Central Market, Bujumbura, Burundi, January 28, 2013 (Rmey Ndayisaba)
The central market, undoubtedly was my favorite place to go to and is no question one of the main sustainers of Burundi’s internal economy, is now but ashes… but not just ashes… the hopes and livelihoods of many Burundians lie there buried deep in those ashes. Right now, the crisis for many families is imminent.
Early Sunday morning, a fire started in the central
market and turned into a raging inferno within a short span of time. I was driving to our friend’s house when I
looked up and saw an intensifying smoke tunnel, resembling the shape of a
tornado towards the center of town. I
drove closer, and began to see hundreds of young men and boys speeding towards
that direction in the back of big trucks and pickups – it was clear that a disaster
was happening before everyone’s eyes.
Immediately my
mind began to race thinking - fire… burns… good trauma hospitals, none… people
trained and available to do first aid on site for burn victims… possibly not
enough? I returned to our friends and
within a few minutes, it was clear that Isai was thinking what I was
thinking. Let’s make ourselves available
to a possible need for immediate response first aid. Our friend quickly loaded us with burn gels
and bandages, and offered to take the kids for the day…
We parked a
few blocks away in the case that the fire would spread and for the hundreds of
thousands of people in the streets, the further away from the chaos the better.
As we got out of the car, many people
began running; even with small children saying the fires were spreading… they
were fearful and clearly believed they were running for their lives. Isai assured me that he didn’t think the fire
could spread a few blocks away. We
continued on foot, and the closer we got the more chaotic and unpredictable it
became. We approached many of the police
officers in their stance inquiring where they were caring for those who were
injured from the fires and they kept pointing closer to the market. Finally just about a foot-ball field away, we
approach a police truck with some of the head officers nearly in the midst of
10’s of thousands of people very compacted and close. We informed them we are here to help any
teams that may have arrived to give medical assistance and they stated that at
that point, they did not know of any casualties’ or injuries and surly there
were not any locations set up at that point to care for injured people, but
they asked us to stand by and would inform us when a location was known.
So we
waited. And watched. And as the smoke
inferno turned into a blazing fiery furnace emotions flooded the streets. Women sobbing because their means of support
have been ripped from them right before their very eyes, others angry that
nothing could be done, while others were simply in a state of shock. There were even large crowds seated within 50
yards to the burning mass… no perimeter’s on our side were set at that
point. Every few minutes things were
exploding within the market (most likely oil, alcohol and other flammable
things) Some of the times, it was so
intense that it caused the masses to run and skitter 10-20 feet almost causing
a riot type of environment. But they
remained, nonetheless and waited…
Big trucks
were barging in through the crowds to empty out any of the outside shops, office
supplies filled one truck, and hundreds of large hard covered suitcases were
rushed out on the tops of heads in the other direction. People were panicking, there were a lot of
things, a lot of thieves – who once caught would be beaten by the surrounding
crowd. We were thankfully by the police
truck so when the crowds rushed and pushed, we had a solid mass to be near. At one point, a man who seemed to be a bit
gone in the head was chasing people with a large wooden plank, and behind him,
the police were chasing after him. There
were small kids, big kids, the young and the old, together, watching the hopes
and dreams and basic livelihoods of so many burn in the whaling monster of a fire…
before their very eyes. No water in
site. It was such a dramatically
hopeless disaster, and all knew it would have an effect on them – somehow. How the fire started…? Many accusations and
ideas have been thrown around, but nothing confirmed at this point.
You see, this
market could be estimated to have 1,000 + shops big and small, both the rich
and the poor shop there; it is a place that was so universal it clearly brings
deep devastation to the nation. You can imagine
the hopelessness when food prices go up… and just a few days ago a large
portion of the population was just barely getting by. Burundi needs an intervention.
Early
afternoon was the first signs of some sufficient assistance, with a military
helicopter in site, loading water from the lake nearby and dropping it over the
top. We had seen fire trucks early on,
but no water. It was clear that this
fire was going to take over the entire market, in which is almost a whole block
in size. No one could stop it, no one
could do anything. Just sit, and watch.
News reports
later spoke on 4 confirmed dead, and many injured having been taken immediately
to the hospital. One of the people who
died was mentioned to be a woman with her child who ran into the market to save
her things; another was a man who supposedly had big investments inside. The fire began before the market opened on
Sunday, in which minimized the amount of people that could have been killed or
harmed in that sense. I can imagine there will be more accurate reports as the days pass...
Early Monday morning, I had to return to Buja after returning
to the mountains on Sunday afternoon because many of the pickups we had to do
were impossible due to the stores closing.
At this point, the entire surrounding of the market was completely off
limits with a ton of police. To my
surprise, the market was still smoking, more than 1 day later. The transportation system with buses that
brings people in and out of the center was completely relocated as it used to
sit on the markets edge. Thousands of
people are seated at the perimeters of the police posts… it was clear that many
of them were shop owners waiting to see what was left of their things, wanting
to know what to do next… who would help them, who would guide them. It was the first time I have ever driven
through the capital and looked people in the eyes and knew everyone was
thinking about the same thing, in complete devastation. What do we do next? Where do we buy food at a reasonable price? Where do we go to work? As the main road going right through the very
heart of the capital was shut down, other roads were used for people to move
through the city which seemed to cause chaos and frustration. Many sidewalks were quickly turned into
places to sell rice, beans and other staples that would usually be sold in the
market. The city has been turned upside
down.
Today I
think of the women I would sit for hours with who owned little shops in the
south end of the market, as we search for used clothes for Malaki when he was
born. They thought I was crazy having my
big belly and going up and down the shops doing the last minute buys. I think of the young boys and men who tried
to sell bed sheets and blankets to me for too much money for the first few
years and saw my persistency and finally gave in to a reasonable price and I
became a regular; they did their best to entertain Malaki as I was fascinated by
all the bed sheets right at my feet brought from all around the world. I think of some of the ladies who we knew from
Knama when we lived near them in 2006… they worked the outskirts of the
market. I think of the woman who helped
me just last week when all the surrounding venders were selling mosquito nets
for unspeakable prices, she brought me into her wooden shack and set me up with
the right people who sold me nets for the kids.
I think of the old man who was lame with one hand and no legs, I shook
his hand every time as he sat in the same place for as long as I can remember
begging for people to help him. From the
young girl I just bought school materials from to bring back to our kids... We talked, I joked with her that she had
better be giving me a good price. There
are so many memories in this special place that was just days ago a booming
economy for Burundi. And all of these
memories involved people, people who we have grown to appreciate – many who
lived off of what they made each day in this once thriving market and had
little or none to spare. What Burundi
has experienced is unimaginable… and can even be difficult to fathom the disastrous
impact it has had on the nation.
Please be praying for Burundi, families and shop owners, that they would put their trust and hope in the Lord in such a time.. Pray for the governement that they would have the wisdom to respond to this crisis. May God comfort, strengthen and restore all things.
Will you do
something to help them, today? We are
going to be collaborating with others who are bringing aid; together we can
help families recover from this disaster.
If you are interested, please contact us at thecriesofachild@yahoo.com or make
a donation on our website with the subject line: Emergency relief fund.
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