Help us protect Africa’s history.
MBUYU is building digital archives in East Africa. Every $1 saves 10 pages to the cloud, connecting us to African ancestors & their stories.
Imagine asking for a copy of your birth certificate…
But the clerk can’t find it in the system because there is no system. It was never digitized. It could be in a box somewhere, but you’ll never get a copy. Now imagine your medical records, employment records, school transcripts, citizenship records, tax records… all lost.
Then imagine it’s like that for everyone in the whole country, and it’s always been that way. You would stop looking… stop asking.
You would forget your own history.
There is a hidden despair in the Republic of Burundi…
Because they don’t have access to their data, or even their records.
In 2011, Jean Bosco Ntungirimana, of the Association of Librarians, Archivists and Recordkeepers of Burundi (ABADBU), performed a research study on government records.
He found thousands of files in disorganized piles, many damaged by rain, dirt, and pests.
Then something quietly happened on October 10, 2021…
The National Archives of Burundi accepted a proposal from ABADBU to modernize their holdings. MBUYU has partnered with both teams to scan hundreds of thousands of records.
On July 1, 2022, the 60th Anniversary of Burundi’s Independence, its national collective memory began to be unlocked.
We need your help.
There is no Internet access in the Archives building, and rolling blackouts are a daily obstacle.
Help MBUYU.org support this project. Your help goes to:
- better scanning equipment
- battery backups and laptops
- cellular internet service
- training more Burundi citizens
- building an online portal
- legal, accounting, and marketing services
