64 MILES: BURUNDI CIVIL WAR AND THE “NEVER AGAIN" MEMORIAL

Burundi was in a civil war lasting from 1993 to 2005. The civil war was the result of longstanding ethnic divisions between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups. The conflict began following the first multi-party elections in the country since it gained independence from Belgium in 1962. The estimated death toll stands at 300,000 and many within the count were children, as they were widely used by both sides in the war.

A simple, but powerful memorial to the atrocities of the conflict is the ‘Never Again’ Memorial. This site is one of just two in the country that was constructed post-1993 civil war. Along with the round, white structure with the French phrase "Plus Jamais Ça" (‘Never Again’), a separate covering stands atop the gas station where more than 100 high school students were locked inside and set ablaze.

If this story sounds familiar, it's because this was the location Gazelle Foundation co-founder Gilbert Tuhabonye was forced into on that fateful day of October 21, 1993. As he watched and heard his classmates slowly suffer an incredibly painful and inhumane fate, Gilbert found a way to avoid the same physical trauma and eventually escaped under the cover of darkness.

The memorial, located near Kimbimba Burundi, has stood for more than a decade as a somber dedication to the evils of genocide and in honor of the innocent children and teenagers who lost their life.

Conscious of the tension that years of ethnic conflict has on the country, the Gazelle Foundation’s very first water system was built to send a clear message of unity. The first project was built to serve a community of the Batwa (Twa) tribe. The Twa community is one of the most marginalized tribes in Burundi and makes up only 1% of the total population. They are the poorest of the poor, lacking access to not just water but education, food sources, and health care. This tribe often lives in dangerous areas of the Songa province and are forgotten about in terms of their human rights and needs. By bringing clean water to this village, not only does the community have a different life, but the Gazelle Foundation's mission to provide free, clean water to everyone, regardless of ethnicity, religion, and other differences, was established.