Fire 1/28/13

When I've needed something in Burundi, people would tell me, "You can get that in Bujumbura."  Bujumbura is the capital in Burundi, and the biggest city.  Yesterday, there was a small fire in the marketplace at 6am.  The police didn't come fast enough, so the fire spread.  The building the market is in has burned down.  Some people were hurt from an explosion, and some people were hurt from trying to save the things in their stores.  It is a giant loss to the Burundi economy.  JR says that about 500 million Burundi Francs (not dollars) of merchandise was destroyed, and it sets the country back six months to a year.  Burundi simply doesn't have money for things like fire suppression systems, a lot of fire trucks, a lot of fire men, or good electrical systems.  The Gitega market burned down last year.

I was at an internet café for a short time yesterday.  I expected it to be packed with people getting news about the fire, but it wasn't.  Most people get their news over the radio or on a TV if they have power.  I was surprised...there was nothing about the fire on the CNN website.  Sometimes I think Burundi is a forgotten country.

The school didn't have power this weekend, so the kids weren't able to study at night.  Since the Academic Dean told me about the kids' concerns, I rescheduled the test for tomorrow.  It's probably for the better.  I showed the kids the pictures of the market, and it was very hard for some of them.  About a third of them have family or friends that work in the market.  The fire may have destroyed all or most of some of the kids' families belongings or businesses.
In class, I was able to talk to them about the fires in the US.  I was able to show them a picture of a fire truck that Project Cure sent to Nigeria, and I was able to tell them how my childhood church camp was surrounded by a fire, but the camp was miraculously spared. 

Prayer for Burundi during this tragedy would be greatly appreciated!

From http://www.iwacu-burundi.org/spip.php?article4684: