People in Buterere community, have major social, health and economic problems. Many have no formal or informal skills. Most have no land, while others have only small plots which are not suitable for farming. 97% of the families are below the poverty line, living on less than US $1 a day. More than half of the households go to bed without food at night.
Association pour la Solidarité et l'Assistance Socio-Sanitaire a.s.b.l. (ASASS-Burundi) a small, Bujumburian, youth-led NGO runs the Buterere Community Development Centre (BCDC). BCDC provides local people with a space to heal and develop themselves and their skills. It focuses on low-cost, maximum-impact activities. All projects are run entirely through the support of volunteers.
Our immediate funding needs are for:
$750.00 USD to create a workshop/conference in Buterere. As we develop a higher learning school for underprivileged Burundians, we would like to host a conference as we develop our curriculum. The purpose of this will be to promote our higher learning school as well as to create a curriculum for courses. It will give youth, students, doctors, professors, etc to contribute to the development of this school and to share ideas and knowledge.
$750.00 USD to pay rent and maintain BCDC projects. The building where BCDC works out of was donated for the first five months. However, these five months are coming to an end and we are required to start paying rent. Money raised will go towards rent payment, operation costs of programs offered through BCDC as well as other BCDC project work. Keep in mind, all programs run through volunteers, so this money will NOT go towards staff payment.
$12,400.00 USD for shipment of a container of books. An entire container of books has been donated to BCDC. However, we are required to pay $17,000 to ship this from the United States to Burundi. A small amount has been raised (4600 USD) so far, but we are still seeking another $12,400 for the remaining cost.