When Kolping was introduced in Burundi in 1996, its first members simply assumed that it was a Catholic action movement like all the others that come together to read the Gospel und meditate on the message of Jesus Christ.
The more Kolping Burundi developed as an association, the more did its members understand that they were encouraged to work at their personal and socioeconomic development. However, their resources were limited because they were poor and life was hard. KOLPING INTERNATIONAL supported them primarily by offering vocational training. Members learned to do a detailed analysis of their current situation, to recognize their potential and to use this as a basis to eradicate poverty by doing concrete activities they can carry out without waiting for external help to arrive. In workshops on topics such as agriculture and livestock farming they learned about new techniques and they were encouraged to improve traditional methods. This helped them to increase agricultural productivity and to ensure food security.
Dismas Ntahomvukiye, national president of Kolping Burundi
