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Stories From The Field

Yared, Burundi

Yared, Burundi

"I wonder where I would be today had I not received help from UNHCR. Maybe I wouldn't be alive."

For more than thirty years, Yared Karadongeye dreamed about returning to his native Burundi. But when he finally managed to go home from neighbouring Tanzania in late 2007, the circumstances were different from those he had imagined.

"I wonder where I would be today had I not received help from UNHCR," the 65-year-old explained recently at his newly-built home outside the small town of Rumonge in southern Burundi. He shrugged. "Maybe I wouldn't be alive."

"UNHCR organized a truck to transport us all the way home: this was a great help," he explained. Back in Burundi, he was given an emergency survival kit of shelter items like plastic sheeting to protect his family from the rain and mosquito nets to protect against malaria which is endemic along the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Over the coming months, UNHCR staff provided legal support to help Yared reclaim ownership of his family's land.

Yared and his son have been particularly grateful to receive iron sheeting and other building materials from a UNHCR emergency Shelter Program. Both houses are standing now next to a small piece of land where the two families have planted manioc. Yared's son recently opened a small café nearby.

"To have a solid house and to be at home, this makes the biggest difference to me that I can think of. When I settled again here, I felt peace and happiness. Despite of all that I have lived and seen - I was finally home."