This blog post was written by our Creative Communications & Events Officer, Megan Henderson, with data and information collected from the Five Talents USA office.

Literacy group learner in Burundi. Photo by Ross Oscar Knight.

In partnership with the Mothers’ Union, Five Talents has been working in Burundi since 2008 to support literacy & business skills training and the development of community savings groups. Our programme helps participants learn to read, write, manage their finances as well as develop skills and attitudes that they can apply in their homes and businesses. We have reached over 50,000 participants, and 200,000 family members have benefited from improved household income; which in turn has led to better access to nutritious food, education and medical care.

In 2019 we have already supported the training and formation of 10 new literacy and savings groups in each of the 9 dioceses of Burundi, training 45 new facilitators who have formed a total of 90 groups! These groups are not only encouraging economic development, but also peace building. Participants are drawn from different ethnic groups & faiths, working together in order to meet their basic needs and support each other.

Claudette at her desk. Photo by Ross Oscar Knight.

Our Programme Coordinator, Claudette, and her team served over 4,600 new members in the last year and supported the development of over 700 businesses. In Burundi 8 in 10 of our programme participants are women. Claudette visited the UK in July to share the transformative work her team has achieved - and to share the great news that, with your support, we have raised enough money to purchase a new vehicle so her team can travel safely and reach even more rural, marginalised communities!

Many of you may be wondering, what’s next for Claudette? Later this month, she travels to Nairobi to meet our programme leaders at the Five Talents Kenya office. She and her team are sharing their learning to our other programme leaders, so members across East Africa can benefit from her work and the Mothers’ Union’s approach to literacy & numeracy.

If you want to know more about Claudette, she was featured in The Church Times while in the UK; read her article here.