BUJUMBURA August 23rd (ABP) – A cultural Gala evening attended by the presidential couple and other high authorities in the country was organized at the Intwari stadium on Friday to close the Burundian diaspora week.
| Arrival of the presidential couple at Intwari stadium |
In his speech, the President of the Republic, Évariste Ndayishimiye, said that this cultural evening was a family vigil as it took place in accordance with Burundian culture. A vigil around “iziko” (home), where the heads of families told their children about the values of Burundian culture, so that they in turn perpetuate them.
The President of the Republic indicated that this family vigil was held in honor of the children of the country who, according to him, do not live abroad, but rather work abroad. President Ndayishimiye noted that some children of the country who left because of the crisis, do not manage to consider their country as a friend but rather do everything to ensure that their country of origin is poorly regarded abroad. For him, Burundi will never disappear, but whoever wants to harm the country, one day will no longer be in this world. He called on the
| Dancers to liven up the evening |
diaspora to advise compatriots who behave in such a way.
Mr. Ndayishimiye considered rather that sooner or later they will pull themselves together and come back. He illustrated that with anecdotes from Burundian culture “igito gitabwa iwabo, amaherezo y’inzira ni munzu” and the anecdote of the prodigal son told in the Bible.
The President of the Republic recalled that our country contains a lot of wealth including its subsoil, the highly esteemed fishery products in Lake Tanganyika. For him, even some foreigners would not want to leave Burundi, considering that our divisions are only distractions that prevent us from moving forward.
He called on the Burundian diaspora to be good ambassadors for Burundi, showing a positive image of their homeland. He also advised that diaspora to think of a large-scale project to be carried out in the country, even if it means that future generations will recognize the speaking symbol that it will have left.
The representative of the Burundian diaspora said that Burundians in the diaspora are grateful to the government which organized this week by thanking the President of the Republic and his government. During their vacation, he noted that they had time to discuss projects that the Burundian diaspora intends to carry out in the country and was able to take advantage of the president’s advice to strengthen their patriotism. He raised that the Burundian diaspora visited the projects initiated by the diaspora inside the country.
He promised that they would return to their host countries with a real desire to collaborate with other Burundians in the diaspora who could not come on vacation to their native country to restore the image of the country and reiterated their commitment to support the country’s development projects. He further called on the government to always stand by their side.
That cultural evening was enhanced by dances from cultural clubs, dances combining at the same time Burundian culture and modernism and all the public was dressed all in white in honor of the Burundian diaspora.