Buta: il gioiello dell'africa

In 1993 a 12 years long war begun in Burundi, following the president's assassination. The war wasn't only a civil war, but an ethnical too, fought between Hutu and Tutsi, the same etnicities involved in Rwanda's genocide in 1994. Buta was one of the few places, if not the only one, where love and fraternity still survived, thanks to Father Zacharie, the rector, who nurture and united his students, from both ethnicities, through dialogue and various activities. This oasis of peace was a too great of a snub for the rebels, who wanted to prove Father Zacharie wrong. By the dawn of April 30th, 1997, they attacked the school, entered in the dormitories, where the students were peacefully sleeping, and intimated them to split between Hutu and Tutsi. The young men refused, and the rebels shot and threw grenades at them. Fourty students died, many asking for forgiveness for their murderers or attempting to assist their wounded brothers. The blood and act of these students became soon a symbol of peace and hope for the whole country, Africa and the entire world.