within a nation in a given year divided by the average population for the same year, is only $400. Also it is the smallest country in Africa, it’s smaller than Maryland. Burundi has a lot of problems right now. There are many natural disasters, a failing economy, and very dangerous living conditions. Burundi is a very difficult country to live in because of poverty, hunger, violence between tribes, and a weak government.
Burundi has three main natural disasters, flooding, landslides, and drought. Flooding usually occurs during the rainy seasons which are from September to April. It occurs around Lake Tanganyika, which is the largest lake in Burundi: its area is about 32,900 square km. It is the third largest and second deepest fresh water lake in the world. In 2007, hundreds of thousands of people around capital city Bujumbura became homeless, because of a heavy rainfall that caused the lake to flood. It killed more than a thousand people. When the flooding happens it causes landslides to occur. Burundi’s terrain is usually made out of mountains and plateaus, so it is the perfect land for landslides. The main reason why there are many landslides is there is too little forested land. There are only 6% of forests and wood land, so the trees can’t hold the land from sliding. Drought is the biggest problem because Burundi’s economy is based on farming. Its arable land is 44%. In January, 2006, 120 Burundians died because of hunger and thousands of others fled to the neighboring countries because of food shortages caused by the drought. Burundians have a hard time because of these natural disasters: they lose their houses and families.
Burundi is a very poor country with a per capita GDP of $400 and GDP, the total value of goods and services produced within a country in a year, of $2.896 billion. They are both very low compared to other countries in the world. Most Burundians are subsistence farmers: however 70% of the population doesn’t have enough food to eat. Most people survive on sweet potatoes and corn, and rarely have protein because they don’t have enough money to buy meat or don’t have money to raise cows and pigs. Burundi is a Stage 1 country which means it has a high birth rate, high death rate, and a low life expectancy. Burundi has a problem with AIDS, a disease which destroys the natural system of protection that the body has against other diseases, which kills many people. Also it had a civil war between two ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi, for twelve years, in which thousands died, contributing to the high death rate and low life expectancy. The average life expectancy is only 51 years, and the average median age is only 16 years! The average woman has about 6 children and most of them are not educated. Only 10% of the boys attend high school, so Burundi has a low literacy rate, which is 60% in average. It means that they can’t get good jobs to make money. Also when there’s a natural disaster the government doesn’t have enough money to help the people. Because of civil wars, natural disasters, limited education, not enough health care, and a weak government, Burundi has a failing economy.
Burundi has very dangerous living conditions, and even tourists can get killed there. There was a war between two ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi, that lasted for 12 years. This war started in 1993 and killed about 250,000 Burundians. The war started after the Tutsi military officers killed a Hutu president. The war ended but there is still hatred between the two tribes. There are gun fights in the streets between them. Some innocent Burundians get killed during the gun fights. Also there are many landmines buried underground that they used during the war. The mines are everywhere and people don’t know where they are. Most of the victims of the explosions are children because they spend a lot of time outside, running around with their friends and going around place to place trying to find food for their family. If a man steps on a mine, he loses his leg if he is lucky, but if a kid steps on a mine, he dies. There are a lot of robberies in Burundi too because of their poor economy. Most of the people don’t have enough money to buy food so they have to steal something from the stores. Some people kill random people in the street for money. Burundi’s economy makes people criminals because they are hungry. Burundi has gunfights in the streets between the two tribes, lots of landmines, and many robberies, so that’s why it is a dangerous place.
You have to be strong to survive in Burundi because of many natural disasters that will crush your house, hunger that is caused by its poor economy, and landmines and gun fights between the two tribes, the Hutu and the Tutsi, that can kill you. Burundi has floods, drought, and landslides that kill people and destroy their shelters, a weak government that can’t help people to recover, bloody wars between the Hutu and the Tutsi that killed a lot of people, lack of health care and limited education. These things made Burundi one of the poorest and most difficult countries to live in, in the world. So world has to help this country by sending food, doctors, teachers, school supplies, UN peace keeping soldiers, and bomb disabling teams. We have to develop their valuable natural resources like gold mines so it will help the economy and build factories to give Burundians jobs. Burundi will have a better future if the richer countries help it.